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SpringyNews - Communities Reimagined

July 2020

Welcome to the NEW Springshare Lounge!

This summer we wanted to make an improvement in an area that would empower Springshare users to collaborate, discuss, and help each other online. One of Springshare's greatest strengths has always been the community, and we wanted to make an online space that reflects how innovative all of you are. So, without further ado, we are happy to introduce the revamped, and extra Springy, Springshare Lounge!

The new Springshare Lounge will be running with brand new sneakers on better software, using a more intuitive, friendly layout, and will focus on engaging users with modern online forum features. 

All that might sound like a tall order, so let’s dig into the details of joining and participating in the new Springshare Lounge! 

Springshare Lounge Landing Page image.

Joining the Springshare Lounge

To create a Springshare Lounge Account, go to lounge.springshare.com and begin registering for an account by clicking on the "Register" button in the top right corner.

After your account is registered, and you’ve confirmed your email address, it will go through approval by the Springshare Lounge Team to check that you are a Springshare LibApps user. After your account is approved you’ll receive an email notification giving you access. 

*You do need to join here even if you were a member on the old Lounge - thanks for your patience! :)

Springshare Lounge login page, with direction to select Register button.

Getting Started in the Springshare Lounge

Editing your Profile

After your account is registered and approved by the Springshare Team, we’d recommend clicking on your Profile icon>Edit Profile to make a few customizations.  Directions to click on Profile icon in navigation bar, then the Edit Profile setting.

From there, you can review your Profile settings and fields (Notifications Settings, Change Password, Profile fields, etc.). 

We'd recommend getting started by changing your Profile Image using the “Change My Picture” setting. 

Direction to click on the Change My Picture setting.

Categories and Discussions & Reviewing the Springy Community Guidelines 

With your Profile ready, we can go over to the main Springshare Lounge pages by clicking on the Categories or Discussions links in the top navigation. The Discussions page contains a list of all the most recent Discussions, while the Categories page will list all the specific Lounge Categories where Questions and Discussions are being posted.

However, before we post our first Discussion/Question, let’s take a moment to review the Springshare Lounge "Welcome Message" and the "Springy Community Guidelines". 

While we believe that our Springshare Community has a good understanding of online etiquette, it is still important to review the “dos and don’ts” of the Community Guidelines to get an understanding of the behavior expected in the Springshare Lounge. To get there go to Categories>Welcome to the Lounge Category, and locate the “Welcome!” and “Springy Community Guidelines” discussion posts.

Springshare Lounge Categories page, with directions to click on the Welcome and Springy Community Guidelines posts

To get to your wanted Category or Discussion quickly, the Springshare Lounge has navigational links located in the right column. The links are divided into different sections which we will review below!

Quick Links

Categories and Recent Discussions will take you back to the main Categories and Discussions pages that are also linked to in the top navigation bar.

Activity will take you to a current page listing recent activity in the Lounge.

My Bookmarks goes to your Bookmarks page, which will show any Question/Discussion Post that you've bookmarked (see the second image to the right).

My Drafts goes to your Drafts page, where your saved Drafts for Questions and Discussions will appear.

Best Of... goes to a page where you can see the most popular Discussions/Questions by the Promoted/Insightful/Agree/Like/LOL Reactions.

Unanswered will take you to a page of currently unanswered Questions.

Direction to locate the Quick Links list in the right side column.

 

 

 

Direction to locate the Bookmark icon on a Question/Discussion Post to add it to your My Bookmarks list.

     *Bookmark Icon reference for bookmarking Questions/Discussions.

Categories

The Categories list will take you directly to the Category page.  It also lists out the Sub-Categories which you can also click on to jump to their page.

Direction to locate the Categories list section in the right side column.

Popular Tags

The Popular Tags list allows you to sort Questions and Discussions by the Tags added to them. For example, if you wanted to look at all the Questions/Discussions tagged as "coop", you could click on the "coop" Tag.

Direction to locate the Popular Tags list in the right side column.

