Getting started with Product Updates

  • 10 December 2020
  • 12 replies
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Product Updates is a module that allows your company and product teams to communicate product updates type of information to community users. For example roadmap updates, releases, Beta features, major updates...

As a Moderator or Product person, you will be able to manage these Product Updates from Control. This guide highlights the basics of the Product Updates module and the steps to take to start using it.

Summary:

  • Customize the Product Updates landing page
  • Set the right permissions
  • Set product areas
  • Configure the 'New product update' email template
  • Add link to Product Updates in the Mega Menu
  • Move existing articles to Product Updates

 

A dedicated and customizable landing page for all your Product Updates

You can configure the look and feel and widgets that are displayed on the Product Updates landing page. When on the Product Updates landing page (www.examplecommity/product-updates), you can click on the 'Customize' button to easily add, remove and adjust widgets to your liking. Determine which widgets you want to show, which topics to highlight, and add any call to action to other parts of your community. Feeling creative? Add Custom HTML widgets to bring your landing page to the next level.

 

Make Product Updates accessible for a specific set of users

Permissions allow you to configure which user roles have access to Product Updates. When you grant a user role access to Product Updates the users within this role can view, reply and like Product Updates articles. Use permissions to only grant some user segments access (e.g. beta testers, premium customers, colleagues).

Creating Product updates articles is only possible from Control and therefore for moderators and above. 

 

Categorize Product Updates with Product Areas (Optional)

[Product areas are only available for Business and Enterprise customers]

Product areas are used to communicate which product type, version, or model is discussed. Product areas behave the same as public tags and are optional to add, however, product areas can only be added to Ideas and Product update topics.

Product areas are shown as metadata near the title of the idea or product update. Users can filter on product areas to retrieve a list of all the topics that were 'tagged' with the same product area. Configure meaningful product areas (e.g. 'Product X', 'Version 1.4', 'Freemium') which are familiar for your community to filter on.

Learn how to configure product areas

Product area configuration in Control

Configure the "New Product Update" email template

We created a specific email template for the Product Updates module. When an end-user subscribes to the Product Updates module, he will receive an email notification every time a new product update is published. You can configure that template in Control> Email> System Emails > New product update.

Learn how to configure email templates variables

 

Add Product Updates to the Mega Menu

You can make add a link in the Mega Menu to link to the Product Updates overview page. Beware you also need to configure the Mega Menu on the Product Updates overview page (this is due to a Beta limitation of the Mega Menu)

Learn how to configure the Mega Menu

 

Convert existing articles from a category to become Product Updates  (Optional)

You can convert articles at the topic level to become product updates. All fields available on the article except content helpfulness will be carried over in the new product update. Topic-level subscriptions will be carried over. Also, a redirection will be in place to redirect the old article to the new product update. Learn more here

WARNING: This conversion is only possible from article to Product update. You can NOT convert back a Product update to be article!

This conversion option is available upon request. Reach out to your CSM to have it enabled

 

Now it is your turn :)

Now that you know what Product Updates is about it’s time to get started. First configure product areas in control. Then customize your Product Updates landing page so it suits all your needs. Create your first product update (learn how here) and finally, promote Product Updates on your homepage (learn how here) to get more visitors. Now you’re good to go!


12 replies

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Hi @Marion Frecaut. We’re messing around with product updates/area's to see if it could work for us. 

Question time: When I publish a product update, the preview of the text on the main page doesn't show white spaces/line distance/layout what is used in the topic itself. It's just a wall of text. Is this something that could be changed/fixed?

 

example

 

Hello @Paul_ thanks a lot for spotting that. You found indeed a bug. I created a ticket for our engineers to solve this.

I will make sure to inform you once it's fixed :)

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Hey @Paul_ I actually investigated a bit further and this not exactly a bug but more of an improvement. Articles featured on the homepage work the same way. Also when we display preview text of topic in the recently active stream, we strip all the spaces. The main reason is to be able to show more content. 

Could you create an idea for this improvement so we can other members of the community to vote on it and get input on your proposed solution and give it the right priority?

Thanks a lot

I don’t any see way to subscribe to the Product Updates which is the one area all of our customers would want to subscribe to. I can see subscribe to a specific topic but that isn’t very useful since we don’t tend to update a Product Update once it has gone out. 

Hello @kaponte I see that the stats bar which contains the subscribe button is not visible on your Product Updates overview page. You simply have to go on the Product updates overview page, click on "Customize" and click on the eye for the stats bar to make it visible to your end users :)

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I have added two test Product Areas to Control → Settings Product Areas. Also I added Product updates to our Mega Menu.

 

But when I go from Mega Menu to our Product Area I get this error message:

You are not authorized to access this page.

Sorry, you have no access to this page.

 

What I am doing wrong?

 

Edit: Also I dont have option to write new Product Update article. Does this mean this feature isnt (fully) enabled for us?

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Now everything is ok, feature werent enabled for us :)

There is one problem and it is related to the url → www.examplecommity/product-updates I would like to change that /product-updates, is it possible and if so where I can change it?

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Now everything is ok, feature werent enabled for us :)

There is one problem and it is related to the url → www.examplecommity/product-updates I would like to change that /product-updates, is it possible and if so where I can change it?

I founded this thread and it seems this isnt possible, is this true?
 

 

Hi @revote ! Indeed at the moment this is not possible indeed. I would highly encourage you to create an idea for in in our ideation module. I have heard this request before and it would be to see how many votes this idea could gather :)

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Hi @revote ! Indeed at the moment this is not possible indeed. I would highly encourage you to create an idea for in in our ideation module. I have heard this request before and it would be to see how many votes this idea could gather :)

Yeah, I have raised idea for this:
 

 

Can we turn off the comments on product updates?

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