Overview

The Microblog Posts Widget is often used to display a feed of posts made on the connected Microblog Channels. Users can then view and interact with these posts from a central location, rather than each Channel separately.

Considerations and caveats

I can't find the Widget

The Microblog Posts Widget only appears in the Widget Carousel if your digital workplace has Microblogs enabled. You can find this option on the Global Settings page of the Control Panel.

Widget layout

1. Title

The title provides context to the purpose of the Widget.

2. Description

The description provides additional information about the Widget

3. Follow button

Click to follow all Microblog Channels connected to the Widget. For more information, see Following Channels from Widgets.

The presence of this element is configurable in the Widget's settings.

4. Share a thought...

Click to begin creating a new post on the connected Microblog Channels. For more information, see Writing Microblog Posts.

Users can only post to Microblog Channels that they have at least Write Access to.

The presence of this element is configurable in the Widget's settings.

5. Connected Channels

Shows which Microblog Channels the Widget is connected to. Click a Channel's Hash Name to go to it.

Users can only see Microblog Channels that they have at least Read Access to.

The presence of this element is configurable in the Widget's settings.

6. Microblog Post

Microblog Posts from the connected Channels are shown in chronological order and will display the following information:

• Author's profile photo (configurable in the Widget's settings)
• Author's name (configurable in the Widget's settings) 
• Date and time of the post (configurable in the Widget's settings) 
• Body of the post
• Attachments on the post

Other users can interact with a post by:

• Clicking Like
• Clicking Reply to add a comment to the post

Users can only see posts that they have at least Read Access to.

The number of posts initially shown is configurable in the Widget's settings.

7. Shared in:

Click to view which Microblog Channels a post is shared to.

8. Actions button

Click to display additional ways of interacting with a post. Options include:

• View Post: Click to go directly to the post
• Edit: Click to make changes to the post
  • Requires Edit Access or higher on the connected Microblog Channels or post. Since posts can be shared to multiple Microblog Channels, a user only needs at least Edit Access on one of those Channels to edit the post. The edit will change the post across all of the Channels that it is shared to.
• Translate: Click the translate the post to your preferred language
• Archive: Click to Archive the post
  • Workplace and Enterprise Administrators only

9. Comments

The three most recent Comments made on a post are always shown. Click the “Show more comments” button to view ten more Comments.

Other users can interact with a comment by:

• Clicking Like
• Clicking Reply to comment directly on the comment

10. Load More

Click to load additional posts.

This option is not available if the Widget's layout is configured to Compact.

Configuration settings

After making changes to any of the following settings, you must click Save to apply your Widget changes. If you want to discard your changes, click Cancel.

Options tab settings

Title

Enter a title for the Widget. The title appears as a heading above the Widget's contents. You should use the title to provide users with an idea of why the Widget's content is important to them or to highlight the content's purpose. Titles also serve to better structure the content of a page by clearly denoting different sections. 

When entering a title, you do so only for your currently selected language. If your digital workplace supports multiple languages, you should click the field's Translation button () and enter a title for each supported language.

Description

Enter a description for the Widget. The description appears between the title and the Widget's contents. You can use this text to provide additional context to the Widget or instructions for using the Widget.

When entering a description, you do so only for your currently selected language. If your digital workplace supports multiple languages, you should click the field's Translation button () and enter a description for each supported language.

Space Channels / Community Channels

Select which Microblog Channels to use as sources for the Widget. Only Microblog Channels that are in a Space are listed in the Space Channels section. All other Microblog Channels in your digital workplace are listed in the Community Channels section.

When configuring the Widget, users can only select Microblog Channels that they have at least Write Access to. Other Microblog Channels won't appear in the Channels list.

Enable sharing thoughts

Select whether users can make new posts to the connected Microblog Channels.

If enabled, users can click Share a thought... to begin writing a Microblog Post using the compact WYSIWYG editor. 

• By default, users can unselect which of the connected Microblog Channels to post to. Otherwise, the post is shared with all connected Microblog Channels. To remove the ability to unselect connected Microblog Channels (to force publishing to all connected Channels), enable the setting Always Share to all selected channels.
• Regardless of this setting, users can only post to Microblog Channels that they have at least Write Access to.
• Users can toggle whether commenters can share this post with other Channels or not by toggling the Open for sharing option. By default, sharing is always enabled. To disable comments from sharing, hover over Open for sharing and click Close. Click Enable to turn this behavior back on.

If disabled, users cannot make new posts from the Widget. However, they can still reply to existing posts.

Regardless of whether this setting is enabled, users cannot Share a thought... if the Widget is configured to use the Compact Layout.

Always share to all selected channels

Select to make user's new posts automatically be shared with each of the connected Microblog Channels.

If enabled, users can't deselect which of the connected Microblog Channels to post to. If disabled, users can click Share with... when creating a new post to deselect the connected Channels they don't want to post to.

This setting is only available when Enable sharing thoughts is enabled.

Display feed

Select to show a feed of Microblog Posts made on the connected Microblog Channels.

If enabled, users can view and comment on posts made on the connected Microblog Channels that appear in the Widget. However, users can only see posts that they have at least Read Access to. If disabled, no feed will appear in the Widget.

Show available channels in header

Select to show a list of the connected Microblog Channels in the Widget.

If enabled, the connected Microblog Channels are shown using their Microblog Hash Name and can be clicked to go to the Channel itself. Users who do not have at least Read Access to a Channel won't see the Channel in this list. If disabled, no list of connected Microblog Channels is shown.

This setting is only available when the Display feed is enabled.

Number of results

Enter the maximum number of results to increment by and to display initially. You must enter a value between 1 and 99. If there are additional items to display, users can click the Load More link found at the bottom of the feed to load additional results.

This setting is only available when the Display feed is enabled.

Users are unable to Load More Posts when the Widget is configured to use the Compact Layout.

Show follow icon

Select "Show follow icon" to add a Follow button () to the Widget. Users can click this button to subscribe to all Channels displayed in the Widget to which they have at least Read level Access.

Layout tab settings

Choose A Layout

• Standard
  • Best used when the Widget occupies the center column of a Page or more
    
    
• Compact
  • Best used when the Widget occupies a narrow side column of a Page
  • Does not allow users to Share a thought...
  • Does not show comments or allow users to post comments.
  • Can't load more posts
    
    

User Photo

Select whether an author's profile photo is shown on their post or comment.

Date

Select whether the date and time of a post is shown. Comments still display when they occurred regardless of this setting.

Author

Select whether an author's name is shown on their post or comment.

Appearance tab settings

Use the Class field to add custom CSS to this Widget. 

Your digital workplace's CSS theme overrides the other settings on this tab.

Set up 

You can follow the standard Widget placement and set up steps for this Widget. You may find it helpful to leave this article open as a reference for specific configuration settings.