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Topics & Smart Objects

Updated till version 2.6

Topics

Topics are articles or blog posts that can be created using various content types.

  • Article is a generic article that can contain a wide variety of content such as text, images, files, and videos. It is similar to a blog post. Regular topics (articles) are those with the following icon on the avatar.
  • Video Topic is for adding a video as the main object in a topic. The video can be uploaded as a file or linked from a video service (YouTube, Vimeo, etc.). Furthermore, you can add a description that explains the video or gives additional information. Video topics are those with the following icon on the avatar.
  • Analysis topic is a special type of topic, which has similar functionalities as a regular topic content type, but serves a different purpose. An analysis topic is a condensation of e.g. research texts, fact-finding documents, or comprehensive studies and aims to deliver a concise version of something, especially a text. Analysis topics are those with the following icon on the avatar.

The topic author can @mention specific users within a topic text or in comments. The topic author can schedule the topic's publication date/ time.

Public and private topics

By default, anyone within a team/ organization can create both types of topics. Rights and access are granted and revoked in the VNCdirectory.

When you create a new topic, you can choose it to be public or private according to the topic’s purpose.

  • Public topic is visible to any members of the team. Any member can subscribe to a public topic by selecting a topic displayed on the channel home page.
  • Private topic is only visible to its participants. Only the participants of the private topic can see the private topic on the channel home page.

Change the view of topics

Topics can be displayed in 3 ways: List and Tile.

  1. Open a channel.
  2. Tap the list icon or tile icon and select a required view.

Grant access to a private topic

Private topic authors will have to approve participation requests before someone can subscribe to the topic. If a user is not a participant in the private topic, they will not be able to access that topic. Tapping the private channel’s URL will result in a “Request access” screen.

  • The person who creates a private topic is the private topic author and the private topic author can directly add or remove people from it.
  • Participants of a private topic have a secure conversation space, and when new participants are added, they can see the topic on the channel home page.
  • If a user is granted a private topic’s access in a private channel to which the user does not already have access, the user will get access to both: the private channel and the private topic.

To grant access to a private topic, do the following:

  1. Open a topic.

    • Tap Read more, if you're in the tile view within a channel.
    • Tap anywhere on the topic preview, if you're in the list view.

  2. In the upper right corner, tap the info icon . You will be redirected to the "Topic Info" page.

  3. Navigate to the Users tab.
  4. Under the Pending external users approval section, you can see a list of access requests. Tap the checkmark icon next to the user you want to add to the topic.
  5. The private topic on the channel home page will appear immediately when the request is approved. The user will be notified via notifications about the granted access.

Create a text topic

  1. Navigate to Channels.
  2. Tap the plus icon and then select Topic.
  3. Type a name.
  4. Tap the pencil icon to set the topic header.
  5. Navigate to Article and select a topic type.
  6. Navigate to Select a channel to change the channel you want to create a topic for. Check the box next to a required channel.
  7. Navigate to Attachments to add files to the topic. Then tap the plus icon and select a required document/ photo/ image from your phone.
  8. Navigate to Related Objects to add a related topic. Check the box next to a required object and then tap the checkmark icon in the upper right corner.

  9. Navigate to Settings to:

    • Make your topic private (only the channel users will be able to see the topic) by checking the Make private box.
    • Disable comments by checking the Disable comments box.
    • Add tags by entering a tag name in the field or selecting a tag from the existing list.

  10. Navigate to Schedule to schedule a topic.

  11. Navigate to Add description to add a topic description.
  12. In the upper right corner, tap the checkmark icon .

You should see the notification stating "Topic created". Your topic will appear on the channel.

Create a video topic

  1. Navigate to Channels.
  2. Tap the plus icon and then select Video topic.
  3. Type a name.

  4. Choose an option:

    • Add embedded video if you want to add the video URL.
    • Drop or select a video if you want to select the video from your device.

  5. (Optional) To change the type of the topic, navigate to Video topic and then select a required topic type.

