Overview

Based on customer feedback and analytics, we have identified two significant challenges with the current news feature in Mantra:

1. News Source Limitations: Currently, the news displayed in the News view is sourced solely from spaces inserted into the news modules on a workspace’s dashboard. This forces customers to add irrelevant news spaces to the dashboard just to make them visible in the News View.

2. Low Usage of Feeds: Although companies create Feeds, users are not engaging with them. Overall usage is below 1% across all customer instances, indicating that the feature is either too complex or unnecessary. This led us to move the feed selection from a first-level to a second-level option in the UI. However, companies and users still want a structured and grouped approach to news presentation.

Our Approach

To address these issues, we are introducing a completely new news experience that is intuitive and user-friendly. This new system includes:

• News Feeds: A structured and organized way to manage and consume news.

• Personalized News Feed & Notifications: Users can curate their own news experience.

• Simplified News Creation: A more streamlined process for generating news content.

• Improved News View: A clear and structured way to consume news.

• Deprecation of Old Feeds: The existing feed system will be phased out.

Transition Period

Customers have until April 30, 2025, to manually create a new news structure using News Feeds. After this date, if a new structure has not been implemented, news will no longer be displayed in Mantra. However, the news content will still exist in Confluence and can still be displayed in Mantra by using the new News Feeds structure.

News Feeds

News Feeds are a new approach to organizing and delivering news to users. Admins and Mantra Super Users can now centrally manage news sources by navigating to Settings → News.

Key Features:

• Segmented News Feeds: Reflect the company’s structure and priorities.

• Up to 20 News Feeds: Each feed can include up to 20 spaces, offering significant flexibility.

• Support for Community Spaces: Mantra Community spaces are now also supported.

Users now have the option to either display all news or filter by a specific News Feed in the News view.

Comparison: Current vs. Future State

Current State:

• News is sourced from spaces inserted into the dashboard’s news modules.

• Users cannot group or structure news efficiently.

• News feeds are underutilized.

Future State:

• News Feeds allow structured, categorized news sources.

• Users can personalize their news consumption by subscribing to feeds.

• Community spaces are integrated.

The New News View

The News View is now divided into three sections:

1. Discover News

• Displays all available news.

• Users can browse through company-wide news sources.

2. My News Feed

• Users can subscribe to selected News Feeds and view only relevant content.

• A new "Manage Subscriptions" feature allows customization.

3. My Drafts

• Displays only if the user has created news drafts.

• Users can manage and publish their drafts efficiently.

My News Feed + Notifications

In the My News Feed view, users can:

• Subscribe to specific News Feeds for a customized experience.

• Use the "Manage Subscriptions" panel to modify selections at any time.

• Receive notifications in the "What’s New" section when updates are made to subscribed feeds.

• Apply filters and search functionality similar to the "Discover News" tab.

Dashboard Module Integration

We are introducing a new dashboard module that dynamically displays My News Feeds. This enhancement enables dashboards to present:

• Company-defined content: Important announcements and corporate updates.

• User-personalized news: Relevant updates based on individual subscriptions.

This ensures a win-win scenario, where dashboards balance company priorities and user preferences.

Recommendations for News Feeds

• Create 5-10 news feeds.

• Prioritize important news: Create a feed for your most critical updates and name it “Top News,” “Key Updates,” or similar. Place this feed at the top of your list to ensure high visibility.

• Group related topics together: Instead of many separate feeds, combine topics into broader categories like “Culture & Engagement,” “IT & Security,” or “HR & Legal.” This reduces clutter and makes news more engaging.

• Improve clarity for users: If you currently use a single space for all news, users may struggle to understand the context since news items display the space name in the top left corner. Instead, break this space into multiple topic-based spaces while maintaining the same permissions to minimize disruption.

• Seamless news creation: Mantra’s “Write News” button guides users through a simple two-step process: first selecting a news feed, then choosing from its associated spaces. This makes news creation straightforward and efficient.

How to transition from Feeds to News Feeds

Step 1: Access News Settings Navigate to Settings → News in the desired workspace.
Step 2: Create a News Feed Provide a name for the news feed. Add relevant spaces (up to 20 per feed). Community spaces are supported.
Step 3: Edit the Dashboard Modules Open the dashboard editor. Update the Header News Module and all other news modules.
Step 4: Switch to News Feeds Change the selection from space-based news to News Feeds. Existing configurations remain intact, allowing switching back if needed.
Step 5: Select News Feeds for Each Module Choose the desired News Feeds and save the view. Repeat for all news modules, including the Header News Module.
Step 6: Enable News Feeds Go to the News tab and toggle Enable News Feeds. News Feeds are now active! The feature can be disabled for testing purposes, with previous settings immediately restored.