Disclaimer: Some content in this article outlines how to use functionalities that may not be available on all plans, including the Answer settings and Ask the expert options. Get in touch with your account manager (if your plan includes this option) or reach out to Docebo using your platform's Help center if you wish to upgrade your plan.

Introduction

Most e-learning platforms are developed to boost formal, structured learning, but Docebo Social learning allows you to implement the informal learning approach into your company’s holistic learning plan. For an overview of Social learning, refer to the Social learning section of the knowledge base. This article covers how to configure Coach & Share settings as the platform Superadmin. 

Social learning settings

The Social learning area of the platform lets you control the settings relating to sharing of informal content (assets) uploaded to channels, questions and answers, mentions, playlists, and ask the expert. 

To access it, navigate to Navigation menu > Configuration (spanner icon) > Platform setup and tools > Social learning.
→ This page and its settings are only available to Superadmins

On this page, you can enable or disable the following options:

Asset downloading 

When this option is enabled, users can download an asset’s source file for any assets that are uploaded into the platform. Users cannot download any linked assets, as they are embedded into the platform. This option is enabled by default. Moreover, you as a Superadmin will also find this setting when editing the assets published by your users. From the asset’s edit page, you can flag the option to allow users to download the file of that specific asset, or unflag it so that they cannot download it. Users won’t see this option on the edit page of the assets they uploaded.

Answer settings 

When this option is enabled, other users can answer learners' questions along with Superadmins and assigned experts. Question visibility restrictions apply, meaning that a user can only answer questions from channels to which they have visibility or from courses in which the user is enrolled. This option is enabled by default and also applies to the Questions and answers widget. Moreover, you as a Superadmin or the channel’s expert will also find this setting when editing the assets published by your users. From the asset’s edit page, you can flag or unflag the option to disable and hide questions & answers and comments related to that specific asset. Users won’t see this option on the edit page of the assets they uploaded.

Mention settings 

When the setting Allow users to mention other users, channels, and assets in the platform is enabled, users can mention other users, channels or assets in comments and in question and answers. This option is enabled by default, but you can disable it if required.

Specifically, users can mention other users depending on the setting of the Sharing permissions: 

• Share content with channels only: Users can mention all users
• Share content with channels and people in the same subdomain: 
  • When logged into a root platform→ users can mention users in their same branch (same level, no sub-branch or parent branch). 
  • When logged into an extended enterprise client→ users can mention users in the branch associated to the extended enterprise client, also including its sub-branches. 

When users are mentioned they are notified. Learn more about Notifications.

Ask the expert 

When this option is enabled, users must select a channel when asking questions to experts. This means that the Do not assign to any channel option will be removed from the corresponding dropdown menu when users are creating a question to ask to experts. This option is disabled by default, unless the Extended Enterprise app is active in your platform, and cannot be disabled in this case, in order to prevent questions to be raised and managed across domains.

→ On platforms with extended enterprise, this option is always set and cannot be disabled. This is to prevent questions being raised and managed across domains.

Sharing permissions 

On the platform, learners can upload different types of content (called “informal assets”) such as files, links, documents or screen recordings. This is done using the Share button available on certain pages, or from the Contribute built-in page. For more information see the article Sharing and managing content.

The Sharing permissions options let you control whether learners can upload assets only to channels, or also share them directly with other people. Sharing with people can be limited to users in the same branch as the sharer, either including or excluding sub-branches. 

Please note: These sharing permissions are for assets (such as files and links). Playlists have distinct visibility settings (they can only be shared with channels, not with people). However the sharing permissions you define here will still affect the invite to watch functionality for playlists.

On platforms without extended enterprise, you can choose between four options. Note that sharing to channels is always possible. 

On platforms with extended enterprise, only the two following options are available:

Tip: The users or channels with whom an asset is shared determine who can be invited to watch that item. Invitations can be sent only to:
- users with visibility of a channel where the asset was shared: the invitation can be sent by anyone (contributor or someone else) who also has visibility of the channel 
- users with whom the asset was directly shared: this can be done by anyone with visibility of the asset, whether the contributor or somebody else

 Playlist visibility 

This option is enabled by default. If you disable it, users creating new playlists will not be allowed to publish them in channels, but only to invite people to watch them.

Tip: Unlike assets, which can be shared with channels and/or with individual users, playlists can only be shared with channels. 

