Note: This is a premium feature or service. This article only applies to your community if your Firstup contract includes this premium functionality. Please contact your Customer Success Manager with any questions about feature availability for your community.

Knowledge Hubs is your go-to platform for seamlessly curating and presenting topic-specific content within your organization's member experience. With Knowledge Hubs, administrators can effortlessly create and customize visually engaging landing pages dedicated to specific topics, empowering users to discover and engage with vital resources, tools, and communities.

Our intuitive interface enables administrators to efficiently group information and spotlight essential resources, tools, content, and communities. Whether it's streamlining access to pertinent information or fostering collaboration among team members, Knowledge Hubs simplifies the process.

All of the topic elements below are the building blocks of a Knowledge Hub!

Note: Knowledge Hubs requires mobile app version 5.2+.

When to Use Knowledge Hubs

Edit a topic to make it a Knowledge Hub when you need to prioritize evergreen content, enable contextual search, or promote connection with colleagues. Note that you can choose to use the new expanded features on none, some, or all topics. Examples include:

Resources - Create a one-stop shop for critical information by leveraging the about page for evergreen content and the shortcuts to create quick access to tools.

Departments - Create a hub for different departments by leveraging the about page for static content, members page to see who’s included, and the shortcuts to create quick access to related items. We see this as especially useful to HR, IT, and even Marketing departments.

ERGs - Create a space where employees can learn more about specific initiatives (DEI, parent connection, pet celebration) by leveraging the members page to see who’s involved and the post page for recent news. 

Community - Create a destination where employees can learn more about specific initiatives by leveraging the post page to see recent activity and the members page to see who’s in the group.

Topics Page

Knowledge Hubs are located on the Topics page in Creator Studio. Only Brand Super Admins, Community Admins, or custom roles configured to manage content can create/edit a Knowledge Hubs. To open the Topics page, select Configure from the menu on the left and then Topics.

The Topics page includes a Status column to reflect the current status of each topic accurately.

Topics can progress through several states:

• Draft - The starting state of a topic. Only the admin who created the topic can see and edit it now. Draft topics can be completely deleted.
• Active - A topic becomes active once published. At this point, an admin can assign it to campaigns or microapps.
• Active with Draft - Indicates an active topic has pending updates in a draft form. This means the topic is still visible and assignable, but there are unapplied changes.
• Archived - A topic removed from visibility within the studio and employee interface. It cannot be assigned or edited.
• Archived with Draft - Similar to an archived topic, but it indicates that draft changes were not published before the topic was archived. This status signals that there might be unfinished work or considerations for future revisions.

Topic Details Page

Clicking on a topic will open a page containing two tabs: Details and Settings. The content on the Settings tab will mirror the content on the topic Settings page. The Details tab will provide a topic overview including when the topic was activated and last updated, as well as topic activity stats. Clicking on View Full Report will redirect you to the full Topics Overview report in Insights.

Depending on the pages made visible for your topic, you may also see the latest posts and Shortcuts for the topic. Clicking on Go to Posts will redirect you to the Campaigns page.

Create or Edit a Topic

When you start creating a new topic, it automatically enters the draft stage. This allows you to configure different aspects of the topic—like enabling various pages, applying branding elements, or adjusting settings—without impacting the live version.

After completing the setup and when you're ready to share the topic, you can publish it. This action makes the topic visible within Creator Studio, enabling you to add content.

However, for the published topic to become visible in the member experience, you must enable the Show in Experience toggle. This ensures precise and intentional control over when a topic becomes part of the member experience.

Click the + Topic button on the Topics page to create a new topic. This will open the Knowledge Hub creation page.



To edit an existing topic, click on the three dots to the right of the topic’s name on the Topics page and select Edit or Edit Draft.

Header

To customize the header for your topic, simply hover over the header box and click. A panel will slide in from the right, allowing you to personalize your topic by adding a title, description, and uploading images for both the topic and its cover.

Name 

Each topic must have a unique name, no longer than 30 characters. This name serves to distinguish the topic from others within your community.

If you change a topic's name entirely, we recommend announcing the upcoming change through a published update (via content card) in your community. This post should explain the reason for the name change and specify when the change will take effect. This ensures that your users are informed about the change and know where to find the content related to the topic moving forward.

Please note that adding special characters or emojis at the beginning of a topic name does not affect its position in the list of topics in Creator Studio. For instance, a topic named "! Important News !" will still appear after a topic named "Human Resources" rather than at the top of the list. However, you can prioritize topics appearing at the Discover tab's top in the member experience by beginning the topic name with numbers or certain special characters such as '@' or '!'. 