  6. The further steps are the same as for creating a text topic. Refer to the "Create a text topic" section, for a step-by-step guide.

Create an analysis topic

To create a video topic in a channel:

  1. Navigate to Channels.
  2. Tap the plus icon and then Analysis topic.
  3. Tap the pencil icon to set the topic header.
  4. (Optional) To change the type of the topic, navigate to Analysis topic and then select a required topic type.
  5. The further steps are the same as for creating a text topic. Refer to the "Create a text topic" section, for a step-by-step guide.

Create a private topic

  1. While creating a topic, navigate to Settings.
  2. Check the box next to Make Private and then tap the back arrow in the upper left corner.
  3. Tap the plus icon and select the names of those you would like to invite.
  4. In the upper right corner, tap the checkmark icon .

Schedule a topic

  1. While creating a topic, navigate to Schedule.
  2. Check the box next to Schedule a Post.
  3. Tap the calendar icon to set the publish date. Then tap the checkbox at the bottom.
  4. Tap the calendar icon to set the expiry date and then tap the checkbox at the bottom. The topic expires at the end of the specified day. Once done, tap the back arrow in the upper left corner.
  5. In the upper right corner, tap the checkmark icon .

Access topic information

There are 2 ways to access topic information.

Way 1. From the channel home page.

  1. Open the channel where a required topic is located.
  2. Tap and hold a topic you want to access information.
  3. Select Topic Info from the dropdown menu.

Way 2. From the topic page.

  1. Open a topic.
  2. In the upper right corner, tap the kebab menu icon .
  3. Select Topic Info from the dropdown menu.

Info screen options available in topics:

  • Add a user to the topic
  • Edit the topic information

The information available in topics:

  • Info. See and edit the topic information. You can also add related topics.
  • Files. A collection of all the images, videos, and docs.
  • Users. See who is subscribed to the channel. A tap on the kebab menu icon in the participant list allows viewing participant profile information, changing the role, or removing the user.

Edit a topic

You can edit topics created by you.

You can edit an existing topic. You might need to do this if you want to correct or add additional information to an existing topic page.

There are 2 ways to edit the topic.

Way 1. From the channel home page.

  1. Open the channel where a required topic is located.
  2. Tap and hold a topic you want to edit.
  3. Select Edit topic from the dropdown menu.
  4. Make required changes.
  5. In the upper right corner, tap the checkmark icon .

Way 2. From the topic page.

  1. Open a topic.
  2. In the upper right corner, tap the kebab menu icon .
  3. Select Edit topic from the dropdown menu.
  4. The further steps are the same as for the first way of editing a topic.

The "Related topic" option can be used to relate multiple topics about the same idea.

  • Once you add the related tickets, they will appear in the Related Topics section.
  • The related topics section is visible on both the original topic and the related one.

There are 2 ways to relate a topic.

Way 1. From the topic page.

  1. Open a topic.
  2. In the upper right corner, tap the info icon . You will be redirected to the "Topic Info" page.

  3. Under the Related Objects section, tap the plus icon.

    • You can also tap the kebab menu icon and then select Add related topic from the dropdown menu.

  4. Check the box next to the required objects.

  5. In the upper right corner, tap the checkmark icon .

Way 2. By using the "Edit topic" menu option.

  1. Open a topic.
  2. In the upper right corner, tap the kebab menu icon .
  3. Select Edit topic from the dropdown menu.
  4. Navigate to the Related Objects tab.
  5. The following steps are the same as for the first way of adding a related topic.

There are 2 ways to remove a related topic.

Way 1. From the topic page.

  1. Open a topic.
  2. In the upper right corner, tap the info icon . You will be redirected to the "Topic Info" page.

  3. Under the Related topics section, tap the kebab menu icon next to a required topic.

    • You can remove all related topics at once by tapping the kebab menu icon in the upper right corner of the Related Objects section and then selecting Remove all from the dropdown menu.

