Higher Logic provides dozens of widgets that you can use to:
- modernize the look of your community pages,
- enhance the usefulness of your site, and
- increase member engagement.
In this article, we'll focus on our feed-based widgets.
Access the widgets
You'll be able to add, edit, and remove widgets when editing one of your community's pages. To edit a page:
- Navigate to the page you want to update and click Edit Page on the Admin Toolbar (or right click for a new tab). Alternatively, you can click Edit Navigation to access the CMS and your community's complete page list, from which you can access and edit any page.
- Editing a page is accomplished with Page Designer. Click the Build tab and scroll down to the Widget section.
- Use the Category dropdown and/or the search field to more quickly find a specific widget.
- Widgets are grouped by type in the dropdown.
- Select the All category to view the complete list of widgets; click Feed to view the Feed widgets discussed in this article.
Feed widgets
NOTE: You can configure the majority of these Feed widgets to display a specific community's content; however, keep the following default behaviors in mind:
1. When added to a community home page, the widget will only display content from that community.
2. When not on community-specific pages, the widget will display all content the user can view.
3. Privacy settings for content are respected, so users will only see what they're allowed to see.
Each of the widgets in the Feeds category are described in their associated section below.
All Content List
The All Content List widget can display all content types, such as discussions, events, blogs, and library files.
- By default, it displays ALL of the most recent content but it can be configured to show only specific types (like only discussions or blogs), only content from specific communities or with certain tags, and more.
- You can also configure the time period of content to include in the widget, such as only displaying content from the last week, if you want only recent content, or you could push the time period back to display older content.
- You can include various versions of this widget across your community to give your users comprehensive access to content, streamlining the browsing experience and ensuring relevant content is easily accessible.
Announcements List
This widget is typically added to a site's home page or to community home pages to provide the latest announcements. This widget makes it easy to share important information with your users, informing them of significant updates.
See Announcements to learn more.
Latest Discussions List & Latest Q&A List
These two widgets are typically added to a site's home page or to community home pages to dynamically show users the latest discussion posts and Q&A posts.
Key features:
- Display recent posts: By default, these widgets show the latest posts, allowing members to see what's currently being talked about.
- Configuration options: Administrators can configure the widget to show only unique threads, filter to include only posts that have not received replies yet, and more.
- Dynamic updates: These widgets are automatically updated as new posts are created, ensuring that the displayed content is always current.
- Engagement focus: They enhance community engagement by making it easier for users to find and participate in discussion and Q&A posts that may require attention, particularly those that have gone unanswered.
Most Active Users List
This widget shows the most active members across your site or within a specific community, typically based on their engagement points over a defined timeframe, such as the last 30 days.
- Its main purpose is to facilitate recognition of community members who have contributed significantly, thereby encouraging further participation.
- Highlighting users in this way can often help encourage others to begin contributing more to your community as well, further increasing engagement.
- Because Super Admins are highly active users, you can choose to exclude them to ensure they don't take the spotlight away from your community members.
Recent Blogs List
This widget is typically added to a site's home page or to community home pages to dynamically show users the latest blog posts.
- This widget is generally limited to displaying three posts and showing less text, making it ideal for placement in a page's sidebar.
- If you do not want all blogs to be displayed, you can filter the ones shown by a specific community, Community Type, and/or author.
- Privacy settings for blogs are respected so users will only see blogs they are allowed to see.
Recent Ideas List
Typically added to a site's home page or to community home pages to dynamically show users the latest shared ideas.
The primary functions of the widget include:
- Displaying ideas: This widget showcases the most recent ideas that have been submitted by community users. It can be configured to display content from a specific community or multiple communities, respecting community privacy settings to ensure users only see ideas they are allowed to view.
- Filtering options: There are filters available to refine the display based on various criteria such as an idea's status (e.g., Accepted, Submitted, etc.) and associated idea category, making it easier for users to find relevant ideas.
Recent Shared Files List
Typically added to a site's home page or to community home pages to dynamically show users the latest shared files.
The primary functions of the widget include:
- Displaying files: It showcases the most recent file entries shared by community users. These entries can include a variety of file types, such as videos, images, Word documents, PowerPoints, and PDFs. The widget can also be configured to display a specific library's entries when placed on non-community pages, creating a "standalone library," or it can show entries from all communities a user belongs to if no specific library is designated.
- Filtering options: You can filter this widget to a specific community or Library, and even limit Entries based on a set time period. Note that files are displayed by their original posting date, not by the date they were last modified, meaning updates such as changes to file descriptions won't change their position in the list.
- File visibility: The widget respects privacy settings, ensuring that users only see files they have permissions to view.
Upcoming Events List
This widget is typically added to a website's home page or to community home pages to dynamically keep users informed about upcoming events.
You can filter the events shown in a number of ways, such as by:
- community,
- Community Type,
- time period,
- event types,
- and tags.