Overview


The Bulletin Board allows residents to post items for sale or services wanted. This feature helps create a sense of community in a building and allows residents to interact with each other in a monitored environment. The Bulletin Board is most commonly set up so that all resident postings much be approved by management before they are viewable to other residents.


Table of Contents


 

Bulletin Board: General Settings


To view the general Bulletin Board settings, click on the Resident Site Tab and select Approve Postings. At the top of the Approve Postings page, click on General Settings. This will show you an overview of all settings for your Bulletin Board. If you’d like to change any of these settings, click the Edit button in the top right-hand corner.


 

In the edit screen you can choose who, if anyone, should be notified when a new resident posting is submitted for approval. You can also add a customized message that will appear to residents after a posting is submitted (Ex. “Please keep in mind that postings will be approved in the order they are received.”). Click Save to save changes.  


 

Action Items on The Dashboard 


The number of postings pending approval will also show on the Manager Dashboard for any Manager or Security Officer BuildingLink user, regardless of who (if anyone) is receiving the email notifications.

 

 

Automatic Approval


If you would like to set posts to approve automatically, please contact BuildingLink Support. Suppose you do decide to allow postings to be viewable by residents without requiring manager approval. In that case, any manager can still remove specific postings from the Bulletin Board after they have already been posted for residents to view. 


Resident Posting Categories and Settings 


When residents post on the Bulletin Board, they’ll do so under specific categories. You can view and edit your category settings at any time. To do so, click on the tab for Category Settings. Within that tab, you’ll see all categories listed. Within each category, you can select whether that specific category should require management approval and whether threaded comments should be allowed for posts in that category. 


Click the blue Change button next to the Approval or Threaded Comments options for each category to change those settings. 

 


To change other category settings, click the Edit button to the right of the category.


 

In the Edit Category Settings page, you can edit the description and instructions for that particular category.

 

You can also dictate who should be able to post under the category (“Staff Only” or “Residents and Staff,”) as well as whether you want to allow photo uploading.be sure to click Save after making any changes.



Board Topics 


Within the Bulletin Board Categories, you can also activate the Board Topics category which only Board Members can access. To read more about the Board Topics category, see our Board Options topic

 


Activate or Deactivate a Category


To remove (deactivate or make inactive) a category, In the Edit Category Settings tab, you can choose to make the category "Inactive". Note: Catagories cannot be deleted. Inactive categories are archived and can be turned back to active at a later time. 

 


Setting Posting Duration Limits and Defaults


You can keep your Bulletin Board clean and tidy by setting realistic limits and default post days duration settings. By setting a low Post Days Default number like 10 days, a majority of posts will expire after 10 days while allowing the poster to override this to a number at or below the set Maximum Post Days. Consider this option for each category and the different duration needs each category may require. Example - Items for sale may be best set to 14 days, while same-day parking would be best set to 1 or 2 days.



Approving/Rejecting Postings


To approve or reject a resident posting, click on Resident Site and select Approve/Reject Postings. (Note: Only users with Management or Security Officer authority will have the ability to approve/reject postings.) 




On that same page you can see the list of pending postings. Below each posting, you’ll see a checkbox next to Approve and a checkbox next to Reject. If you choose to reject the posting, it will never be viewable to residents (other than the poster).  If you hit Approve, the posting will appear on the Bulletin Board section of the resident site, and a notification email will be sent out to all residents who have opted to receive Bulletin Board notifications


Note: When rejecting a posting, no notice is sent to the poster (post creator) stating their post was rejected. Consider notifying the poster why their post was rejected and provide them with the details as to why the post was rejected. Example: Profanity is not permitted. 


You can also check the box next to Select “Approve” For All if all posts are acceptable. 

 

Make sure to click the green Save All button after making your selections. 



Viewing Resident Postings


To view the postings currently on the Bulletin Board, navigate to Approve Postings then, click on the View Postings Tab. All active postings will be displayed onscreen. 

 

If you’d like to view Expired or Rejected postings, click the appropriate radio button at the top of the page.


Removing Approved Posts or Changing Expiration Dates


To remove a post that has already been approved, navigate to the View Postings tab which displays all the posts currently on the Bulletin Board. To remove a post from the Bulletin Board, click on the blue Change Status to Rejected link. 



Changing a Posts Expiration Date


You can also change the expiration date of a posting by clicking Change Date in the “Expires On” field. 


 

Adding Comments to Postings


To add a comment to a resident posting, navigate to Approve Postings, and select the View Postings Tab. Click on the Add a Comment to this Posting link.

Note: This option will only appear if the posting’s category is set to allow threaded comments.


 

In the popup window, you can add the details of your new comment. The Title is optional, the Posted By alias can be manually updated, and you can choose to show or hide the Unit #. Click Save when done to save your comment. 



Editing or Rejecting Approved Comments


On the View Postings menu, if a posting has approved comments click on the View Comments link.



You can reject any previously approved comments. On your own posts, you can choose to Edit or Delete. 



Adding a Resident Posting as a Manager 


As a Manager or Security Officer, you can add a posting to the Bulletin Board. This is a great way to post announcements, lost and found items, etc. Posting on the Bulletin Board will also encourage residents to start using the Bulletin Board themselves. To add a post, navigate to the View Postings Tab. Then, click on the green Add New Post button. 

 

On the popup window, select a category for your posting. 



After selecting a category, you’ll be able to enter your post information, attach up to 2 photos, and then click Submit this Post.  Keep in mind that any residents who are signed up to receive notifications for resident postings will be notified that the post was added, just like they would be for any other posting.