The Commons

Posts can be found in multiple ways.

• You can locate your own posts as well as search for a community member’s post you are interested in.
• To locate your own posts, click on the “Profile” button from the drop-down menu in the upper right-hand corner:

• All of your posts will appear under the “Posts” link.
• Clicking on the “Comments” link will bring up the original posts on which you have commented, allowing you to view the original content.
• To find posts and comments shared by others, use the Search tool.
• Start by clicking in the "Search" bar at the top of the page, then click on the magnifying glass icon.
• Here you can search by keyword and post type.

The Commons is a great way to build your network and to get to know other students and faculty. Using keywords, you can search for fellow users by school, program, or state.  For more information on finding students, visit our page on the Community Directory.

Sometimes you remember a post you participated in but can’t remember what community it was in. Follow these steps to locate your recent activity.

• From the homepage of The Commons, click on the “Profile” link.
• To find the recent comments you made to posts, click on the “Comments” link. You can also narrow your search here by using the filter.

• Within your recent activity, you can reply to, edit, and delete your comments or posts.
• To get back into the conversation just click the conversation title or link.

• Another way to edit or delete your posts in The Commons is to click on the “Pencil” icon located in the right-hand corner of all your posts.

Over your academic career at NU, you may find it helpful to find and join new communities within The Commons. These specialized groups can help you find support with students and faculty.

• Click on the “Discover groups” link from the My Groups dropdown in the top navbar. . 

• Once you are in the directory of communities, use the filter bar and type in keywords to find groups related to your interests.
• Click “Join” to add yourself to the group.

• You can also join a group by searching for the group and once you are on the groups home page you can click "Join"

My Hub offers you a prioritized view into the recent activity in those communities that you decide are the most important to you. Each time you return into The Commons you will see an indicator identifying how many new posts have been made to your My Hub communities since you last visited. 

When you click on the My Hub icon you will see the recent activity for those communities. Unread items will be blue and read items are white.

You can add and remove communities to My Hub via your Group Membership page by clicking on the Me icon on the top navigation bar, then select Account, and Group Memberships.

Find the group you want to add to My Hub, click on Options, and select Add to My Hub. Or find the group you want to remove, click on Options, and select Remove from My Hub.

Once those communities are added and new activity is posted, you will see the recent activity count next to the My Hub icon at the top of The Commons.

Commons users have the ability to follow conversations. This means they are able to keep a pulse on a conversation or post as new comments are added to the thread.

• To follow a conversation, simply click on the “Follow” button on a post.

• You will know you have successfully followed a conversation when the option to unfollow appears.
• To find posts you are following, click on your name in the upper right-hand corner and click on the “Following” link.

• Comments can be added and you can also choose to unfollow.
• You will receive notifications of new content in a followed conversation in your Daily Summary Email.