  4. Select Remove from the dropdown menu.

Way 2. By using the "Topic info" menu option.

  1. Open a topic.
  2. In the upper right corner, tap the kebab menu icon and then Edit topic.
  3. Navigate to the Related Objects tab.
  4. Uncheck the box next to the required objects.
  5. In the upper right corner, tap the checkmark icon .

There are 2 ways to copy a topic link.

Way 1. From the channel home page.

  1. Open the channel where a required topic is located.
  2. Tap and hold a topic you want to copy a link.
  3. Select Copy link from the dropdown menu.

You should see the notification stating "Link copied to the clipboard". You can now paste the copied message to chat.

Way 2. From the topic page.

  1. Open a topic.
  2. In the upper right corner, tap the kebab menu icon .
  3. Select Copy link from the dropdown menu.

Subscribe to a topic

There are 2 ways to subscribe to a topic.

Way 1. From the channel home page.

  1. Open the channel where a required topic is located.
  2. Tap and hold a topic you want to subscribe to.
  3. Select Subscribe to the topic from the dropdown menu.
  4. To unsubscribe from the topic, tap and hold a topic you want to unsubscribe and then select Unsubscribe from the topic.

Once subscribed, the topic will display a subscription badge next to the topic name, indicating that you will receive notifications about all updates within the topic.

Way 2. From the topic page.

  1. Open a topic.
  2. In the upper right corner, tap the kebab menu icon .
  3. Select Subscribe to the topic from the dropdown menu.
  4. To unsubscribe from the topic, tap the kebab menu icon again and then select Unsubscribe from the topic.

Mark a topic as read/ unread

There are 2 ways to mark a topic as read/ unread.

Way 1. From the channel home page.

  1. Open a channel where a required topic is located.
  2. Tap and hold a topic you want to mark as read/ unread.
  3. Select Mark as read/ unread from the dropdown menu.

Way 2. From the topic page.

  1. Open a topic.
  2. In the upper right corner, tap the kebab menu icon .
  3. Select Mark as read/ unread from the dropdown menu.

Forward a topic

There are 2 ways to forward a topic.

Way 1. From the channel home page.

  1. Open the channel where a required topic is located.
  2. Tap and hold a topic you want to forward.
  3. Select Send to from the dropdown menu.
  4. Enter the name of the person you want to forward a topic to or choose from the suggested account list.
  5. You have the option to add a comment to your message.
  6. Tap Send.

Way 2. From the topic page.

  1. Open a topic.
  2. In the upper right corner, tap the kebab menu icon and then Send to.
  3. Enter the name of the person you want to forward a topic to or choose from the suggested account list.
  4. You have the option to add a comment to your message.
  5. Tap Send.

Move a topic to another channel

You can move only topics created by you.

There are 2 ways to move a topic to another channel.

Way 1. From the channel home page.

  1. Open the channel where a required topic is located.
  2. Tap and hold a topic you want to move to another channel.
  3. Select Move to channel from the dropdown menu.
  4. Enter the name of the channel you want to move a topic to or choose from the suggested channel list.
  5. Tap Move.

You should see the notification stating "Topic moved to "Test" Channel".

Way 2. From the topic page.

  1. Open a topic.
  2. In the upper right corner, tap the kebab menu icon .
  3. Select Move to channel from the dropdown menu.
  4. Enter the name of the person you want to forward a topic to or choose from the suggested account list.
  5. Tap Move.

Archive a topic

You can archive only topics created by you.

There are 2 ways to archive a topic.

Way 1. From the channel home page.

  1. Open the channel where a required topic is located.
  2. Tap and hold a topic you want to archive.
  3. Select Archive Topic from the dropdown menu.
  4. When prompted, tap Archive confirming that you want to archive a topic.

Way 2. From the topic page.

  1. Open a topic.
  2. In the upper right corner, tap the kebab menu icon .
  3. Select Archive Topic from the dropdown menu.
  4. When prompted, tap Archive confirming that you want to archive a topic.

