Topics

A topic is a space with its own post feed, rules and a team that manages it.

Overview

Topics are created by platform administrators and, if allowed, by users. Each topic has its own /{slug} page, a description, rules and a setting that defines who can publish posts in it.

Following a topic works the same way as following an author: posts from followed topics appear in "My feed". A topic is managed by its team: administrators, moderators and editors with different permissions.

Topics are shown in navigation, in the "Top topics" widget and in the /discovery/topics catalog; navigation and the widget are configured in Site Settings. Platform administrators manage all topics in Admin Panel → Content → Topics. Reports about topics are described in Moderation.

Creating

Users create topics on the /my-topics page if this is allowed in Admin Panel → Settings → Interface → Content. The minimum rating required to create a topic is set there as well. The creator becomes the topic administrator.

A platform administrator creates a topic in Admin Panel → Content → Topics and can assign its team right away.

A topic has these fields:

• Name: required, up to 30 characters, must not match the name of another topic or user
• Description: required, up to 250 characters
• Rules: optional, up to 500 characters
• Who can publish posts: one or more groups — topic administrators, moderators, editors, all users; all users by default

The super administrator and platform editors publish posts in any topic regardless of this setting.

Team

A topic team has three roles:

• Administrator: topic settings, team members, bans, editing and unpublishing posts, deleting comments and threads, marking any topic post as editorial
• Moderator: bans, unpublishing posts, deleting comments and threads
• Editor: marking their own posts in the topic as editorial

The name, description, rules and publishing permissions are changed on the /{slug}/settings page, where the team is managed as well. These settings, the avatar and the cover of the topic are changed by topic administrators and the super administrator. Moderators only have access to the list of bans in the settings.

Topic administrators and the super administrator have access to the topic statistics on the /{slug}/stats page.

Bans

Topic administrators and moderators, as well as the super administrator, ban a user in the topic for 1 to 3650 days or permanently; the reason is optional. A ban removes the user's role in the topic team. A banned user cannot publish posts in the topic or comment on its posts. The ban also applies to the super administrator and platform editors. The ban does not prevent using the rest of the platform.

Platform-wide bans are described in Moderation.

Activity and rating

Activity shows how alive a topic has been over the last 7 days. The "Top topics" widget and the topic catalog are ordered by it, as well as navigation if sorting by activity is selected in the settings.

Activity is made up of metrics for the last 7 days:

• published topic posts
• reactions to these posts
• views of these posts
• impressions of these posts in feeds
• views of the topic page

Posts and reactions weigh more than the other metrics.

A topic's rating is the sum of reaction values on its posts. Topics do not take part in the author rating.

Deleting

A topic is deleted by its creator on the /my-topics page or by a platform administrator in Admin Panel → Content → Topics. Posts of a deleted topic stay on the platform and move to their authors' blogs.