Creator Studio



Discover tab

Alternatively, you can push topics to the bottom of Discover by using an emoji at the beginning of your topic name.

Description 

The description should provide a more detailed overview of the topic, using up to 150 characters. This description is required and visible to members on the web experience and in the mobile app version 3.3.0+.

Topic Image 

Although optional, the topic image enhances visibility and appears alongside the topic name in Creator Studio's Topics page, behind the topic title in the Discover section on mobile, and next to the topic name in the web interface. If no image is uploaded, the system defaults to the accent color. We recommend an image ratio of 1:1 (square) for optimal display.

Cover Image 

The cover image, although optional, enriches the topic landing page experience across both web and mobile platforms. You have the flexibility to enable or disable this feature: 

• The recommended cover image size is 1128x185 pixels.
• If disabled, the header will showcase only the topic image.
• If enabled, the header will include the uploaded cover image.
• Without an uploaded image, the community's theme color is automatically applied.

Settings

To update the settings for your topic, navigate to the Settings page.

Visibility

Use these toggles to control the topic's visibility in the member experience and its recommendation status to users.

Show in Experience

• Enabled - The topic and all associated content will be visible to members across both web and mobile experiences and in Creator Studio.
• Disabled - The topic remains hidden from all users in the member experience but is visible in Creator Studio for users accessing the Topics page. Content tied to a hidden topic can be seen on the Calendar page.

Suggest this topic as a Recommended Topic

• Enabled - Only public topics (those not targeted to a specific audience) can be recommended. If a topic is targeted to one or more audiences and the 'Suggest this topic as a Recommended Topic' option is chosen, attempting to save changes to the topic will result in an error. Further information can be found in the Recommend Topics to Members article.

• Disabled - If this option is disabled, the topic will not be recommended to users.

Audience

Use these toggles to manage which audience/s the topic should be visible to.

• All users - If no audiences are selected, the topic will be visible (open) to all users. 
• Targeted Audience - The topic will only be visible to the selected audience/s. To target the topic, start typing in the name of an audience and select the audience from the dropdown. For more details about targeting topics to audiences, refer to Target a Topic to Specific Audiences(Add link to that article to this article to target.)

Auto-Follow

Use these toggles to manage which audience/s topic auto-follow should be enabled for.

• With auto-follow enabled and the 'Entire selected audience' selected, existing users within the specified audience(s) will be instantly opted-in to follow the topic, while new users will automatically follow upon registering in the community. Notifications regarding the topic will be delivered via Assistant. Users can unfollow topic(s) anytime through the Discover tab by selecting 'Unfollow.' Auto-follow must be enabled to facilitate auto-follow for all users on a public (open) topic. Please note that the All Users audience does not require a specific configuration.
• To restrict auto-follow on a topic further, you can enable auto-follow and select 'Subset of the selected audience.' Then, select one or more of the targeted audiences from the drop-down to auto-follow. For example, if 'Follows Multiple Topics,' 'Brand Super Admins,' and 'Members' are selected as targeted audiences for a topic, you can choose to only auto-follow the 'Brand Super Admins' audience.
  
  

Member Submissions

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

• Allow members to submit content
  • Enabled - Makes the topic available to Members when submitting content. Depending on the 'Auto-publish content from members' setting, the content may need to be reviewed before publishing.
  • Disables - Hides the topic from the list of topics Members can see when submitting a post. Creator Studio users accessing the Campaigns page in Creator Studio will still see the topic when submitting content through the member experience.
• Auto-publish content from members
  • Enabled - Content submitted to the topic by Members will be published automatically. This means that other Members with access to the topic can see the content in the member experience almost immediately.
  • Disabled - Content submitted to the topic by Members will be set to Needs Review so that a Creator Studio user can review the content and then manually publish the post.
    
    Note: Depending on your community configuration and your Creator Studio user's exact role and topic assignments, your Creator Studio users will either have the same auto-publish experience as Members or will experience direct publishing.
    
    For details about the outcomes of submitting content to more than one topic, please refer to User-Generated Overview.
    

Navigation

On the left-hand menu of the hub design page, you'll find options to enable and customize various pages, allowing you to arrange them in your preferred order. Any of the pages can be hidden, however, only a max of 3 can be hidden at a time. The landing page, represented by the house icon, is always positioned first and serves as the initial view for users accessing a topic directly through a topic link or from the Discover area.

