.png){kind=small}
As the semester starts to kick off, that means it’s time to dust off the cobwebs and get back into your Yellowdig Communities! If this is your first time back since the spring or even the fall of last year, you will definitely notice a few changes. Below we highlight some of the most notable updates from 2022 to ensure you feel ready to dig into your communities this fall.
New and Improved Post Editor
Our updated post editor released in March opens up more opportunities for creative engagement and content sharing across your learning communities.
The new features and improvements include:
Image Annotation (new)
Draw directly on any image. Simply hit the settings icon and navigate to "Draw on image attachment" and then get creative!
More Image Support (new)
Designing posts with images just got more exciting! Move images inline, resize, and add animated GIFs.
Tables (new)
You can now add & edit tables.
Code Block Editor (updated)
Now displays in 50+ programming languages, see below.
Emoji Picker (updated)
The emoji picker now includes skin tone options.
Easier File Uploading (updated)
More support for drag & drop and copy/paste.
Enhanced Notifications with @community Mentions
With this update, community members can notify the whole community with @community or just the admins (typically the instructor and TAs) with @admins.
LTI 1.3 is Now Available for Most Common LMSs
LTI 1.3 is available for Canvas and Blackboard and is in Beta for others. The LTI 1.3 standard touts data privacy and security benefits, as well as a more seamless student experience.
There are Names & Roles integration certifications and improved member management capabilities available through LTI 1.3.
To get set up on LTI 1.3 please follow the instructions in our Knowledge base or reach out to support@yellowdig.com for assistance.
Canvas Groups and Sections Integration
It is now possible for organizations using Canvas to enable Yellowdig group creation via LTI from Groups or Sections that are created inside of the Canvas LMS.
Bookmarked Conversations
With the new bookmarks feature, you're able to save conversations that you want to reference later on. For example, you can bookmark posts you want to bring up in class. Students can use bookmarks to save study materials or conversations they wish to return to.
Improved Cloud Drafts
Gone are the days of thinking your post or comment that you worked so hard on vanished into cyberspace. With the updates to our cloud drafts feature, all drafts are easily accessible via the “Drafts” button on the left, with the number of drafts you have in progress indicated by a notification. Simply navigate to the Drafts section to edit and post!
Topics Without Points
This is an important update to take note of, as it may impact how you set up your community this fall. Do you love the idea of allowing students to have the types of side conversations that make students feel comfortable and connected to their peers, but don’t feel comfortable awarding learners points for chatting about the latest Netflix show they’re watching?
Instructors can now enable casual conversations in a Yellowdig community without awarding points to them. This feature ensures that conversations around particular topics are still possible, but that learners will only earn points related to “on-topic” conversations that their community facilitators wish to remain active.
Some great examples of no-point topics include: “Hallway Talk,” “Class Lounge,” or “Water Cooler chat.”
Another use of no-point topics could be disabling points for overused topics or topics you don’t want students to earn points for anymore. For example, maybe in week 1 you encourage students to use the “Introductions” topic, but by week 3 you no longer want students to earn points for that. Simply go back into the topics widget in week 3 and disable point earning! It will only disable points moving forward.
If a topic has points disabled, the topic tag will appear white, and only the text and the dotted outline will have color.
How to make this change: Navigate to Settings > Topics > hovering over a topic click “Edit”. Then select “Point Earning Disabled” and “Save Changes”.
Accolade Widget
This feature helps to highlight and celebrate great conversations happening in your communities.
An Accolade is a reward given by a community owner or facilitator for exceptional contributions. By providing visibility and quick access to the posts and comments that have received Accolades, great participation will be modeled for your community members. We hope this helps drive more meaningful participation in your communities!
We hope you found this Yellowdig Engage recent update summary helpful. If you have any questions or feedback, please don't hesitate to reach out! Happy Yellowdigging!