Search the Lounge! 

At the top of the Categories/Discussion page you can Search using the Search bar in the banner.

Searching the Lounge is a good first step toward finding answers to recently asked Questions and posted Discussions.  

For all we know, the answers to all our questions could already be sitting in the Springshare Lounge! :)

Direction to locate the Search field that is in the banner at the top of the page.

After making a search, you can narrow down the results further by adding filters for the title, author, and date! 

Directions to use the Search Results Filters when viewing results of your Search.

Make a new Discussion or ask a Question

On the Discussions or Categories page, you can create a Discussion/Question by clicking on the "New Discussion" dropdown arrow icon. In the dropdown list select "New Discussion" or "Ask a Question".

Discussions - Are you interested in discussing how to use Spaces for your Library? Want to generate some ideas on how other LibGuide users are customizing their Guides? – Then, a Discussion is the way to go! 

Questions - Have a question about CSS customization in LibInsight? Looking for an answer regarding LibChat embed code in LibGuides? - Then asking a Question will be your best bet!

*Additionally, Questions allow the Questioner to select an Answer from other user comments. The selected Answer will appear above all other comments in the thread. This is a useful feature for other Lounge users that may end up on the Question after making a Search.

 

Directions to click on the New Discussion Arrow Icon to view the "New Discussion" and "Ask a Question" dropdown options.

On the Question/Discussion creation page, you'll be able to add a Question/Discussion Title, select a Category, add information to the content/text area, and add Tags. Additionally, in the content/text area you can use the editor tools to add files, media, images, and emoji icons! 

After you are done creating the content of your Question/Discussion you can click on the "Ask Question" or "Post Discussion" button.

*There is a "Save Draft" option which can be used to save a Discussion/Question for editing later on. Drafts will be saved to the "Drafts" section in your Profile dropdown settings, and will also be linked to in the Quicklinks on the Discussion/Categories pages.

Directions pointing at the title, category, content area, and tags fields of the Ask a Question or Create a Discussion pages.

 

Leaving a Comment

In you’d like to leave a comment on a Question/Discussion, locate the Leave a Comment field at the bottom of the Question/Discussion thread. From there, you can create a Comment and then click on "Post Comment".

Directions to use the content area field of the Leave a Comment area that appears at the bottom of Question/Discussion threads.

Selecting Answers

Questions posters will be prompted to either accept or reject comments as Answers to their Question. When a Question poster accepts an Answer, it will appear above all the other replies in the Question thread. (Admins and Moderators can also reject/accept answers).

This can be helpful to users searching the lounge to easily locate the correct answer. Additionally, Points are awarded to the user whose answer is chosen – more information in the Review your Profile Page Activity, Points, and Badges section below.

Directions on selecting whether to accept a comment to a Question post as the Answer, by selecting yes or no.

Reactions & Flags

Reactions lets other users know how you felt about their Discussion/Question/Comment. 

Important: If you locate a Discussion/Question/Comment that does not abide by our Springshare Community Guidelines, please make sure to use the Flag Reaction. Doing so will alert the Springshare Lounge team of the post and put it under our review. 

Directions to locate the reaction options that appear below a Question/Discussion post. Example directions point at the Flag and Like reactions.

 

To review your Profile Page activity, Points, and Badges 

To review your Profile page activity go to your Profile image>Profile Image/Username in the settings dropdown. Here you’ll find general Account activity information, as well as your current Point count and list of current Badges. 

Points are awarded when your comment is selected as the top answer to a posted Question. 

Badges are distributed when your account reaches certain milestones! For example, there might be a badge in store for you when making your first post! Badges will also be related to Points, however, we are still deciding exactly how this will work! Keep an eye on the Springshare Lounge for more updates on this!  

*If you are planning on joining Springy Camp this year, there might be something special regarding badges in the works for you! :) 

Directions to click on the Profile icon in the top navigation bar and then the profile photo/name to get to the Profile Activity page. Where there are directions to review points and badges.