How to start and manage discussions in Jostle

Note: To create a DM (ongoing, one-on-one chat with someone), please refer to Direct Messages.

Table of contents

1. Starting a Discussion
2. Commenting in Discussions
3. Managing your Discussion
4. Adding Attachments in Discussions
5. Replacing a Moderator
6. Discoverable Discussions

Starting a Discussion

Users can create a new Discussion by:

1. Clicking on Discussions in the Main Navigation
2. Clicking on the +, top left in the Action Bar at the top
   
   Note: If you cannot see the +, then you don't have permissions to create a new Discussion. Contact your System Admin to understand why.
   
   
3. Select New Discussion

You are then presented with the screen where you configure the new Discussion by:

• Creating a Title. Best practice is to think how this will help this Discussion be found in Search
• Selecting your Access option:
  • • Private (invited participants only, which can be everyone)
    • Discoverable (anyone can view and/or join)
    • Org-Wide (automatically includes everyone)
      
      Notes:
      • • Org-Wide can be Disabled by System Admins at Admin Settings > Views and Functions > Manage Views and Options.
        • Use Org-Wide Discussions sparingly, since users that are not interested cannot opt out of them.
        • For more information on these Discussion types, please refer to Discussions: Best practices.
          
          
• Inviting Members* (Individuals, Teams, Locations, Departments, Org units, etc.)
• Setting any additional Moderators (Moderators have access to additional actions and settings in a Discussion. As the Discussion creator, you're automatically its first Moderator)
• Once you have everything set, click Save at the top

*not required for Org-Wide Discussions

Commenting in Discussions

To post a comment in a Discussion, enter text in the comment input field at the bottom of the screen and click the Send (arrow icon).

There are two ways to create paragraphs within your comment:

1. Check the Allow Paragraphs box so that the Enter (or Return) key creates paragraphs within your comment, or
2. Uncheck Allow Paragraphs and use Shift-Return to create paragraphs within your comment.

In most browsers, you can also access an emoji selector by clicking on the smiley emoji in the input field.

Tip: Involved in an important Discussion when another one pops up? Save the hassle of bouncing back and forth between them and instead open your platform in another browser window. Navigate to the second Discussion then place the windows side-by-side for some split-screen Discussion action.

Using @mentions

If you want to notify someone directly of your comment you can do so with an "@mention" (@<theirusername>) within the comment.

You can also @mention any dynamic groups that the Discussion is targeted to. To see who these are, click i-icon top right to open the Discussion's Info Panel and then click on the member count. Any entity listed there you can @mention.

If you want to @mention everyone who can see a particular Discussion use @all.

Liking comments

To like someone's comment, hover over the post and then click the heart (or thumbs up) icon that appears in the top right corner. Liking is useful as a quiet way to let someone know you have seen their comment.

Replying to comments

To reply to someone's comment, click the arrow that appears next to the heart icon in the top right corner.

Other comment actions

Hovering over a comment reveals its Action Menu, top right. Here you can:

• Copy the text in the comment so that you can paste it elsewhere
• Copy a Link to the Comment, which when shared elsewhere will open the Discussion to this comment for anyone that has permissions to view it (i.e. is a Member of the Discussion)
• Create a Task from Comment which will create a new Task that links directly to this comment. Use this to remind yourself to come back later to consider a comment in more detail. Or set a Task to action someone to do something related to the comment.
• Archive the comment. Only the Author and Moderators can do this. Authors and Moderators are able to view archived comments.

Deleting comments

By default, the ability to delete comments in Discussions is disabled. Orgs can request this feature be enabled by contacting support@jostle.me.

Once enabled, when viewing an archived comment, a Moderator will also have the ability to Permanently Delete the comment (once deleted, a comment and any related attachments and likes are erased and can no longer be viewed by anyone). However, if an organization has assigned a Mandatory Moderator, then only that person will be given the permission to permanently delete comments.

