HighQ Basics

Enterprise microblogging

Collaborate's enterprise microblogging feature allows you to send a message to a group of users. Typically, that group would include every person invited to a particular site where you are also a member.
Alternatively, if you are an 'internal' user, you can send a microblog post to all of the users of your organisation. A microblog post does not necessarily relate to a particular piece of content on a site but can relate broadly to the entire site and its members.

How to send a microblog post

To send a microblog post from the Dashboard, click the text field at the top of the
Recent Activity
 section:
This displays the Microblog post form:
The microblog form consists of the following components:
  1. A text area for entering your update, link, image, question, etc.
  2. Buttons to add a link, add an attachment and format text
  3. A field that allows you to select which site(s), organisations or people to share the message with
  4. Select
    Post
     to post the message, or select
    Cancel
     to cancel your post
Building the message
@ Mentions
A microblog post can also contain 'mentions' of other users with access to Collaborate, which notifies them of the blog post. Type the @ symbol, immediately followed by the user's first or last name. A list of matching users is shown:
Select one of the names to 'mention' that user:
An email @mention notification looks like this:
The online @mention notification looks like this:
#hashtags (aka Tags)
You can also add tags to microblog posts, just like almost any other type of content in Collaborate. To add a tag, type the hashtag symbol (#) followed immediately by any alphanumeric character (letters or numbers). A list of existing, matching tags in the system is displayed. If a suggested tag is appropriate, select it to replace the typed tag.
To add a new tag, type until the tag is complete and press
Enter
:
Tags added in the microblog form cannot contain spaces and are highlighted in blue text when completed. You can add as many tags that are necessary to the microblog post:
Click a tag link to search, using that tag as a filter, across all sites and all types of content where you have access. The search results are appropriately security-constrained.
Linked content and images
The microblog post can include links to content on a site, or to uploaded files or images.
Linked content
Select
Link
:
The
Insert link
 window opens. This window allows you to add links to other content in Collaborate, or to upload files:
If text inside the message area is highlighted when the link is created, the link is added to that text. Otherwise, a link to the content is added to the message area:
When the message is posted, a recipient can click the link to access the content or, if a file was uploaded, to download the file.
Attachments
To add an attachment to the message, select
Attachments
:
The
Add attachment
 screen is displayed. Select
Upload
 to add a file from your computer as an attachment:
If your browser supports the function, you can drag and drop an image into the browse area.
If your browser does not support drag and drop, click
Browse...
 to find the image on your computer. After the image has been added, a preview of the image is displayed:
More than one image can be added, and any image can be removed by clicking on the red
X
. When the microblog post is sent, images are displayed on the page:
Click the image to display it in full size.
If there are multiple images, all of them are displayed as thumbnails:
The images can also be viewed in a gallery; use the navigation arrows above the picture. The recipient can also download the attachment from the gallery:
You can add attachments of any type. Images are displayed as a thumbnail preview; other attachments are displayed as an icon with file name and size.
Choosing the recipients of a microblog post
You must choose who to share the microblog post with. A microblog post may have a default recipient; typically, this is the organisation you have used to log in (if you are part of the internal organisation), for example:
For example; by default, a user who works for IBM sees '
All of IBM
'; however, the instance of Collaborate may have been configured to make a different site the default recipient. If a different site has been set, then the user cannot set their own organisation as the recipient (only a site can be the recipient).
One or more recipient sites can be added by typing a site name in the text field. Matches are listed in a drop-down menu:
The recipient sites are limited to sites where you are a member, but please note that a Site Administrator can choose to make their site unavailable for microblogging. Any recipient group can be removed by clicking the
x
 before the message is sent:
Receiving a microblog post
The microblog post appears in:
  • the activity streams of any user who is a member of a group that was a recipient of the microblog post
  • the activity stream on the Dashboard.
  • the activity stream of the site that was the recipient of the message (assuming the Activity module is enabled for that site)
Microblog posts are NOT distributed via email.
The microblog post looks like this:
You can also Favourite ('star') a post, or share via
More Actions
.
The message may include links to site content or uploaded files; it may have embedded images. If a user is mentioned, their name appears as a link; if you have appropriate rights, click the link to bring up their profile.
Responding to a microblog post
To respond to a microblog post, select
Comment
 to display the comment text area (if a comment is being added to a comment, then the text area is already displayed). Type your message and select
Post
.
Groups that were recipients of the original microblog post will also receive any replies as long as the user replying has access to those groups. It is not possible to remove a group recipient nor add additional group recipients to the reply (although it is possible to share the microblog post with others).
Sharing a microblog post
Click
More actions
 >
Share
 to share a microblog post with others, including people who were not recipients of the original post. A microblog post can be shared as an
Email
, a
Link
, a
Message
 or a
Re-post
:
Email
Link
Select the
Use short URL
 checkbox to shorten the URL.
Message
Re-post

Removing microblog posts

Microblog posts can be removed if they are deemed inappropriate (or for any other reason). This action can be taken via the Recent Activity pane, or in the Activity module for a site.
Removing a microblog post removes the message and its content (including any hashtags or @mentions), any replies and likes. Files that were added to the microblog post, however, remain in the
My files
 library for the author of the microblog post.
The only users who can remove a microblog post are:
  • System Administrators, who can delete any microblog post
  • The user who posted the initial microblog post can delete their own message
To delete a microblog post, click
More Actions
 >
Delete
:
To confirm, select
Delete
.
If a microblog post is associated with multiple sites, it is deleted from all sites.

This article applies to:

  • Product: HighQ