Edit DiscoBot "Greetings" msg + Customize Onboarding

[David_Kwan]

I was wondering if it’s possible to edit this initial discobot greetings message. I like the links included but would like to tweak the wording to match my community:

Also, I am interested in customizing the on-boarding process for new users. For example, I’d love to include a checklist for them to complete with customized steps on how to get started. I’d also like to perhaps edit the design of the home page shown below or add a cover page that is slightly less overwhelming. A few users have told me that it can be a little much at first:

Lastly, I’d love to see/hear about examples of what others have done to improve the on-boarding of new users and convey the purpose of their specific community. I am not as concerned about teaching them how to use the actual features of Discourse (the discobot is doing a great job of that), but more so teaching them how they can use our community for it’s specific purpose (sharing educator resources and becoming certified in our program).

[jomaxro (Joshua Rosenfeld)]

@David_Kwan

I was wondering if it’s possible to edit this initial discobot greetings message. I like the links included but would like to tweak the wording to match my community

See

Customize Discobot User

Is it possible to customize the ‘discobot’ user or change what user sends the default greetings, etc. messages. We’d like these sorts of messages to be sent from a different user or customize the discobot user, so it has a different image, visible username, etc. Is this possible within the settings?

[David_Kwan]

Thanks Joshua. Do you know if there is a way to see how many people have interacted with the Discobot and/or completed the tutorial (receiving the certificate)? I went to discobot’s profile but do not see any activity there.

[jomaxro (Joshua Rosenfeld)]

You can look through discobot’s messages to see all the conversations. If you want to know just who completed the tutorial, look at the Certified badge.

[tophee (Christoph)]

@David_Kwan

I was wondering if it’s possible to edit this initial discobot greetings message.

See also this discussion:

New users aren't starting the discobot tutorial

I’ve had discobot enabled for two weeks and am running into problems with it. Not a single new user has responded to discobot’s “greetings!” message, and my own moderators are having a hard time understanding what it is all about as I nudge them to write to discobot with “start new user”. One of them thought she was going to actually create a new user! <sigh> About the new user narrative message, here’s what one of them wrote today: It would be nice if the function was more “dummy” friendly a…

[mbbroberg (Matt Broberg)]

I don’t see a resolution here so I thought I’d mention that you can make a few minor customizations through the admin panel: https://discourse.YOURSITE.com/admin/site_settings/category/plugins?filter=discobot

I see options under Plugins where I’ll disable discobot until I find a way to adjust the onboarding experience:

I’m not totally sure what the “quick start guide” is yet, but I’d prefer it over the default message for now. Hope that helps others

[simon]

I’m not totally sure what the “quick start guide” is yet,

When you set the Welcome Post Type setting to ‘Send all new users a welcome message with a quick start guide’, the default notification that gets sent looks like this:

You can customize the notification in a couple of places. First, go to Admin / Emails / Templates and search for ‘Welcome User’. This is the template that us used for creating the notification. You will see that the template contains markdown text, and a couple of placeholders. You can edit the markdown in this section, but not the content of the placeholders.

To edit the text that gets replaced for the new_user_tips placeholder, go to Admin / Customize / Text and search for system_messages.usage_tips.text_body_template.

The easiest way to test any changes that you make is to create a new account on your site with a throw-away email address. As an admin, you can use the same email address for testing the new user experience multiple times. Just go to your Admin / Users page and delete your test user so that they can sign up again.

[debryc (Deborah Chang)]

@David_Kwan

I’d love to see/hear about examples of what others have done to improve the on-boarding of new users and convey the purpose of their specific community.

Here’s what we do:

1. On our banner topic, we clearly explain the purpose of our community.

Young people, you are here to lead and influence systems that impact you. Adults, you are here to listen and share resources. We are all here to power youth-led collective impact. Only when we work together can we equip ALL of New York City’s young people to thrive. To get started, check out First time here? Welcome!

2. Our First time here? Welcome! post “sells” why people should sign up for the forum.

Welcome to #NYCEDU! We’re youth leaders and adult allies working together to equip ALL of New York City’s young people to thrive.

Here’s how to explore the community.

• Engage online . Follow discussions in #public-square, look for #jobs, and check out resources from the #learning-library.
• Meet in-person . Come to upcoming events hosted by community members and network partners.

Want to get more involved?

Sign Up for an Account

By signing up, you will

• Receive insider news on all things happening in New York City youth advocacy and systems change
• Have access to special sections of our website
• Join a community of youth leaders and adult allies who are all committed to working with you towards collective impact!

Please note, because of legal reasons, only people 13 years or older are able to sign up for an account . Not 13 yet? Please email hello@nycedu.org to engage in a different way.

Finally, not ready to create an account yet but want to stay in touch? Subscribe to our quarterly newsletter here .

Caption: Group photo from our 2018 Potluck Party in the Park showing #NYCEDU participants young and old!

3. Our welcome message reads

Hi and welcome to #NYCEDU!

Choose one of these popular first steps to take next.

• Add a profile picture
• Introduce yourself to our community
• RSVP for an upcoming event, and/or
• Post a conversation starter on #public-square

You can also learn how to use our website features by starting an interactive tutorial or reading the new user guide.

Enjoy!

Notice that we’ve made everything a link, including a link to start the user tutorial. This keeps the message short and sweet. We’ve also highlighted the actions we care the most about.

4. We’ve had a lot of success with our introduction thread. About 2/3 of our new users have posted!

Hi from all of us at #NYCEDU! We’re eager to hear your story.

Where are you from?
What issue related to young people are you most passionate about?
What would you like to ask of and offer to the #NYCEDU community? We want to help!
And for fun, share a random fact or two.

Haven’t added a profile picture, yet? Add it now.

To welcome the newest people, jump to the last post and say “hi!”

5. We emphasize adding a profile picture.

Most new users didn’t, so I moved that step to the first in the list within the welcome message, and added a reminder to add a profile picture to the introduction thread as well. Before I would message each user privately to ask them to add a photo. Let’s see how well that works.

6. We have on our roadmap to create banners that work people through onboarding steps

We draw inspiration from How We Increased Community Engagement By 160% | FeverBee and have on our idea list to use Feverbee’s code for interactive banners.

7. We’re writing more detailed workflow documents

https://discourse.nycedu.org/t/how-do-we-document-organizational-policies-meeting-minutes-and-project-updates/195
Our discourse site is in early days yet, so we’re going to constantly evolve and grow. I’d love to be updated on what you find works, too.