Posts

Displays a maximum of five pinned posts at the top, followed by a chronological feed of all posts within the topic, serving as the primary hub for topic-related updates and discussions. Posts within topics are ordered based on their publish date, with the most recent content appearing first, directly beneath any pinned posts.

Clicking on the Posts tab reveals configuration options on the right side. Within this panel, you can pin up to five posts to ensure their persistent visibility at the top of the feed. Furthermore, you can rearrange these pinned posts according to your preference.

About

The About page offers the opportunity to create timeless content that remains pertinent to a topic, serving as a dependable resource for users seeking general information.

Accessing the About tab unveils configuration options on the right side. From here, you can customize the About preview, which may be showcased on the landing page if the About page isn't the default view. Moreover, you can refine the page's content by selecting Edit Content to open the About editor.

The About editor utilizes our familiar blocks system, simplifying the page creation process similar to creating a campaign. Once you've finalized your edits, simply click Save to apply your changes to the draft.

Shortcuts

The Shortcuts page offers direct access to key tools and resources within the topic, highlighting individual shortcuts for efficiency and ease of use.

Upon navigating to the Shortcuts tab, configuration options are displayed on the right side of the screen. From this panel, you can create topic-specific shortcuts. A single-link shortcut will directly open the linked content upon selection, while a shortcut containing multiple links will present them in a modal (not Assistant), ensuring a streamlined navigation experience.

Note: The shortcut icon file should have a minimum of 80x80 resolution and a maximum of 120x120 resolution to support screens with very high resolution. The file should be in .png or .jpg format.

Members

The Members page lets users view and find all members subscribed to the topic, promoting participant connection and collaboration.

The Members page features a Members tab. When enabled, it lists all current topic members. Clicking on a member will redirect you to their profile, allowing easy access to member details.

Review

Review is the final step in the process, where you can view a topic summary to ensure clarity and accuracy before publishing. Confirm that your topic selections are accurate before publishing your topic.

Topic Settings

The Topics Settings section gives you a clear picture of your choices from the Settings page, showing how they affect your topic's visibility, auto-follow, member submissions, and auto-publish settings.

Topic Landing Page Content

The Topics Landing Page Content section provides a summary of the choices you made for your topic header and each topic landing page (About, Posts, Shortcuts, and Members).

Error Handling

Errors will be displayed near the save icon (disk) in the top right corner. Clicking on an error directs you to its specific location for detailed information, with most errors also highlighted directly in the field where the issue is. While topics can be saved with errors, users cannot publish a topic with errors.

Member Experience

Web Experience

Once Knowledge Hubs is enabled on 5/15, the topic landing page layout in the web experience will update to a new layout with contextual search (right).

Once a topic has been updated and published in Creator Studio, the topic landing page layout in the web experience will be replaced with the Knowledge Hub layout (right).

Mobile App

Once Knowledge Hubs is enabled and users have upgraded to mobile app version 5.2, the topic landing page layout in the mobile app will not change (left). Once a topic has been updated and published in Creator Studio, the topic landing page layout in the mobile app will be replaced with the Knowledge Hub layout (right).

FAQ

Will associated posts be lost if Knowledge Hubs is enabled for an existing topic?

No, posts associated with a topic will remain.

Will the topic remain visible while drafting a Knowledge Hub?

Yes! The 'Active with draft' status is meant to capture just this scenario.

What are some common errors when creating a topic?

Below are the errors that can occur during topic configuration:

• Auto-follow enabled but show in experience is disabled

• Auto-follow enabled but no subset of the selected audience was selected

• Recommended Topics cannot have a target audience

• No target audience selected

• About page enabled but no content not added

• Shortcuts page enabled but none were added

When enabled, does this change the member experience immediately or do Creator Studio users need to edit topics first?

The member experience will update for enabled customers immediately, but Knowledge Hub features like the About, Shortcuts, and Members pages will only appear after Knowledge Hubs has been enabled AND a topic has been edited and published.

Can the shortcuts within a Knowledge Hub be targeted just like normal shortcuts?
You cannot target shortcuts on an individualized basis. They are assigned/associated with the topic only. If your topic is targeted to an audience, then all the shortcuts for the Knowledge Hub are targeted to that audience. If your topic is open, then all the shortcuts are open.

Which toggles need to be enabled for a custom role to create/edit Knowledge Hubs?

Both the parent Configure and the Content child toggles must be enabled.