Topics organize content for users. Topics help users discover relevant content and form their own personalized feed (Latest content) by following their topics of interest.

Content in topics is ordered by publish date. The most recently published content will appear at the top of the topic. 

The experience of following topics is consistent across all devices. When a user follows or unfollows a topic on the web or mobile app, the same topic will be followed or unfollowed in the user's mobile app or web experience.

You can also automatically add users to topics that they may not discover on their own with Auto Follow. 

To open the Topics page, select the menu in the top left and navigate to Publish > Topics.

The Topics page displays three tabs of topics by state: active, hidden, and archived. The Topics page shows all your topics, the number of Topic Managers assigned to each topic, users following each topic, the audience, the recommended status, and a background image. 

Create a Topic 

1. While on the Topics page, select Create Topic in the top right. This opens the Create Topic dialogue:
   
   
   
   
2. Set at least a Topic Name and Description before clicking Save. For details on all of the fields, see below.

Edit a Topic

1. While on the Topics page and under the Active tab or Hidden tab, click on the three dots to the right of the topic's name and select Edit.
   
   
2. Modify any topic settings, including the name.
3. Select Save to save changes.

Note: My Feed edit options are limited and My Feed cannot be archived because My Feed provides content for the default starting point for all users in the mobile and web experience, the Latest feed.

What Do the Topic Settings Mean?

Topic Name

Use up to 30 characters to name the topic. The Topic Name and Description will be displayed under Discover. The Topic Name should be descriptive enough for both Studio users and members to understand what content belongs in the topic.

Topics are ordered alphabetically by name. You can push topics to the top of the Discover tab by using special characters (e.g. @ or #) at the beginning of your Topic Name. Alternatively, you can push topics to the bottom of Discover by using an emoji at the beginning of your Topic Name. 

Topic Names can be edited at any time without any impact to the already published content or number of followers.

Renaming a topic

If you decide to change the name of a topic entirely, we recommend publishing an update (via content card) about the upcoming topic name change in your program. The post should include why you're changing the name and when the change will be made, so your users know to look for it and understand where to go for this topic's content moving forward. 

Description

Use up to 150 characters to describe the content in greater detail than the Topic Name. Topic Descriptions are visible to members in the web experience and mobile app 3.3.0 and newer. 

Background Image

The background image displays next to the topic name on the Topics page in Studio, behind the topic title under Discover on mobile, and next to the topic name in the web experience. Upload a background image to customize the preview image that is associated with the topic. 

Upload an image file (JPG or PNG) into the box following the recommended ratio of 1:1.1 (200px x 220px) to reduce unwanted cropping. If the image does not fit, it will be cropped as needed. 

If no image has been directly uploaded, we will display the existing auto-generated image (pulled from the most recently published post in the topic). 

Note: if you do not see the background image when creating or editing a topic, the feature has not yet been enabled for your program. Please contact Firstup Support for more information.   

Target Topics to a Group(s) or Snapshot(s)

If no groups are selected, the topic would be visible to all users. To target the topic, start typing in the name of a group or snapshot and select the group from the dropdown. For more details about targeting topics to groups, refer to How to Target a Topic. 

Topic Managers

Topic Managers can publish and manage content only in specific, assigned topics. They can only target campaigns to users following or targeted by their assigned topics (depending on your program configuration).

If you have already assigned a user the Topic Manager role, you can add Topic Managers directly to topics from the Topics page. 

In the Topic Manager section of the topic editor, type in the name of the user. Select their name and click save. This assigns the user to the topic they will have access to. Repeat this step to grant access to more than one Topic Manager. Each topic can be assigned up to 100 Topic Managers. 

Publish Status (Visible/Hidden)

Most of the time, you will probably set publish status to visible. However, when you create a new topic, you do not have to immediately make the topic visible to members in the web and mobile app experience. Hidden is useful if you are still editing the content that will appear in the topic. You can also use the hidden status to remove an existing topic from visibility (rather than archive the topic).

The topic publish status can be configured while creating or editing a topic.

• Visible - the topic and all content in the topic will be visible both to members in the web and mobile experience and in Studio.
• Hidden - the topic remains hidden from all users in the employee experience but is visible in Studio for users who can access the Topics page. Content tied to a hidden topic can be seen on the Planner page. The hidden topic setting is a separate and distinct setting from the hidden post setting.

Auto Follow

Automatically add new and existing users to specific topics. When set to Enabled, existing users in the targeted group(s) will immediately be opted into following the topic. New users will begin following the topic upon registering in the program. Users will receive notifications via Assistant when topics are automatically followed. Users can unfollow topic(s) at any time by visiting the Discover tab and selecting Unfollow. 

Issue Note: users that move directly from Created to Registered may experience a slight delay in seeing their auto-follow topics. To avoid this issue, be sure to invite all new users via the platform. Users that move from Invited to Registered experience no delay in auto-follow.

Once the toggle has been enabled, disabling the toggle does not unfollow users who have already been opted into the topic. Disabling Auto Follow will stop future users from being automatically opted into following the topic. 

If you update the targeting of a topic that had Auto Follow on at any point, users will only continue to be followers if they are included in the new targeting.

User Submissions

Use this toggle to simplify the list of topics that Members see when submitting content from both the web and mobile experience.

Disable user submissions to hide the topic from the list of topics Members can see when submitting a post. Studio users with access to the Planner page in Studio will still see the topic when submitting content through the employee experience.

Enable user submissions to make the topic available to Members when they are submitting content. Depending on the Auto-Publish Submitted Content setting, the content may need to be reviewed before publishing.

Note: This feature is only enabled for programs that have mobile app version 3.7+. If you do not have this feature and are on the newest mobile app version, please contact Firstup Support.

Auto-Publish Submitted Content

When Auto-Publish is enabled, content submitted to the topic by Members will be published automatically. This means that other Members with access to the topic will be able to see the content in the employee experience almost immediately.

If Auto-Publish is disabled, content submitted to the topic by Members will be set to Needs Review so that a Studio user can review the content and then manually publish the post. This can cause Members some concern when there is a delay in publishing, but allows for a review and approve process.

For details about what will happen if a user submits content to more than one topic, please refer to User-Submitted Overview: Auto-Publish vs Needs Review.

Studio Users Note: Depending on your program configuration and your Studio user's exact role and topic assignments, your Studio users will either have the same auto-publish experience as Members or they will experience direct publishing.

Recommended

Only available with non-targeted topics, this setting will create a call to action for your users. More details in the Promote Topics article.