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How do classmates put a general message on the site?

Forums: General Discussion
Created on: 11/01/14 10:24 PM Views: 885 Replies: 8
Saturday, November 1, 2014 at 10:24 PM

We have several people who are ill, but I don't want to put their names out in an email. I would like to have classmates just post their support on the website. What is a place that is easy to see and access? I know they can make an announcement, but I was thinking of a place that they can just post general comments. The Forum is probably the place for this, but so far it is rarely used and it looks like people are talking to me, not making general comments.

Thanks.

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Sunday, November 2, 2014 at 11:09 AM - Response #1

I'm really glad you asked this. This is a highly relevant question right now.

In a sense forums are a bit of an "old school" philosophy. There's plenty of very popular forums on Class Creator sites, but by and large we're seeing far more classmate engagement on classes that are utilizing the new What's New page. I'm glad to see you have What's New active on your site. )You can rename this page of course if you wish.)

There are two recommended ways to best post these messages of support on your site:

1) Classmates should post the messages on their own Profiles.
2) Post the messages using the box at the top of the What's New page.

What some may not understand until they've become familiar with the new system is doing either of the two items above is literally the exact same thing. I.E. if you post a message on your own Profile, a copy of the message will appear at the top of the What's New page for all to see. If you post a message at the top of the What's New page for all to see, a copy of the message will also appear on your own Profile. These two functions are literally the same function -- there's just two convenient places to access this function.

Posting the messages this way has the added benefit of engaging with the Notify Me feature. Any classmates subscribing via Notify Me to the classmate who posted the message will get a copy of the message in his or her personal email box.

So again I recommend this because:

1) Many people now read the Whats' New page regularly (if that's not the case with your class you might want to send a mass email to all classmates ensuring they all understand the What's New page is now the central hub on your web site where all activity from around the site can be quickly viewed and interacted with).

2) Many people will receive Notify Me emails when posts are made on your own Profile or directly on the What's New page.

Again there are exceptions to every rule, but by and large this is the best form of classmate engagement and this is what we will be promoting from here forward. We're currently also looking at a mobile app now that will begin by just pulling in the What's New content from your class site -- this makes for a quick and convenient way of staying in touch with and interacting with classmate while you're out and about.

Finally, if all goes well we should be launching a graphically updated What's New format this week that also includes a couple enhancements Administrators have suggested as well as some bug fixes.


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Sunday, November 2, 2014 at 11:51 AM - Response #2

Thanks...do you ever sleep?
K

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Sunday, November 2, 2014 at 12:14 PM - Response #3

Sorry...
I changed the name of What's New and on Facebook is hasn't changed. But now I can't figure out how I did it. Could you remind me? Ugh...

Will Facebook always have What's New or will the name change be reflected at a later date? I'm really just playing around with the name.

Does What's New somewhat replace email? Except that email is more private, the message would get out the same way. Or should there be guidelines that say "What's New is about sending general messages to the whole class". For example we have several classmates or their family members are very ill. I want to ask the class to send prayers and good thoughts without revealing the names. What's New could be a place for that.

But it shouldn't be used for expressing political views. Or expressing negative messages. What guard is there against this happening?

Can posts on What's New be deleted?

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Edited 11/02/14 12:43 PM
Sunday, November 2, 2014 at 4:03 PM - Response #4

Hi Karen,

On your site, go to EDIT SITE PAGES > the name you changed the What's New page to > Click on EDIT LINK. That is where you change the page name on your site. Smile

Brad will need to address if we will be able to change the What's New page name in the near or distant future. However, I will share that I did the same thing you are with the name. I wanted to change it and did. Then one day, I woke up to the fact that changing it on the site and not on Facebook would be (was probably) confusing to those who used Class Connection so it is now What's New on the sites I maintain.

As to prayer requests, you may wish to send an email to the class. I hope other admins will weigh in on this.

On your site and/or in an email to the class, post what I call and write: "The small print: ______" I did that in a survey yesterday. It never hurts and many will appreciate it.

Yes, you can delete posts. Move your mouse over a post on the What's New page and the word "Delete" will appear in red. Click on it to delete. After a member's birthday, I use this option to remove "Today is ___'s birthday." It is especially sad to see when no one has wished that person a Happy Birthday.

I hope you'll continue posting regularly, Karen! This past year, I was telling Brad to get offline and hit the bed. Your comment made me laugh!

Gwen
Class Creator
and an admin with several sites
MCHS 1970 ... though my M is for McHenry Smile

P.S. I posted this from the Forum or the CC logo would appear next to my class site logo, a Warrior.

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Edited 11/02/14 4:04 PM
Sunday, November 2, 2014 at 4:28 PM - Response #5

Thanks. I don't work on this as much as I did when we started. So my brain often goes left and I go right. I forget how to do things or there are new things I haven't learned and well.. you know.

I wish the What's New, if we can change it, would link in both formats. I don't want anyone, including me to be confused. I saw on another Madison site the heading Post Something Here. That's pretty clear. But if the two aren't the same I'm not sure what the point of changing the heading would be.

Thanks for taking the time. K

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Sunday, November 2, 2014 at 4:36 PM - Response #6

Anytime, Karen. Always happy to help.

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Sunday, November 2, 2014 at 9:45 PM - Response #7

Who needs sleep when you're gaining an hour?? I'll make up for it when we "Spring forward" by not posting anything.


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Sunday, November 2, 2014 at 10:09 PM - Response #8

Laughing too loud and long! Laughing

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