Managing Q&A messages with moderation ON

This article covers:

• Practical video of how to moderate a Q&A session
• When to use moderation
• How to turn the moderation on
• Managing the moderation in 4 lists
• Using the Needs Review & Reviewed list
• Moving messages one at a time
• Moving bulk messages
• Anonymity

Practical video on how to moderate a Q&A session

Use the description below the video to jump to the different topics of Q&A.

When to use moderation

The Q&A message board can be used with either the moderation On or moderation OFF.

With the moderation OFF, all messages received by participants will instantly display for all to see in Present view and on participant devices.

With the Moderation ON – you as a session host can control what your participants will see in the Q&A message board.  Every message sent by a participant will require a review process before the message is made available for participants to see on their devices or in Present view. This ensures that the questions/ comments/ ideas that are being submitted are appropriate for all to see and that the session moves forward without getting stuck on a certain question. 

Use the 'Moderation' feature in meetings, sessions or classes where presenters, educators or organizers:

• Are concerned that participants might be offended or upset by people’s questions or comments.
• Want to remove the potential impact of disruptive individuals.
• Wish to reveal questions only at certain points of a meeting, session or class.
• Plan to choose and share only the most relevant questions.
• Want to have more control over the conversations.

When using the moderation ON function, it is advised that another person helps manage and review the incoming messages on the Q&A board. This is easily done by sharing the Q&A board (only) or sharing your Vevox session. 

To turn your moderation ON:

 Go to the Settings option in the main navigation menu.

 Select the 'Features' tab.

 Toggle the 'Moderation' option to ON.

Alternatively use the shortcut on the Q&A board, selecting the moderation icon, and then turning it ON.

Managing moderation with your 4 lists

In the dashboard you will find the following lists:

1. Needs Review- this is where all new messages will appear when sent in by participants.  This is the first step of the review process where you can decide what to do with the message, safe in the knowledge your participants can't see it yet. From the 'Needs Review' list, you can move your message to any of the other three list options below. 
2. Reviewed- this is an optional second step in the review process.  Messages can be placed here if you want a second person involved in the review process.  Off-topic messages can be filtered in the first step (Needs Review), so the second reviewer or host only sees relevant messages.
3. Published- these are the messages that all your participants can see.  If you approve of a message you want to let your participants see, send it to the 'Published' list. 
4. Archive- these are messages that have been received, but you have chosen to hide them from view.  Maybe it's not related to the topic of discussion, or perhaps it's a question you've already answered. These messages will always be available in the reporting afterward.

Example of messages in the published list. All participants can see these messages in Present view and on the Q&A message board on their devices. 

Using the Needs Review & Reviewed Lists

Using the 'Needs Review' list is where the is the first step of reviewing happens. From here move your messages to any of the other lists.

The 'Reviewed' list is used when the first round of reviewing has been done, and a second reviewing process is needed to make the list even shorter or more relevant. For example, when the host shares the reviewing process of the Q&A board with another person, the host can use the 'Reviewed' or shorter list, so they don't get distracted with too many questions or comments. 

Moving messages 

Moving messages between the different lists is now also touch screen friendly (via present view), enabling the host to be mobile when handling the Q&A session.

There are two ways to move messages between lists

1. Moving one message at a time or
2. Moving multiple messages at once. 

1. Moving one message at a time

Every message has a 'Move to' arrow button next to it.  The dropdown shows the different lists that are available.  Select the one you prefer and the message will move to its new list.

2. Moving multiple messages at once

If your message board is too popular, you might want to do a bulk action and move several messages simultaneously. 

Select the messages you want to move by selecting the checkbox next to each one.  If you want to select all the messages in the list, press 'Select all'.

For bulk actions, use the 'Move to' icon at the top of all the messages. Press the icon to see a dropdown for the options and then select the choice list. All the messages will move to the new list in an instant.

To remove a message from the lists, a safer option is to rather archive the message than delete it. This way the message will always be available in the reporting and ensure it is still stored somewhere.

There is also a 'Delete' option so you can get rid of messages at once (press the three dots next to the comment). If you select the 'Delete' option, the message will be removed permanently. 

Anonymity

To ensure your participants stay anonymous when taking part in the Q&A sessions, your session settings in 'Identification' should be set to 'Anonymous'. When creating your Vevox session, the default identification setting is 'Anonymous' meaning all participants will remain unidentified. Learn more about how to identify your participants.