Assign required reading

The required reading feature allows content to be assigned to users as "must read" content. Users have a dashboard to show what they are required to read, and they must confirm that they have read the required content. Admins or users with permissions can assign required reading and track who has and has not read it.

Required reading is enabled and configured on the Admin panel: Content section > Required reading page.

Required reading permissions

Users can only assign required reading and perform the other actions described on this page if they have been given permission to set up required reading by an administrator. To learn more about required reading permissions, see Configure required reading.

See Required reading for users to learn the basics of using the Required reading feature.

Add required readers

Depending on the settings selected on your intranet, the ability to assign required reading will be limited to one of the following:

• Administrators only
• Everyone with View & Edit permissions to the content
• A specific security group when given View & Edit permissions to the content.

Only those who can assign required reading are able to see the Required reading tab in the Page Controls. To add required readers:

1. Go to the page that you want to make required reading.
2. Click on the down arrow in the page header to expand the Page Controls.
3. Click the Required reading tab.
4. Click + Assign required readers. The Required readers pop-up window will appear.
   
   
    
5. In the Enter names field, start typing the name of a security group or individual that you want to be a required reader. Click on the name when it appears in the dropdown menu. Repeat to add more people.
6. Click + Add. The required readers will show in a list.
7. Click Save.

The Required reading tab displays a preview of the Confirmation and Thank you banners for editors. The banners can be permanently dismissed by clicking the X on the right.

View permissions and required reading

Users need to have view permission on a page to be able to access and read it. If you add a required reader who does not have view permission on the page, a message appears alerting you that some required readers are unable to view the page. The users who don't have view access will have a caution icon beside their names. You will be able to save the list of required readers, but you will need to edit the page's security permissions and give view access to the users who don't have it.

If you add a group as required readers, and some or all of the group members do not have view permission on the page, you will see the same warning message and icon. Click the down arrow on the right of the group name to see a list of group members with icons indicating which members do not have view permissions to the page. You will be able to save the list of required readers, but you will need to edit the page's security permissions and give view access to the group/users who don't have it.

Required reading for groups

When you assign a page to a security group as required reading, any new members added to that group will automatically have the page assigned to them as required reading.

In the Required readers pop-up window, once you have added a group as required readers, you can click on the down arrow on the right of the group name to see a list of the group members. If any group members have also been added as individuals, they will only have to confirm the required reading once; it will not create duplicate required reading.

In some cases, a required reading page may be relevant to the current members of a group, but not to members who will be added in the future. In this case, you can add a group as required readers, and then convert the current members of the group to individual required readers. To do this, add the group as required readers, and then click the convert/expand icon (four-headed arrow) beside the group name. Now all group members are listed as individual required readers and there is no longer a connection to the group.

Notify and email readers

As of version 10.5, users assigned required reading will by default receive in-app notifications about new required reading. Users can turn in-app notifications for required reading off in their profile settings. Administrators can also change the default selection for this setting for new users or existing users on the Notifications & newsletter settings admin page.

Readers will not receive email notifications automatically when they are assigned required reading. However, from required reading pages you can manually send an email to:

• All required readers assigned to a page
• Only readers who have confirmed they have read the page
• Only readers who have not confirmed they have read the page.

New required reading pages will show up on users' required reading dashboards, and in any My required reading Cards that have been set up. Editors may wish to send an email to alert or remind readers of new required reading, or thank readers who have read and confirmed the content.

The required reading emails are pre-populated with basic text that can be modified for the subject and body. If you choose to email All required readers or only the Not confirmed list, the default subject and body text is: Please read [page title]. If you choose to email only the confirmed list, the default subject and body text is: Thank you for reading [page title]. In all cases, the page title in the body of the email is a link to the required reading intranet page.

To email readers assigned to a required reading page:

1. Go to the page that you want to send an email about.
2. Click the down arrow on the right of the page header to open the Page Controls.
3. Click the Required reading tab.
4. Click Email readers. In the dropdown menu that opens, select whether you want to email all required readers on the page, only the confirmed list, or only the not confirmed list. The Email pop-up window will open with basic default email text in the subject and body. The To field is pre-populated with the addresses of the readers you have chosen to email.
5. Modify the Subject and Body text of the message as desired.
6. By default, a copy of the email will be sent to you. If you do not want to receive a copy of the email, uncheck the box Send copy to myself.
7. Click Send.

Readers can also be emailed from the specific page report on the required reading dashboard. To access the dashboard, click on your name or profile photo in the top right of any page and click Required reading in the profile menu. Click the Manage required reading pages tab to view pages you own or can edit.

Add My required reading Card to a page

The My required reading Card is unique to each user. It can display up to ten required reading pages that the user still needs to read and confirm. The pages can be sorted by the date they were assigned or alphabetically by title. If the user has read and confirmed all of their assigned required reading, the Card will not appear on the page for them. Users can view all of their assigned required reading on the Required reading dashboard under the profile menu.

To add the My required reading Card to a page:

1. In edit mode, click Set up cards under Content type & template on the right. The Update Cards window will open.
2. Click Modify template in the window, click the plus sign in the column you want to add the Card in, and click on My required reading in the Cards menu on the right. 
3. Click Set up on the My required reading Card to select your options.
4. Click in the Title field to edit the Card title. If you have multiple languages on your intranet, select another language in the dropdown below the Title field and edit the title for that language.
5. Click on the dropdown field # of items to display, and select the maximum number of required reading pages you want to show in the Card, from 1 to 10. The default number of items is 3.
6. Select the radio button for the desired sort order:
   • Date assigned (Oldest first): Date the required reading was assigned (oldest first)
   • Title (A-Z): Alphabetically by title
7. Click Add or Update.
8. Click Done at the bottom of the Update Cards window.
9. Click Save on the top right.