Community Page Types

Use different page types to serve different functions within a community

Article Content

This article covers the following topics. Click on the topic to go to that section of the article.

• Introduction to Page Types
• Default Content Page
• Announcements Page
• Discussions Page
• Document Sharing Page
• Events Page
• Galleries Page
• Polling Page
• Quizzes Page
• External URL Page
• Basic LTI Consumer Page

Introduction to Page Types

Within each community, a variety of pages are available and they are templated to serve different functions. Different community types (Community, Course Website, Learning Module) come with specific page types. The following are pages types that can be added to a page after the creation of the community.

• Default Content
• Announcements
• Discussions
• Document Sharing
• Events
• Galleries
• Polling
• Quizzes
• Basic LTI Consumer

When you use page types and their features in a community space, they are for members of that community only.

Course Websites

Most of the pages in a course website template are of the default content type and allow you to add information. The exceptions to this are the Background, Course Calendar, Learning Objectives, MCC Presentations, and Gradebook pages; these have some information that will auto-populate based on information provided during the course setup.

This article details the page types listed above.  To learn more about pages that are specific to a community type (e.g., course websites) please see those articles in the knowledge base. 

Default Content Page

Default Content pages allow you to add any information to the page using the rich text editor (includes ability to embed media and post images). Many of the default pages in all of the communities are of the default content page type.

Announcements Page

Announcement page types can be used to house announcements for the specific community. Announcements can have a time release applied and can also optionally have email notifications sent to community members. Community members also have the option to subscribe to an RSS feed or e-mail notifications for this page. 

Create an Announcement

Step 1: From the community Announcements page, click on Add Announcement. 

Step 2: Complete the required fields and click Save. 

Allow Community Members to Post Announcements

Administrators of a community can optionally allow communities to post announcements.  See the following steps to do so:

Step 1: Navigate to the Admin Center in your community

Step 2: Click Manage Pages > Announcements page and scroll down to the Page Permissions section. From the permissions section, adjust the page permissions to allow community members to post announcements.

Viewing Announcements

Depending on how a community is set up, announcements might be displayed on the community home page. However, if they are not, community members can still access announcements from the Announcements page. Community members can additionally subscribe to an RSS feed of the community announcements by clicking on the small RSS icon.  They can also subscribe to email notifications by clicking on the envelope icon. 

 

Discussions Page

Community administrators must create discussion forums prior to members being able to engage in Discussions. To setup your discussion boards you will first need to setup forums for the community members to participate in, then community members can start adding posts to the forums.

Adding a forum

Step 1: From your community Discussions page, click on Add Discussion Forum.

Step 2: Fill in the require information. You must provide a title, set up the forum permissions and provide a Release Start Date.  The description and category are optional.

• The forum category will be the most easily viewable label for users, think of it as a folder or label for the discussion forum.
• Under the Forum Permissions section you can customize which community member types can view the forum, write new posts, and reply to posts.
• The Time Release Options for the discussion forum controls when the discussion forum will be accessible to users. The Release Start Date will auto fill to the date you create the forum.  Adjust as needed.

Step 3: Click Save.

Editing/Deleting Community Forums

To edit or delete an existing discussion forum, navigate to the discussions page, click on the category name, and then click edit or delete beside the discussion forum you want to modify. If you delete a discussion and it was the only discussion forum in a category, the category will also be removed.

Using Discussions in a Course Website/Community: Note that if you use Course Groups you will have the option to customize a discussion board to have a specific course group as its audience. Leave both the Member Permissions checked off and specify the small group audience(s) for the discussion.

Posting & Participating in Discussion Threads

As a community member to participate in discussion forums do the following.

Step 1: Navigate to a community and click Discussions. Click on a discussion category name if any exist. Click on a discussion forum title.

Step 2: From here, you will be able to create a new post or respond to existing comments. Click on New Post to create a new post or click on the post name to review the discussion thread and reply to posts. Members can upload files to a post, post anonymously, receive e-mail notifications for replies to the post and time release your post. Optionally, users can use subscribe to an RSS feed or email notifications for a Discussions page.

Threads in a Post

• You can reply to a post and reply to replies and this is as far as you can go at this time for threading of posts. 

Document Sharing Page

A Community Document Sharing page allows for administrators to share documents with community members and optionally allows for community members to also share documents and comment on documents. It is not intended as a repository for submission of graded material. Please use gradebook assessments with a dropbox for that function.  

Creating a Document Folder for Sharing

To create a document folder for sharing do the following:

Step 1: As a community administrator, navigate to a community and click on the Document Sharing page (note that this page can have a custom label so may not be called Document Sharing).

Step 2: Click Add Shared Folder. This will bring you to a new page where you can configure the folder.

Provide folder details noting that you can create sub-folders as needed.

• The folder description will be visible to community members.
• Set permissions for the folder. You can customize which community member types can browse the folder, upload files, and comment. If you are in course website then you can permission the folder to particular course groups.
• By default folders are visible to students. If you'd like to hide the folder from students, click the appropriate radio button.
• Set the Time Release Options for the folder. This controls when the folder will be accessible to users.
  

Step 3: Click Save.

Editing/Deleting/Moving Shared Folders

To edit or delete an existing folder, navigate to the document sharing page, click on cog to the right of the folder title and then make a selection from the dropdown menu. Note that within document sharing you can reorder folders, move files within folders, and expand all folders to view all files. Click on the appropriate button for each task from the document sharing page.

