Comments on Website Pages

Comments on Website Pages

The purpose of Comments is to provide a way to create an on-going conversation about a particular topic. Once a comment is posted, users with permission will have the ability to reply to the comment or simply "thank" the user for their post.
*Currently, this feature is available to Premium & Concierge customers only.

Examples of when to use Comments on Website Pages
  1. A public page that allows open conversation about an upcoming event
  2. Ends reply all emails for committees
  3. A classroom page that you want to allow parents to post questions and all parents can reply to the question.
  4. A group in your database that needs to be able to communicate amongst themselves
  5. Executive Board would like a way to post announcements and allow interaction with all members of the Executive Board
  6. An HOA page that allows community members to subscribe for crime alerts
Difference Between Website Page Comments & Message Boards
Website Page Comments allow users to reply to posted messages. Email notifications for replies are gathered in batches and sent in 4 hour intervals. Message Boards only allow posts from approved users and there is not an opportunity for users to reply to posted messages.


Notification Frequency:
  1. Email notifications for Comments will be sent immediately when a new comment is posted to anyone who has been given permission to receive them.
  2. Email notifications for Replies and "Thanks" will be gathered in batches and sent out approximately every 4 hours.
  3. The person posting the Comment or Reply will NOT receive an email notification. The system assumes they've seen the post since they are the person who made it.

You can control:
  1. Who has access to see the page (just like you normally do on a content page)
  2. Who can post a comment or message - No Admin Access is needed to post. You choose who can post a comment or message. The access is controlled by user email addresses.
  3. Who receives email notification when comments are posted – this is controlled by conditions that are tied to the parent and/or student fields (just like a smart list)
  1. Email notifications for Comments will be sent immediately when a new comment is posted.
  2. Email notifications for Replies will be gathered in batches and sent out approximately every 4 hours.


Turning On Comments

Comments can only be turned on by an Account Owner.
  1. Go to Admin > Account Settings > Subscription Plan & Features
  2. Change "Comments Active?" to Yes.

Adding a New Website Page for Comments

  1. Go to Website > Content Pages > select the website page / Comments tab

Content Tab

Set up the content page for your comments and add any content you'd like to include. (This is just like creating a content page on the Website tab.)

Title:  Only shows up in your list of content pages.
Status:  Set to "Published" if you want to be able to preview or see the page. Unpublished pages will not show up on the internet!
URL Slug:  Membership Toolkit will auto-populate this field for you if you leave it blank. We recommend you create your slug so that it is reflective of the content on your page or the title. You can use numbers, letters, hyphens, and underscores. It can NOT contain any spaces.
Story Image:  This is the image Facebook will use if you link to this content page.
Content Excerpt:  A short paragraph for your blog. Leave this blank if you do not plan to connect the story to your blog or newsletter.
Content Body:  The text and graphics on your web page. You can cut and paste!  It is fast and easy to create new pages!!

Visibility & Settings Tab

Content Location:  Leave as Stand-alone story.
Page Template:  The default for the page template is "Inherit" which means the template will be consistent with the page you created, which is a content page. You can override this by choosing a different template for the page you are creating.  Each website template has different options for page templates so this will vary depending on which template you are using.
Publish Date & Unpublish Date:  Sets the dates your content will be available. If you leave the unpublish date blank the material will always be available.
Who can see this?:  Choose who you want to be able to view the page. If you select "Anyone can see it," anyone on the web will be able to see this page. You can also require users to be logged in, have admin status, or to be members of a group to see the page.
Home Page Content:  This should only be marked to "Yes," if this is the Home Page.
Content Date/Time:  This defaults to the date/time the page was created.
Author:  This defaults to the Admin that is logged in.

Comments, Replies, and Notifications

Comments Tab

Comments? Select:
  1. No Comments
  2. Yes, Comments are Open (comments will be visible and users with permission will be able to reply and/or post)
  3. Comments are present, but closed (comments will be visible, but users will not be able to reply or post)
Header Label for Comments: Select a label for the Comments section of your website page.



Who Can Post Comments?

  1. The default is "No One."
  2. Use the "edit permissions" button to specify who is able to comment. You can require that the user be logged in and...
  1. have or not have membership in your organization
  2. have or not have admin status
  3. is a member of a specific Group you have previously set up
  4. is a specific user whose email address has been granted permission to comment

Allow Replies?

  1. Select "yes" if you want users to be able to reply to posted comments. 
  2. Select "no" if you want the comments to function as announcements and replies are not necessary.


Who Can Post Replies?

  1. The default is "No One."
  2. Use the "edit permissions" button to restrict who is able to reply. You can require that the user be logged in and...
  1. have or not have membership in your organization
  2. have or not have admin status
  3. is a member of a specific Group you have previously set up
  4. is a specific user whose email address has been granted permission to comment
Thanks
The "thank" button indicates that you're interested in a topic, but don't have something directly to say. When someone comments something, you can thank them, and then when people reply to that comment, you'll get notifications (at 4 hour intervals) of the replies.

Notifications

Notify When a Comment is Posted
When you are using the Messages & Comments feature, you have the option to notify users by email that a new comment has been posted. You can also select specific users to receive this notification.

Notification Choices:
  1. The default is set to send No notifications for new comments.
  2. Those that can reply - anyone who has permission to reply will receive an email when a new comment is posted.
  3. A specific list as specified below - you can enter the particular email addresses you want the notifications to go to.
  4. Parents as specified below - you can set conditions using any of the member or student data fields, including custom fields, to restrict which parents receive the email notifications (just like form conditions).
  5. Students as specified below - you can set conditions using any of the member or student data fields, including custom fields, to restrict which students receive the email notifications.
  6. Both Parents and Students as specified below - you can set conditions using any of the member or student data fields, including custom fields, so that parents and students receive the email notifications.

Notification Frequency:
  1. Email notifications for Comments will be sent immediately when a new comment is posted to anyone who has been given permission to receive them.
  2. Email notifications for Replies and "Thanks" will be gathered in batches and sent out approximately every 4 hours.
  3. The person posting the Comment or Reply will NOT receive an email notification. The system assumes they've seen the post since they are the person who made it.


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