In this article
In a Discussion activity, there are several methods of interacting with the group and individual participants. This article outlines the types of interactions available and how they work.
When a moderator posts the following items to the discussion, respective participants in the discussion will receive email and push notifications:
a Question post
an Announcement
a comment
a mention
1: Interacting with Participants
1.1: Question Post
A Question post is a top-level post that can be used to ask additional follow-up questions to the whole group.
The group question displays with a bright border to indicate importance and call attention. Additionally, question posts display a roll-up of completion stats for that particular post to help you track completion and participation (only visible to researchers and observers).
To add a Question post, click the Question button above the text box, add your text and click Post as question.
All participants in the discussion will receive an email notification when a researcher posts a Question.
1.2: Public Post
A Public post is a top-level post a moderator can use to interact with participants as a "regular" member of the discussion. The public post looks just like a standard post that your participants can author.
The post does not have the bright outline that question posts display.
To add a Public post, click the Public button above the text box, add text and click Post as public.
1.3: Internal Post
Internal posts are only visible to the research team and observers.
They can be used to organize a "backroom" discussion that pertains to the discussion at hand. All comments associated with an Internal post are also internal, meaning the entire thread is not visible to participants.
To add an Internal post, click the Internal button above the text box, add text and click Post as Internal.
1.4: Commenting
Comment on a participant's post to ask additional follow-up questions of that particular participant or other participants who are active in the thread. The flat comment structure makes it easy to scan through the conversation.
To direct a comment to another participant in the same comment thread, use the "@user_name" syntax to create a mention. Clicking the comment button on the comment you wish to reply to will autopopulate the mention for you.
Comments can also be posted as Internal. If you want to communicate to your research team or observers without the participants being able to see, select the Internal option.
To add a comment, click the + Comment button just below the original post. To reply to another comment in the same thread, click the comment button that appears on hover. Both buttons will open the comment box and allow you to add text and post by clicking Add Comment.
Only the author of the original post and participants who have commented on the post will receive email and push notifications when a researcher comments.
Internal comments do not generate email and push notifications to participants. Internal comments will generate emails to the researchers/observers.
1.5: Adding an Announcement
Announcements are designed for general messages to the entire group that don’t require a direct response.
They can be used for reminders, course correction, etc. By default, announcements are "pinned" to the top of the discussion thread to ensure they are seen by all. When done with the announcement, it can be "unpinned," and it will return to the flow of the discussion based on the original post date.
Click the Add announcement button below the comment box. Doing so will open a new comment box. Add announcement text and click Post Announcement to post.
All participants will receive email and push notifications when a researcher posts an announcement.
1.6: Editing
Researchers can edit any post/comment. To edit, hover over the post/comment body and click the "cog" icon that appears. From the menu, select Edit.
Make changes, then click Save.
2: Tracking Participation
There are several ways to track participant completion and engagement levels.
A discussion is never truly complete as it runs the length of project once launched. However, managing participation can be measured on two factors:
- Completion: participant has posted at least one response (indicated on the completion grid on dashboard, and in "Have not responded" column on the discussion explore page).
- Contributions: the number of posts and comments the participant has contributed to the discussion. The discussion count associated with a participant refers to the aggregate number of posts and comments.
Use the following tools to track completion.
2.1: Overview
Navigate to the Overview page to view Participant Completion.
The completion grid displays all the activities currently launched within your project. Discussion activities display the total number of participants assigned to the activity on the right of the progress bar and the number of participants who have submitted at least one response on the left.
To publish a completion grid, use the filter options: "Completion by:" and "Show me." Then click the Publish button.
1. Completion by: Filters by either participant or activity.
2. Show me: Filter by either Everyone, Incomplete, or Complete.
2.2: Explore
Navigate to Explore > Discussion to view a breakdown view of the Discussions.
Each thumbnail represents a different Discussion and displays the number of comments. The progress bar displays the total number of participants assigned to the activity on the right of the progress bar and the number of participants who have submitted at least one response on the left.
2.3: Filters
You can filter posts using the fields on the left-side of the screen.
Navigate to Explore > Discussion and select a particular Discussion to view. Filter posts and comments by specific categories using the fields on the left-side of the screen. Clicking a field will initiate the filter. Click again to remove it. See Discussion: Analysis and Reporting to learn more.
2.4: Activity Pane
The activity pane lists posts from newest to oldest in an easy to navigate tool bar.
The activity pane contains all questions, internal posts, public posts, and comments that were created within the discussion. Although the posts within the activity pane only contain the first line of the response, when clicked on it will navigate to the appropriate location within the discussion where the full post can be read. To close the activity pane, click the arrow at the top of the activity pane.
2.5: New Post Marker
At the top of the Activity Pane there will be displayed a message of how many new posts have been made since last time the discussion was checked.
Clicking a comment will take you to where that comment is within the context of the discussion.
2.6: Report
Navigate to Explore > Discussion and select a particular Discussion to view. You can generate an HTML report or an XLS report.
1. HTML: Near the top right of the screen, open the Publish drop-down menu, then select HTML to generate the report. The html report will download as a zip file. See Discussion: Analysis and Reporting for details.
2. XLS: Near the top right of the screen, open the Publish drop-down menu, then select XLS to generate the report. Navigate to Findings > Reports to download the newly generated report that can be viewed with Microsoft Excel. See Discussion: Analysis and Reporting for details.
3: Learn More
Learn more about Discussion activities:
To learn about actions available for regular activities, see Giving Participants Feedback.