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Important content can be marked as must read, requiring users confirm that they have read it. Making content "must read" is an easy way to help ensure the message you're communicating is received by users. When you tag content must read, your users will receive a polite reminder email every Monday (or immediately if you choose) to help encourage them to read and acknowledge the content you made.
Which content can be made must read?
Pages, albums or events from any public, private or unlisted site, and blog posts can be made must read.
Who can make content must read?
App managers can make any public site content, any content from private sites they are a member of and any users' blog posts must read. To enable must read ability for Site owners/managers, go to Manage > Application > Privileges, then scroll down to Must reads. Type in which site(s) you want to enable must reads for, then scroll down and click Save.
The Site owners and managers of each site that's been granted must read privileges can make content must read by clicking the ellipsis (...) icon and choosing Make 'must read'. A notification will be sent out to all site members and/or followers, depending on what you choose.
Must reads also display at the top of users' feed any time they have one or more relevant to them.
Who is required to read must read content?
- App managers can make content from a public site must read for the entire organization (all employees) or only the members of that site.
- App managers can also make blog posts must read to the entire organization.
- App managers can make content from a private site which they are a member of must read for members of that site.
- Site owners/managers and Content managers can make content from sites they manage must read for members and/or followers of that site.
- Private site content cannot be made must read for everyone in the organization. This option will only appear for public site content.
If you have Employee listening enabled in your org, you'll see the option to add an Awareness check to your must read content. This is a short 'quiz-like' confirmation for users to help ensure they've read and understand the content.
How can I see who's read my must read content?
You can monitor any must read content by who's read it and who hasn't. Clicking into the content in question and viewing its history allows you to download a CSV file so you can easily sort through users who have/have not read the content.
Note:
When a new employee joins your organization they will be required to confirm they have read all currently active must reads that apply to them. We recommend regularly checking active must reads to ensure they are still required.
How long will users be notified of must read content?
Until a user confirms that they've read a must read piece of content, the in-app notifications and weekly emails will be persistent on a weekly basis. Updating or editing a piece of must read content will not 'reset' the amount of time a user has to read it. Unpublishing or removing the content will cause the must read to be removed as well.
Comments
Within the App Manager's permissions is there any way to mark a Must Read as Read on someone's behalf? I have several use cases where this would be extremely beneficial, such as individuals who are out on leave and systems accounts.
Is it possible to adjust the actual language when we mark a "must read" with a specific acknowledgment of a policy? We need to send out annual notices and collect acknowledgments from employees but our legal team requires specific language in that acknowledgment. If not, can we add this as a feature request?
Aileen, results can take up to 24 hours to appear. If you need to see results right away, you can try re-running the sync as an App manager.
Hey Michelle. Unfortunately there still isn't an option to generate a native report showing all must reads across the platform. The closest we have is the general "Must reads" menu from your user menu. This just shows all active must reads that are relevant the individual user.
Hi Rose. While there is no way to do this natively in Simpplr, System admins are able to log in as other users via Salesforce and confirm the must read notifications. This Salesforce help article walks through the steps of logging in as another user. https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=sf.logging_in_as_another_user.htm&type=5
Hi, again,
I'm looking at this answer below: "A System admin user can go into Salesforce and run a "Simpplr Content" report, then create a filter in the report labeled "is must read" and make sure it equals "true". Then add any columns to the report you'd like for sorting. "Title" is a necessary column to view the content's name."
I'm working with my IT group to try and pull this report, but they can only find pages currently marked "must-read." What I need is a report that shows pages that WERE marked "must read" but have since been unpublished. I think would be a different report -- but it should be possible to find those in Salesforce, right?
We're using the "must read" feature for policy compliance signoff, so this is important data. Can you help?
Thanks,
Michelle
Hey Michelle. I made this video for you. Let me know if this helps!
Hi, Matthew. I forwarded your video to my IT person, Chris Roberts, but it didn't work for him. I asked him to open a ticket with Simpplr support and reference your video.
Michelle
Are [App Managers] the only role that has permission to [View History] for [Must Read] content?
I have a [Site Manager] who created a [Must Read] page, but is not able to see the [View History] option for the page.
Hi LaShonte. Site managers should definitely be able to see must read history, especially if they created it. If you're still seeing this issue, I recommend submitting a ticket with our Support team so they can dig into it further.
HI Matthew,
Does it take 24 hours for the must read history to show?
Or should results show immediately as soon as the first person clicks their confirmed must read?
Hello,
Is there a way mark as read for new users? For example, some of our teams use must read for daily morning memos. If someone joins the team, they then start with a substantial backlog of must-reads.
Thanks!