Delete a topic

Deleting a topic is permanent, so make sure that you proceed with caution.

There are 2 ways to delete a topic.

Way 1. From the channel home page.

  1. Open a channel where a required topic is located.
  2. Tap and hold a topic you want to delete.
  3. Select Delete Topic from the dropdown menu.

Way 2. From the topic page.

  1. Open a topic.
  2. In the upper right corner, tap the kebab menu icon .
  3. Select Move to trash from the dropdown menu.

Clone a topic

If you ever need to create a duplicate of a topic, there’s no need to do everything manually. Cloning enables you to duplicate a topic, copying over most information from a topic like the subject and description fields and more.

In the cloning process, the following information from the original topic is automatically cloned Topic name, Topic description, Type, Header, Attachments, Channel, Related topics. Additionally, all publishing settings are saved.

  • The prefix Copy is automatically added to the name of a cloned topic.
  • All cloned topics are saved as drafts and stored under the Unpublished section.
  • You can remove the Copy prefix, add additional information, or publish a cloned topic by selecting the Edit topic menu option.

To clone a topic, do the following:

  1. Open a topic.
  2. In the upper right corner, tap the kebab menu icon .
  3. Select Clone Topic from the dropdown menu.
  4. When prompted, tap Yes to confirm that you want to clone the topic.

Add a comment to a topic

You can add a comment to a topic if comments are not disabled for it.

There are 3 ways to add a comment to the topic.

Way 1. From the channel home page.

  1. Open the channel where a required topic is located.
  2. Tap the new comment icon on the topic. You will be redirected to the Comments section.
  3. Tap Add a comment.
  4. Enter a comment.
  5. Tap the send button at the bottom or checkmark icon in the upper right corner.

Your comment should be visible under the topic.

Way 2. From the topic page.

  1. Open a topic.

  2. Tap the new comment icon on the topic. You will be redirected to the Comments section.

    • You can also scroll down to the Comments section and tap Add a comment.

  3. The following stepd are the same as for the first way of adding a comment to a topic.

Like a topic

There are 2 ways to like a topic.

Way 1. From the channel home page.

  1. Open the channel where a required topic is located.
  2. Tap the like button on the topic and it will turn red, confirming that you've liked the post.

Way 2. From the topic page.

  1. Open a topic.
  2. Tap the like button on the topic and it will turn red, confirming that you've liked the post.

Smart objects

The Smart Objects used in Analysis Topics are in particular:

  • Smartlink is an object that contains links to various objects (channels, topics, comments, chats, emails, files, broadcasts, tasks) within VNClagoon. A Smartlink can also contain multiple links.
  • Highlight is an object that highlights and emphasizes text (one word or a phrase) that is of specific importance to the author.
  • Sticky note is an object that allows adding a meta comment to a selected word or phrase. A sticky note may have 6 colors.
  • Reference is an object delivering further information inside a topic article about source documents, quotes, or background information. The in-text references or citations are placed next to the text that is paraphrased or quoted. The full details of all references are shown as a list of numbered footnotes at the end of the article, similar to Wikipedia.

Add a sticky note

While creating a topic, you can add a meta-comment to a selected word or phrase. The following icon indicates a sticky note.

  1. While creating or editing a description for the topic, tap and hold a required word, phrase, or sentence to open a menu.
  2. Select Sticky note.
  3. Enter your text. Here, you can format a text, add an image, attach a video, or insert a link. You can also change the background color.
  4. Once done, tap the send button at the bottom.

Edit a sticky note

You can change the appearance of a sticky note or edit its content.

Way 1. Editing a single Sticky Note.

If there is one sticky note under a word, phrase, or sentence:

  1. While creating or editing a description for the topic, tap the sticky note.
  2. In the upper right corner, tap the kebab menu icon .
  3. Select Edit from the dropdown menu.
  4. Make the required changes and then tap the send button at the bottom.