Invite to watch functionality

After uploading contributions to the platform, users can invite other people or channels to watch what they have uploaded, in order to promote their content.

The users invited to watch the contribution will receive the New to watch invitation notification via email, Slack or in the Notification center, depending on the notification settings in the Notifications app. Remember to configure this notification when setting up Discover, Coach & Share, or users will not receive their invitations.

Who can be invited to watch an asset

For assets (eg links, files, screen captures), invitations are restricted to users who have visibility of the contribution. This means individual users or members of channels with whom the asset was shared. Specifically, invitations can be sent only to: 

• Individual users with whom the asset was directly shared: the invitation can be sent by anyone with visibility of the asset, whether the contributor or somebody else
• Individual users with visibility of a channel where the asset was shared. It is also possible to select an entire channel where the asset was shared, and invite to watch all its members. The invitation can be sent by anyone who has visibility of the channel. 

Who can be invited to watch a playlist

For playlists, the invite-to-watch behavior is different for the contributor (the person who created the playlist) and for non-contributors. 

Non-contributors can individually invite to watch any user with visibility of a channel where the playlist was shared, or select the entire channel. To do this, they just need to have visibility of the channel in question.  In this case, the behavior is the same as for assets.

The contributor  can invite to watch entire channels in the normal way (by choosing a channel where the playlist was shared). But when sending individual invitations, the people whom the contributor can invite depend on the Sharing permissions configured in advanced settings. 

• Share content with channels only: The contributor can invite users with visibility of a channel where the playlist was shared. This is the only setting where the behavior is the same as for non-contributors (and also the same as for assets).
• Channels and people: The contributor can invite anyone in the platform (even if they are not members of channels where the playlist is shared)
• *Channels and people in same branches / Channels and people in the same subdomain: The contributor can invite only members of their own branch, irrespective of channel membership. Channel members who are not in the branch cannot be invited, and users in the branch can be invited even if not channel members.
• *Channels, people in same branches and sub-branches : The contributor can invite only members of their own branch, or its descendant branches. As before, irrespective of channel where the playlist is shared.

*Note that with these last two options, who the contributor can individually invite depends only on the contributor’s own branch, and not on who has visibility of a channel where the playlist is shared.

Where to access private playlists shared with me? A shared private playlist will not be visible in your My Channels area. To access it, you must use the provided invite link or locate it by searching through the global search function.

Difference between “only for me” assets and playlists

On their My Channel page, users will see assets or playlists marked as “Only me” if they have not been shared with any channels or people. 

“Only me” assets: The user cannot invite anyone to watch these, because the asset is not shared with anyone. To send an invitation, they must first share the asset, either with individual users or with a channel. And then they can invite those users or channel members.

“Only me” playlists: If a playlist is private (not shared to any channel) the user can still invite other users to watch it, choosing from a set of people as explained in the chapter Who can be invited to watch a playlist > section on contributors.  

Note on the text editor

The text editor embedded in the platform and used for the management of questions, answers and comments is Froala. Refer to the Froala Knowledge Base (opens in a new tab) for further information on its usage.

Also remind that the rendering of the output of WYSIWYG editors may be slightly different from the input, depending on the CSS rules applied.

Notifications 

If you want your users and managers to immediately know when certain events have occurred, make sure that the Notifications app is active in your platform, and that you have correctly created and configured the notifications in the Discover, Coach and Share category.

Notifications for the expert peer review process

Experts who have to review an asset will receive a notification in the platform’s Notification area, and then peer review it, deciding whether to approve the asset, or to reject it. In both cases, the user who uploaded the asset receives a notification informing them about the approval or rejection of the asset they uploaded into the platform.

If you want your experts and users to immediately know when they need to review an asset or when their assets have been approved or rejected, make sure that the Notifications feature is active in your platform, and that you have correctly created and configured the following notifications:

• New asset to review: sent to the expert who needs to review the asset
• Asset rejected: sent to the user when their asset has been rejected by the channel’s expert
• Asset approved: sent to the user when their asset has been approved by the channel’s expert, and so it is published in the channel

Please note: Experts and users will only receive notifications about their assets if the Notification feature is active in the platform and if you as the Superadmin have properly set up the notifications listed above.

Best practices

Keep the following best practices in mind:

• If enabling users to answer questions, note that experts cannot delete user answers, but they can delete questions instead.
• Users should always select a channel when asking a question. This ensures that an expert is notified when a question is asked either via notifications or the task list widget.