Comments on recognition posts

Overview

Recognition posts and award posts carry comments by default, and for most organizations that is the behavior they want. Some organizations prefer recognition to stand on its own, without a discussion thread attached to it.

App managers can now decide which of those applies. A single control in Recognition General Settings turns commenting on recognition content on or off for the whole organization.

A few things are worth knowing before you change it:

• Comments are on by default. Your organization keeps its current behavior unless someone turns them off.

• The setting is all or nothing. It covers recognition posts and award posts everywhere they appear, with no exception for a particular post, award, or program.

• Nothing is deleted. Comments written earlier are hidden while the setting is off and come back if you turn it on again.

• Only commenting is affected. Reactions, Cheer, Like, and Share carry on as before, and the posts themselves are untouched.

The rest of this article covers where to find the setting, exactly what changes when you switch it off, and who is able to change it.

What this setting does

The Comments on recognition posts setting controls whether people can comment on recognition content across your organization.

• On: People comment on recognition posts and award posts as they normally would.

• Off: Commenting is removed from every recognition post and award post in your organization.

Comments are On by default, so nothing changes for your organization until an app manager turns the setting off.

The setting applies organization-wide and covers both existing posts and newly created posts. There is no exception for an individual post, award, or program. It acts as the single control for comment availability across Recognition.

Where to manage it

Go to Manage > Recognition > General Settings.

The comments control shows the current state of the setting on the General Settings page. If your organization previously configured comments under Manage > App > Recognition, that is no longer where the setting lives. General Settings is the supported place to manage it.

Turning comments off

Switch the control from On to Off. Before the change saves, a warning appears explaining that turning comments off removes commenting from all recognition and award posts, that this is not recommended, and that it can reduce engagement.

You can dismiss the warning and continue if you still want to disable comments. The change applies organization-wide as soon as it saves.

What changes when comments are off

The behavior is deliberately broad and consistent:

• Recognition posts are affected.

• Award posts are affected.

• Posts shared across Home, a site, the Recognition Hub, or Slack are affected.

• Recognition posts that exist only in the Recognition Hub are affected.

What does not change

Turning comments off removes commenting and nothing else.

• The recognition post itself is not removed or altered. It stays visible under its normal visibility rules.

• Like, Cheer, and Share remain available.

• Creating and posting recognition works as before, and visibility rules are unchanged.

• Messaging used in other parts of the product is unaffected.

• Emails, digest emails, and Slack messages already sent that contain earlier comment content are not changed retroactively.

What happens to existing comments

Comments are hidden, not deleted.

• Comments written before the change stay stored.

• They are hidden for as long as the setting is off.

• Turning comments back on makes those comments visible again.

• Commenting resumes normally once the setting is back on.

Where the setting applies

Comments in Slack

When comments are off, the Slack experience matches the in-product setting. The Slack comment option is removed.

Other Slack actions, such as viewing the recognition, are unaffected by this setting.

Private recognition

Private recognition follows the same setting, with one additional rule while comments are on.

When both private recognition and comments are on, comments on a private recognition post are visible only to the audience allowed to see the post itself. That is the same set of people already permitted to view the private recognition under standard visibility rules.

When comments are off, commenting is hidden on private recognition posts too.

Who can manage this setting

Behavior details and edge cases

• Organization-wide only. There is no exception for a specific post, program, or award.

• Existing and new content. The setting is not limited to content created after the change.

• Replies are included. Both top-level comments and replies are disabled on recognition and award posts.

• Older notifications. If someone opens an older comment notification while comments are off, they still reach the recognition post, but no commenting is shown.

• Queued notifications. Notification emails already queued for earlier comments may still arrive. No new comment activity can happen while the setting is off.

• Replies on a shared feed post. When a recognition post is shared into a feed, replies made on the feed post are a separate thing from recognition comments. This setting governs recognition comments.

Troubleshooting

Comments are still visible after turning the setting off

• What happened: The page was loaded before the change saved, or what is visible is a reply on a shared feed post rather than a recognition comment.

• What to do: Refresh the page. If the thread sits on a feed post rather than the recognition post itself, it is outside this setting.

An employee received a comment notification while comments are off

• What happened: Notification emails queued before the change can still arrive.

• What to do: Nothing. Opening the notification takes the person to the recognition post, where no commenting is shown. No new comment activity is possible while the setting is off.

Comments did not come back after turning the setting on

• What happened: The change may not have saved, or the page was loaded before it took effect.

• What to do: Confirm the control reads On in General Settings, then refresh. Previously hidden comments become visible again once the setting is on.

A recognition manager cannot find the setting

• What happened: This control is managed by app managers. It is hidden from recognition managers.

• What to do: Ask an app manager to make the change.

The setting is not editable in the old location

• What happened: Comments are managed in General Settings and are no longer configured under Manage > App > Recognition.

• What to do: Go to Manage > Recognition > General Settings.

The Slack comment option disappeared

• What happened: The Slack comment action is removed while comments are off.

• What to do: Nothing, if this was intended. Turn comments back on to restore it. Other Slack actions are unaffected.

Frequently asked questions

Will anything change for us if we do nothing? No. Comments are on by default, so your organization keeps its current behavior unless an app manager turns comments off.

Does the setting cover award posts as well as recognition posts? Yes. It applies to both, across the organization.

Do people lose reactions and sharing when comments are off? No. Reactions and sharing stay available. Only commenting is removed.

Are existing comments deleted? No. They are hidden, not deleted. Turning comments back on makes them visible again.

Can we turn comments off for one program or one post? No. This is an organization-wide setting with no per-post or per-program exception.

Can a recognition manager change this setting? No. An app manager makes this change.

Does turning comments off hide the recognition posts themselves? No. Posts stay visible under their normal visibility rules. Only commenting is removed.