Way 2. Editing multiple Smart Objects.

If there are multiple smart objects under a word, phrase, or sentence:

  1. While creating or editing a description for the topic, tap the down arrow next to a required sticky note. You'll be redirected to the "Smart Objects" page.
  2. Tap a smart object you want to edit and then the pencil icon that appears in the upper right corner.
  3. Make the required changes and then tap the send button at the bottom.

Delete a sticky note

There are 2 ways to delete a sticky note.

Way 1. Deleting a single Sticky Note.

If there is one sticky note under a word, phrase, or sentence:

  1. While creating or editing a description for the topic, tap the sticky note.
  2. In the upper right corner, tap the kebab menu icon .
  3. Select Delete from the dropdown menu.

You will see the notification stating "Sticky note deleted successfully."

Way 2. Deleting multiple Smart Objects.

If there are multiple smart objects under a word, phrase, or sentence:

  1. While creating or editing a description for the topic, tap the down arrow next to a required sticky note. You'll be redirected to the "Smart Objects" page.
  2. Tap a smart object you want to edit and then the trash bin icon that appears in the upper right corner.
  3. Make the required changes and then tap the send button at the bottom.

The "Add a smartlink" option is available for all topic types.

While creating a topic, you can add a smartlink to a selected word or phrase. The following icon indicates a smartlink.

  1. While creating or editing a description for the topic, tap and hold a required word, phrase, or sentence to open a menu.
  2. Select Smartlink.
  3. Enter a search request in the search field. You will see results from channels, topics, and comments.
  4. Check the box next to a required channel, topic, or comment.
  5. In the upper right corner, tap the checkmark .

You can refine your smartlink search results.

  1. Tap the filter icon .
  2. Select the area you want to search - channels, topics, broadcasts, chats, files, or comments.

  3. Under the Type section, select one of the following options:

    • Unread. If you tap it, the system will search for unread channels, topics, and comments;
    • Starred. If you tap it, the system will search for starred channels, topics, and comments;
    • Archived. If you tap it, the system will search for archived channels and topics.

  4. Once filters are set, you can further narrow your search by:

    • Date: Tap and choose a specific date for the search.
    • Type: Select the type of channel.
    • User: Choose the relevant user.
    • Author: Select the content's author.

  5. Tap Show results to display the filtered search results.

Add a highlight

The "Add a highlight" option is available only if you select an analysis topic type.

While creating a topic, you can highlight and emphasize text (one word or a phrase) that is of specific importance to the author. The following icon indicates a highlight.

  1. While creating or editing a description for the topic, tap and hold a required word, phrase, or sentence to open a menu.
  2. Select Highlight.

You will see the notification stating "Highlight created successfully".

Edit a highlight

  1. While creating or editing a description for the topic, tap the highlight.
  2. Tap the highlights again and then select the pencil icon that appears in the upper right corner.
  3. Make the required changes and then tap the checkmark button beneath the field you edit the highlight.

Delete a highlight

  1. While creating or editing a description for the topic, tap the highlight.
  2. Tap the highlights again and then select the trash bin icon that appears in the upper right corner.
  3. When prompted, tap Delete confirming that you want to delete a highlight.

Add a reference

The "Add a reference" option is available only if you select an analysis topic type.

While creating or editing a topic, you can add a reference to a selected word, phrase, or sentence. References are indicated in your text with numbers and placed at the bottom of the page.

  1. While creating or editing a description for the topic, tap and hold a required word, phrase, or sentence to open a menu.
  2. Select Reference.
  3. Type the reference text.
  4. Once done, tap the send button at the bottom.
  5. To change the text of the reference, tap it and then make the required changes.

You will see the notification stating "Reference created successfully".

Combine multiple smart objects

You can combine multiple smart objects in the same word/ phrase/ sentence.

  1. While creating or editing a description for the topic, tap a sticky note or highlight.
  2. Tap the plus button at the bottom and select a smart object you want to add.