 

Adding Content to a Shared Folder

Files, URLs, and HTML can be uploaded from within a shared folder. Community administrators will be able to upload these different objects and if allowed community members may also have this ability.  

Use the appropriate button (Upload File, Add Link or Add HTML) in the appropriate folder to add your content. If you are not a community administrator and do not have a particular button, it is because your community administrator has not granted permission. 

Once content has been added to the folder then the community administrators will be able to see the owner of the content, when it was last updated, and the number of views.  Click on the number in the Views column to see who has viewed the file, the number of times they have viewed the file and the date of the last view.

If you need to edit, delete or move your content click on the cog icon next to the content name and make the appropriate selection. 

File Commenting

Once a file has been added and properly configured, you can optionally add a comment to the shared content if commenting has been enabled. Click on the file title, then Add File Comment and enter your comment. All community members will be allowed to comment if commenting has been enable on the file. The author of a comment and community administrators can edit or delete existing comments by clicking edit or delete beside a comment. 

Events Page

Events can be added to a community by adding an Events page. Once events are created for a community, the community members can optionally show those events on their Dashboard calendar. 

Creating a Community Event

Step 1: As a community administrator, navigate to a community and click Events to open the events page, then click on Add Event.  

Step 2: You will be brought to the Add Event screen. 

• Provide the event title, location, start and finish dates & times, and details or a description of the event.
• If you wish to send out notifications to the community members that the event has been posted select the checkbox to Notify Community Members of Event.
• Set the Time Release Options for the event, the start date will be auto-filled to the date & time you clicked the Add Event button. This controls when the event will be accessible to users.

Step 3: Click Save. 

To edit or delete an existing event, navigate to the event page, and then click edit or delete beside the event you want to modify.

View Community Events

Depending on how a community is set up, events might be displayed on the community home page. However, if they are not, community members can still access these items from the community Events page. Note that on the events page users can switch between viewing the day, week, month, or year's worth of events.  They also have the option to subscribe to an RSS feed, subscribe to the calendar, and subscribe to e-mail notifications.

Galleries Page

The galleries page is meant to allow community members to have a space to share images in the community. 

Creating a Photo Gallery

Step 1: Community administrators must first create a photo gallery from the Galleries page in their community.  Navigate to the Galleries page and click Add Photo Gallery.

Step 2: This will bring you to the Add Photo Gallery screen where you can configure you photo gallery.

• Gallery Details: Provide gallery details including title and description. The gallery description will be visible to community members.
• Gallery Permissions: Set permissions for the gallery. You can customize which community member types can view the gallery, upload photos, and comment.
• Time Release Options: Set the Time Release Options for the gallery. This controls when the gallery will be accessible to users.

To edit or delete an existing gallery, navigate to the gallery page, and then click edit or delete underneath the gallery you want to modify.

Add Photos to a Gallery

Step 1: Navigate to the community Galleries page, then click on the photo gallery that needs photos added. 

Step 2: If permissioned, you will have the Upload Photo button.  Click on that button and following the prompts.

• Photo 1: Upload the photo from your local device and add a Title.  Optionally add a description and choose whether to receive email notifications when users comment on this photo.
• Time Release Options: Set your photo permissions.
• Acceptable Use Agreement: You must agree to the copyright statement in order to post your photo. 

Step 3: Click Upload.

Comment on Photos in a Gallery

Navigate to the community Galleries page, then click on the photo gallery, then the photo you want to comment on. If permissioned, you will have the Add Photo Comment button. Provide a comment title and body, then click Save.

Polling Page

These polls function differently than polls set up via Admin > Manage Polls. These polls will only show up to users when they are in a community and navigate to the polling page (community administrators can send an e-mail notification to let community members know a poll is available).

Creating a Poll

Step 1: To begin, navigate to the Polling page in your community, and click on Create Poll.

Step 2: This will bring you to the Add Poll screen. 

• Poll Details: Create a title for your poll and decide if voters can vote multiple times.  Optionally add a description.
• Question Details: Configure your poll question and response options. 
• Poll Permissions: configure your poll permissions and visibility settings:

Step 3: Click on Proceed.

Editing/Deleting Polls

To edit or delete an existing poll, navigate to the polling page, and then click edit or delete beside the poll you want to modify.

• You may also see a vote option if the poll is set up to allow administrators to vote.
• After at least one vote has been cast, administrators will also see a results and  history option beside a poll name.
  

• You can now add additional questions to the poll if desired. To do so, click edit on the poll where you would like to add a new question, then click Add New Question. Questions can be edited or deleted by clicking on the blue pencil icon or red trash can icon.

Cast a Vote in a Poll

Navigate to a community and click on the Polling page (which may have a different name than Polling). Locate the appropriate poll and click vote next to the name of the poll.  Whether the community member can view the poll results depends on how the poll is set up.

Quizzes Page

The Quizzes page of a community allows you to post links to quizzes created through the Elentra quiz module. 

When community members view a quiz page they'll see all available quizzes. Completed quizzes will have a green check mark beside them and score and feedback accessible (if the quiz was set to release feedback).

External URL Page

An External URL page type allows you to add a url to a community. The menu title will be a live link that redirects a user to a new site when they click on it.

Basic LTI Consumer Page

Elentra offers the ability to integrate with LTI tools. There are three areas where a LTI Consumer can be used: Course Pages created when a Course is added, Course Websites in Communities and Learning Events. Please contact Elentra Support to discuss integrating an LTI tool.