The August release brings several important updates to the moderation console, a new site-wide read-only commenting setting, audience badges, and smoother guest-host management for Live Q&A. 

Also launching this month are easier-to-scan polls, updates to the notifications tray, an API for syncing user attributes, and a wave of iOS/Android SDK updates.

Enhancements

Live Q&A 

New: The user badges you’ve configured show next to participants’ names during a Live Q&A, so hosts and readers can recognize members at a glance.

Improved: We’ve refined the flow for inviting guest hosts into a Live Q&A and managing who’s hosting.

Polls & Engagement

Improved: Updated the “Show all” behavior and styling so polls with many choices are easier to scan and expand.

Comments & Conversations

New: A new setting switches all commenting to read-only from one place. Existing comments remain visible to read, while new comments and replies are turned off.

Improved: Large embedded content no longer stretches down the page. Now, it’s capped with a “Show more” control readers can expand.

Improved: You can copy and paste text into the reply box across our live conversation products.

Improved: Comments that use special-character tricks to distort the page are now contained across our community products.

Notifications & Email

Improved: Over the next few weeks, an improved notification tray experience will roll out. It won’t reach every site at once, so it may take a little while to appear on yours.

APIs & Webhooks

New: A new server-to-server API lets your systems add and remove attributes on a user, so you can keep member information in sync with Viafoura.

Mobile SDKs

New

  • Apps now honor the site-wide read-only setting, blocking new posts when commenting is switched off. (iOS 1.3.4, Android 2.1.7)
  • Profile activity now totals across comments, reviews and Live Q&A under one “posts” label, and Live Q&A status chips can be styled to match your brand. (iOS 1.3.2, Android 2.1.6)
  • Events can be created before going live, and Live Q&A notifications now open straight to the right conversation. (iOS 1.3.1, Android 2.1.5)

Improved

  • Comment counts refresh more reliably. (iOS 1.2.88, Android 2.1.2)
  • More of the host area can be styled to match your site, and timestamps display as clear, easy-to-read relative times. (iOS 1.2.90 & 1.2.89, Android 2.1.3)
  • Faster notifications tray, especially for high-volume users. (iOS 1.3.5)
  • Tidier menus and full-screen layouts on the latest devices, staying clear of the status bar, navigation bar, camera cutouts, and keyboard. (Android 2.1.8, 2.1.9)

Fixes

Moderation

Fixed: Past bans now appear reliably on a user’s record.

Fixed: Resolved an intermittent issue where commenters’ usernames failed to display.

Fixed: The console no longer jumps back to the top of your search or queue when you copy the share link from a comment.

Fixed: A ban set on a specific section could be missed when a reader’s membership was defined higher up the site’s section hierarchy. This has now been resolved.

Fixed: Moderators now see a user’s tags on quick-search result links in the console without extra steps.

Comments & Conversations

Fixed: The “Why was I banned?” note to users is no longer hidden.

Fixed: When an account is banned or deleted for privacy reasons, replies threaded beneath their posts now render properly.

Fixed: On articles whose existing comments were brought over from a previous platform, “Show older replies” now includes nested replies it previously skipped.

Fixed: Improved an incorrect reply count that could appear after an article’s comments were imported a second time.

Fixed: Articles brought over from a previous platform now honor the “close comments after this many hours” setting.

Fixed: When someone deletes their account, they’re now removed from other people’s followers and following lists.

Fixed: Viewing another member’s profile now shows their follower count instead of your own.

Fixed: Solved a case where a reviews widget reported no visible reviews, despite reviews being present.

Fixed: Resolved an issue where Rating-and-review stars appeared solid black in Safari.

Mobile SDKs

Fixed

  • No more double login prompts when tapping post or send while signed out. (iOS 1.3.3)
  • Fewer crashes and cleaner translations. (Android 2.1.4)