Contribly Glossary

The moderation dashboard where journalists manage assignments and reader contributions. This can be accessed via: hub.contribly.com
Here you can:

• Create or edit assignments
  
  

• Create or edit Forms
  
  

• Approve, reject, or defer contributions
  
  

• Edit headlines/text or rotate/crop images
  
  

• Check media metadata (creation date, device used, location)
  
  

• Handle flagged content (reported by users)
  
  

• Export contributions for use elsewhere
  
  

• Set up internal email alerts
  
  

• Access the upload and publishing widgets
  
  

• Download contributions and data for your articles and CRM

A topic you create in Contribly to ask your community for content. In other words, a question, poll, competition, request or challenge you create for your audience to respond to. Each assignment has its own title, and widgets (ways to display it on your site).

This could be a photo call-out, reader question call-out, reader stories, reader video call-out, a debate call-out.
Examples: “Share your first day of school photos” or “Tell us your favourite hiking spots”.

Assignments can include a description, cover image, poll, start/end dates, and rules (like whether contributions must include photos). Journalists create and manage assignments in the Moderation Tool.

People who submit content.

• Verified contributors: Logged in via OAuth (e.g. Google sign-in), so identity is confirmed. (this is only if Contribly is integrated with your Single Sign On system)
  You can see their history, details, and past contributions in the moderation tool.
  
  

• Guest contributors: Contributors that are not registered to your Single Sign on System. These contributors can still submit their email but this is not verified.

The content a reader submits in response to a call-out. This could be text, images, video, or a combination.

• Each contribution has details like headline, body text, media, contributor info, and metadata.
  
  

• Contributions go into the moderation queue before they appear publicly (unless moderation is switched off).

The photo or video submitted by a contributor. 

Contribly is able to process most standard media formats.

• Image formats: JPEG, PNG, HEIC, GIF (single frame), WebP and BMP images can be submitted. Images can be output as JPEG or PNG files. 

• Image size: The max file size is 20MB.
  
  

• Video formats: MP4, MPEG1, Quicktime, FLV, theora and webm formatted videos can be submitted. Video sizes up to full HD are supported. This includes videos originally shot on iOS and Android devices. Videos are output as HTML5 compatible MP4 files.
  

• Video size: The max file size is 100MB.

The status of a contribution during review. The main ones are:

• Awaiting – waiting for review (not published)
  
  

• Approved – (visible as one tick) published in galleries/widgets
  
  

• Approved & potentially interesting – (visible as two ticks) published in galleries/widgets
  
  

• Approved & interesting – (visible as three ticks) approved and highlighted as high-value content
  
  

• Deferred – awaiting a decision later
  
  

• Rejected– not published
  
  

• Refer to Editorial/Legal – needs special handling.

A call-out where contributions are displayed in the gallery widgets without needing prior approval. Contributions can still be rejected after being submitted to remove them from the gallery widgets.

A feature which allows only one hub user to view or approve contributions to a specific assignment. No other moderators or Contribly team members will have visibility on these contributions unless the contributions have been approved. This is an optional feature - Only to be used for sensitive assignments.

The full record of a submission: text, media, metadata, location info, and its moderation history.

Snippets of code you paste or embed into your website to display call-outs and contributions.
Types include:

• Contribute widgets – this is an upload widget that displays as a form readers use to submit content
  
  

• Gallery widgets – displays all approved contributions from a single assignment
  
  

• Map widgets – shows all approved contributions from a single assignment on a map
  
  

• Individual widget - Shows an individual contribution if approved
  
  

• AMP widget – for Google AMP pages
  Widgets can be inline, modal (pop-up), or WYSIWYG (WordPress-friendly).

These are the same widgets as those mentioned above. They are a different type of embed, usually used for Wordpress sites.

The set of questions and fields users see when contributing (e.g. “Your Name,” “Upload Photo,” “Tell us your story”). Forms can be customised and reused across different assignments.

The structured fields you ask contributors to fill in include: Heading; Main Text; Media; Location; First Name; Last Name, Email. All of these are displayed in the gallery widgets. Other fields that can be added to a form include: Check box (usually used for terms & conditions, or newsletter sign ups), Radio group (where a contributor can select one of various predetermined options), Select (where a contributor can select one or more of of the various predetermined options), Additional text box (used for to collect short additional information that will not be displayed in galleries), Additional text area (used to collect longer additional information still not displayed in a gallery widget)

Each call-out is linked to a form.

