We heard you. And we're introducing a Like button across all of our apps to make it easier for people to engage and provide feedback in your Igloo. Documents, blogs, forums, microblogs, wikis, and calendars will be included.
The Like button is a simplified rating system. It's a great way to show approval or encouragement, to endorse a new idea, or to acknowledge receipt of a status update, without having to commit to a full-blown conversation. Like lowers the barriers to engagement, making it easier for even passive members to participate in the conversations that occur in your community.
Of course, there are cases where a binary rating - either I Like something or I don't - is not enough. That's where the 5-star rating system comes into play. It allows you to establish a more in-depth comparison (e.g. rating resumes for a new job posting or comparing ideas in a corporate forum).
You can choose to enable Like, 5-star rating, or the combination of both in the control panel (global settings).
The Like button is also available on comments, replacing the voting mechanism that was previously in place. And it's no longer anonymous, so you can click on the icon to reveal the members who have liked a post just like in the example below.
Today, forums have a variation on the Like button. Depending on the forum type, different commands will appear such as "I like this idea" or "I also have this problem". In our next release, all apps will be automatically upgraded to the new design as part of the roll out. And if you enable 5-star rating, it will also be applied to the forums app.
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6 Comments
This is great news! When will the new feature be available?
We thought you would be a fan of this new feature Heather!
We are looking at posting the official release date in our technical bulletin forum as well as the release notes in our product news forum before the end of the week.
While I applaud the simplified concept, I'm not sure that this will be appropriate for problem forum posts. It is natural for people to not like problematic or sensitive posts (e.g. on Facebook). We don't use it that much but it will be interesting to observe user behavior on technical sites like yours.
Good afternoon Michael,
The good news is that the button will be customizable at the community level so you would be able to change some of the functionality if "like" isn't exactly what you are looking for.
I can put in a feature request to see if this can be added on a channel-by-channel level as well.
Best wishes,
Sorena
I think this is great. There might always be different usages and special cases. But I think a basic like button will be a valuable addition to Igloo and raise engagement.
Looking forward to trying it out :)