Use Hashtags in Course Posts

This article will show course members how to use hashtags in their posts within a course. Hashtags are especially important to course structure because CN discussions are not threaded like typical discussion forums. Tagging posts with relevant hashtags will help course members filter through posts and reflections. There are two types of Hashtags within a course: Instructor Suggested and Member Created.

Instructor Suggested Discussion Topics/Hashtags

To learn how to set up Instructor Suggested hashtags, please view the Create suggested course discussion topics/hashtags article.

STEP1: Make sure you're on the post feed of your course, then create a post by clicking on the post icon at the top of the page.

STEP2: Type your post. Insert Instructor Suggested Topics/Hashtags at any time by clicking on the link at the top of the box and click the hashtag. See below.

HINT1: You may add as many Hashtags to your post as you wish. You can also type out Instructor Suggested Topics/Hashtags yourself.

STEP4: If you haven't used any Hashtags in your post, click SUBMIT - The system will prompt you to add one or multiple Instructor Suggested Topics/Hashtags. If you don't see any hashtags apply to your post, you can simply click SUBMIT to skip.

Note, with the automated hashtagging feature released in March 2024, course members will not be prompted to select instructor-suggested hashtags, unless the automated hashtagging feature has been disabled.

After the post is created, a red "New" label will appear beside the hashtags used.

Member Created Discussion Topics/Hashtags

STEP1: Make sure you're on the post feed of your course homepage, then create a post by clicking on the post icon at the top of the page.

STEP2: Type your post and create your own hashtags at any time by typing # and typing relevant word(s) beside the #

Be sure not to put a space between words (i.e., #Biology #HelpfulResource, etc.)

After the post is created, a red "New" label will appear beside the hashtags used. CN puts the most popular member created hashtags on the top of this list.