• One same form can be used across various call-outs.
  
  

• A form can be selected where you create a new assignment, the display in alphabetical order.
  
  

• You can customise forms (e.g. “photo competition form,” “debate form,” “reader tip form”) via settings - forms.
  
  

• You can duplicate a form by clicking on the form you want to copy, and clicking on ‘create a copy of this form’ at the bottom of the page.

A quick question added to a call-out that readers can answer when submitting.
Example: “Who will win Wimbledon this year?” with multiple-choice answers.
Polls will display a tally of ‘votes’ in the confirmation screen once a reader submits their contribution.

A time/date setting that holds back approved contributions from going public until the specified moment.
Useful for competitions or planned news coverage.

Controls how precisely a contributor’s location is displayed publicly. Options:

• Submitted – exact location shown
  
  

• Street – rounded to the nearest street
  
  

• City – rounded to the nearest city
  
  

• Locality (short) - Rounded to the nearest town
  
  

• Hidden – no public location shown
  This helps protect privacy while still allowing geographic context.
  

  
  Note: If you change the georesolution after contributions have come into your call-out, the update only applies to contributions coming in after the change.

Technical information embedded in submitted files (EXIF data) such as:

• Device used
  
  

• Creation date/time
  
  

• Location (if GPS enabled)
  Used for verifying authenticity and detecting duplicates.

A warning raised by a user about a contribution (e.g. offensive, spam, copyright issue). Flags show up in the moderation dashboard and need to be resolved by a journalist.

A verification message shown against a contribution. These can be shown when the metadata in an image shows an inconsistency, or when a contribution isn’t deemed appropriate to publish. These can be:

• Offensive text: Readers story includes rude or inappropriate language including profanities
  
  

• Media Location: media location in the metadata doesn’t match the location the reader submitted
  
  

• Media Creation Date: media date in the metadata doesn’t match the location the reader submitted
  
  

• Copyright issues: Image uploaded by reader includes metadata that shows it has been downloaded from a stock photo website or the author name found in media metadata does not match name submitted by the contributor
  
  

• Duplicate media: The same media has been uploaded to the Contribly hub before

Labels used to organise assignments and contributions by theme (e.g. “sport,” “culture,” “travel”).

• Tags can be grouped into tag sets (e.g. all sports-related tags).
  
  

• Tags help with filtering, search, and presentation.

The text displayed after a contributor submits their contribution.

If checked, this indicates that guest contributors can upload contributions to this assignment.
If un-checked, only registered contributors will be allowed to contribute to the assignment.

WARNING: Only un-check this if your Contribly account has been integrated with your in-house single-sign-on (SSO) system.

A headline image you can upload to visually represent your assignment, this image is set up where you create an assignment and is only visible in Hub (recommended size: 900x600).

Ways to download contributions for use outside Contribly. Options include:

• Full-sized media (standardised and safe to distribute)
  
  

• Original media (exact file from user, use with caution)
  
  

• ZIP exports (batch download of media + Word docs with contribution details)

Automated emails to keep teams up-to-date. Triggers can include:

• New contributions awaiting moderation
  
  

• New assignments created in hub
  
  

• Content flagged by users
  
  

• A moderation state change

Readers can “like” contributions on gallery widgets. Likes appear in moderation stats and can be used to highlight popular contributions.
The Engagement Gallery widget can be filtered by most liked to see the most popular contributions (great for a competition for example).

Reports on how your Contribly instance is being used: number of contributions, activity over time, etc.

Different versions of submitted media that Contribly generates (e.g. thumbnails, mobile-friendly sizes, web-quality video). Artifacts make sure media loads quickly and safely on your sites.

Levels of user permissions in Contribly:

• Super Admin – full system access (Contribly staff)
  
  

• Admin – can create/delete call-outs, contributions, forms, and users
  
  

• Editor – can create call-outs, edit content, moderate
  
  

• Moderator – can review and approve/reject contributions