Hi Nikki. For new users joining the company, I'd recommend using the new hire onboarding feature as opposed to must reads. Unfortunately, must reads are always for a duration either for 90 days or indefinitely. So if content is still must read for a user by the time they join a site, it will be shown to them. They must take action by reading the must read content. It defeats the purpose by allowing users to clear must read notifications without taking action on them.
Thanks Matthew. I understand. I was hoping there might be a way to link them to a users start/add date.
Hi.
Is there a way for App Managers to change the default time Must Read email notifications are sent out? Currently 1am PST on Mondays is when they get sent out, but we have a request to change it to business hours.
Hello!
When a user reads a must read page and clicks the confirm button, they see a "thanks, you've read this" message with the date and time. Can this information (user name/date read/time read) be exported as a file from Simpplr? Our HR team needs documentation of the date/time a person reads our updated handbook policies.
Thanks,
Michelle
Hi Michelle. In short, it's possible to get the data, but not easy.
While there isn't a way natively in the app to export the time in which the content was read, you can pull the CSV from 'Must Read history' within the content and view the CSV of users who have read it and the date in which they confirmed.
You can also use Salesforce to run a 'Must read history' report that will show you the time and dates from all must reads, but it won't give you the name of the content, only the Content ID (random sequence of numbers and characters). You'd have to cross reference that with a section of the URL of the content to decipher the name based on that Must read history report.
I'd recommend letting our Support team work with you to create that report if you're interested. If you submit a ticket, we can help you out.
When a page is unpublished, the 'must read' data appear to go away on the Simpplr side--you can no longer see who confirmed they read is and who hasn't. Is that data still accessible on the Salesforce side via the reports mentioned in responses to other comments?
Would be nice if it stayed with the page even after it's been unpublished.
Hi Jeremiah. So the must read history will be retained in the system even after a page un unpublished. However, if you need the data from it, reach out to CSM with the request to pull a report for you. There isn't a way for you to retrieve it on your own unfortunately. It's also worth noting, if the page in question is republished, you will be able to see all historic must read data directly in the application again.
Hi Matthew. My Must-Read has expired after 90-days. There are still people who haven't confirmed that they've read it though. If I reset it for another 90 days, will it still only target the people who haven't read it? I'm worried that everyone will be notified to read it again. Thanks in advance.
Hi Katrina. So for onboarding content, if you have the right permissions you can check out who has viewed a piece of onboarding content. While you can't see who DIDN'T look at it, you could use process of elimination with a smaller site. Not the best option for a 1,500 member site, I understand.
If your org uses the My team dashboard, you can also have people managers send nudges to their direct reports to complete any must reads/onboarding content they need to. The My team dashboard will display any unfinished engagement pieces for all applicable users in the manager's chain of command.
Your easiest option though, is probably to create a new Audience made up of only new hires (set the hire date filter to On or after [date]. Granted, you'd need to change this every 30 days.
Hope this helps!
I noticed that when creating a page, it only allows a limited number of lines of text. We are trying to add a "must read" security policy. Is there a way to increase or remove the text limits? If there currently isn't a way, can you submit this as a feature/function request for an upcoming release?
Hi Jeanine. After testing, I bumped into a word limit of around 50,000 on one page. That equated to 333,000 characters on the page, or about a 250 minute read. We definitely don't recommend having any piece of content that long. I can talk to the Product team, but best practice across Simpplr is to have easy, quick to read, digestible content. For longer company policies and procedures, we recommend attaching a PDF or Word document to the content you're creating.
Is there a way to filter content or generate a report to identify all pieces of content that are currently must-reads?
Hi Nicole. Great question! Unfortunately there's no way to do this within the Simpplr app itself. However, a System admin user can go into Salesforce and run a "Simpplr Content" report, then create a filter in the report labeled "is must read" and make sure it equals "true". Then add any columns to the report you'd like for sorting. "Title" is a necessary column to view the content's name.
It's a little complicated if you don't normally run Salesforce reports, so please reach out to your representative, and they can contact me to have a video created for you if needed.
Hi Teresa. Great question. Unfortunately we cannot change the language of the specific acknowledgement the author wrote. Only the content itself and the generic 'must read confirmation' will change languages. However, I've submitted an enhancement request for our Product team to look into for a future release.
Is there a way to make a piece of content "must read" but only for employees in a specific country? We'd like to have our US employees attest to receiving a new policy that only pertains to them. Or would this only be possible via segments?
Hi Jeanine! Thanks for the question. You could create a new segment only for US employees, or better yet, have this policy live on a site that's only relevant to US employees. That way when you make it must read, only US folks will receive the must read notice. But there is no way as of now to make must reads available to certain Audiences; only site members/followers or the whole org.
Is there a way for App Managers to view all content that is currently marked as "Must Read"?
Hi Kelly! Currently it's not possible for anyone to see ALL Must Reads from across the org. App managers are still limited to only the Must Reads that are applicable to them based on site membership.
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