Adding Attachments in Discussions

You can attach one or more files to any Discussion comment. Users can view these files in the Jostle Viewer or download them so they can open them in another application. Most file types are supported in this way (see our list of supported files).

Note: It can take a bit of time to generate the preview, especially for larger files or videos.

To select and add attachments

1. In the comment input field, click the paper clip icon
2. Select the file(s) to upload from your computer
3. When you've completed your message, send it

Note: You can click "send" while the files are still uploading and then continue your work elsewhere in Jostle. The files will send when the upload has completed.

To drag and drop attachments

1. Click and hold on the file(s) that you want to add to your Discussion comment
2. Drag your cursor directly over your Discussion and release your finger to "drop" the files
3. The files will automatically attach themselves as part of the comment you are composing

To add an image without saving it

1. Copy an image to your clipboard.
2. Then paste it directly in the comment input field.
3. When you've completed your message, send it

Tip: To quickly see all the attachments that have been shared in a Discussion, click on the i-icon on the right side of its Action Bar and then click on the file count listed.

Managing your Discussions

Discussion Categories

You can set up personal Discussion Categories to help organize your Discussions. Learn how here.

Discussions Action Menu

Users can click the Action Menu icon (three dots) on the right hand side of the Action Bar to take actions on this Discussion, including:

• Set Category, which allows you to assign this Discussion to one of your existing Discussion Categories.
• Remove Yourself, this will only be an option for Discussions that you have been added to as an individual (versus as a member of a dynamic group). Moderators will also not see this option.
• Mute Notifications, which will stop notifications and Red Dots from being created for this Discussion.
• Delete Discussion (available to Moderators only), which will delete the entire Discussion. You might want to Export it first.
• Export Discussion, which downloads comments and attachments into a Zip file.
• Email Moderators, which opens your email client with all the Moderators added in To field.
• Edit Discussion (available to Moderators only), which opens the Settings Modal for this Discussion. Go here to add more people to the Discussion.

Tip: It's usually best to not Delete a Discussion. Instead post a final comment like "***This Discussion is closed. This conversation has moved to <<line>>. ***"  That way the knowledge and history in the Discussion is not lost.

Discussions Info Panel

Users can click the i-icon top right in the Action Bar of a Discussion to open its Info Panel, where you can view details about this Discussion, including its Access Type, Members Count (those who can post to the Discussion), Participants Count (those who have posted to the Discussion), Moderators Count, Files Count, and Links Count. Clicking on any of these Counts will open a panel listing the details.

Replacing a departed Moderator

If an individual leaves your organization and they were the only Moderator of your Discussion, someone else will need to take over that role. Anyone who is a current Participant of a Discussion with no Moderators can assume the Moderator role as follows:

1. Open the Discussion and click on the i-icon in the upper right corner.

2. From the menu, click on Moderators (ensuring the number of Moderators is 0).

3. On the popup that appears, click Become a Moderator.

4. You should then see the Info menu updated with Edit links, indicating that you now have Moderator permissions for the Discussion.

To learn about Discussions privacy and chat visibility, click here.

Discoverable Discussions

Create a Discoverable Discussion when you have a Discussion topic that some people in your organization will be interested in and others will not. It makes it easy to include everyone, without imposing a notification noise on those that are not interested.

Discoverable Discussions are visible to everyone in your organization. Everyone can see the Discussion and view its contents. However, until they click Join Discussion they will not receive notifications or Red Dots from the Discussion, and they cannot post to it. Once they click Join Discussion, it will behave like a normal Discussion, with notifications and Red Dots, and will no longer appear in the Discover Category.

Those that have joined a Discoverable Discussion can choose to leave the Discussion (by clicking Remove Yourself in the Discussion's Action Menu), at which point it will return to the Discover Category, form which they can choose to join it again.

Note: If you have been added to a Discoverable Discussion as part of a dynamic group (Team, Department, Org Unit, Location, etc.) then it will be in "regular Discussion" mode for you, with no ability for your to Remove Yourself.

For more on Discussions Categories, see this article.