Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.pawtograder.com/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

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Discussion Board

Pawtograder’s discussion board feature allows students and staff to discuss course content and ask questions. It is not intended to be a replacement for office hours, although there is an option to format the post as a question that needs an answer (as opposed to a “note” that does not need an answer). Posts are formatted as Markdown and support drag-and-drop image uploads. Users can drag image files directly into the editor to upload and embed them in posts. Posts are formatted as Markdown and support drag-and-drop image uploads, making it easy for students and staff to share screenshots, diagrams, and other visual content.

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Key Features

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Feed and Topic Organization

The discussion board uses a feed-based layout with two main views:

• My Feed: Shows all posts relevant to you, including posts from topics you follow
• Browse Topics: Allows you to explore posts organized by topic categories

Posts can be filtered by “Followed topics” to show only content from categories you’re interested in.

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Pinned Posts

Instructors can pin important posts that appear in a dedicated “Pinned Posts” section in the sidebar. This is useful for:

• Highlighting frequently asked questions
• Surfacing important announcements
• Drawing attention to helpful resources

Pinned posts remain visible and easily accessible regardless of how many new posts are created.

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Karma and Leaderboard

The discussion board includes an optional karma system to encourage positive participation. Students earn karma points through helpful contributions such as:

• Creating posts that receive likes
• Providing answers that are marked as helpful
• Engaging constructively with the community

When enabled, a leaderboard appears in the sidebar showing top contributors. Instructors can toggle the leaderboard visibility to make it less prominent or disable it entirely if preferred.

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Error Pins

Error pins automatically surface relevant discussion posts to students when they encounter errors in their assignment submissions. This feature:

• Matches submission errors to related discussion posts
• Displays suggested posts directly on the student’s submission page
• Reduces repetitive questions by connecting students to existing solutions
• Highlights instructor-pinned posts that address common issues

Pin discussion posts about common errors to ensure they appear as error pins when students encounter those issues.

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Post Visibility and Identity

Posts can be shared with the entire class, or with course staff only. Each user in a class has a pseudonym, and can choose to use their real name or their pseudonym. Staff can always see the real name of a user. Students can edit their own posts, and staff can edit any post.

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Rich Content Support

Posts support Markdown formatting and include drag-and-drop image upload functionality. Users can:

• Drag images directly into the post editor
• Paste images from clipboard
• Upload attachments to support their questions or explanations

This makes it easy to share screenshots, diagrams, and other visual content when discussing course material.

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Image Uploads

The discussion board supports drag-and-drop image uploads, making it easy to share:

• Screenshots of code or error messages
• Diagrams and visual explanations
• Assignment-related images

Simply drag an image file into the post editor or reply box, and it will be automatically uploaded and embedded in your post. This feature works for both creating new posts and replying to existing threads. The discussion board supports drag-and-drop image uploads for both students and staff. Users can:

• Drag images directly into the post editor
• Upload screenshots, diagrams, and other visual content
• Add multiple images to a single post or reply
• Preview images before posting

This feature makes it easier for students to share error messages, code screenshots, and visual explanations of their questions. Posts and replies support drag-and-drop image uploads. Students and staff can simply drag image files directly into the post editor, and they will be automatically uploaded and embedded using Markdown syntax. This makes it easy to share screenshots, diagrams, error messages, and other visual content.

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Post Metadata

Each post displays:

• Topic tag: Color-coded category (e.g., “Logistics”, “Assignments”)
• Author email: The poster’s identity
• Timestamp: When the post was created
• Reply count: Number of responses, with indicators for new replies
• Like count: Community engagement metric
• Karma: Points earned by users for helpful contributions
• Karma points: Users earn karma for helpful contributions
• Answered badge: Indicates whether a question has been resolved

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Karma System

The discussion board includes a karma system to encourage quality contributions. Users earn karma points when their posts receive likes and when they provide helpful answers. Karma points are displayed on user profiles and help identify active, helpful community members.

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Active Help Request Integration

When a student has an active help request in office hours, a widget appears in the discussion board sidebar showing:

• The current status of their help request (e.g., “in_progress”)
• Video call notifications when staff starts a video chat
• A “Join Video Call” button for quick access to help sessions

This integration ensures students never miss updates on their help requests, even while browsing the discussion board.

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Error Pins

Error pins automatically link discussion threads to student submissions that match specific error patterns. This helps students discover relevant discussions when they encounter common errors.

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Creating Error Pins

You can create error pins in two scopes:

• Assignment-specific: Matches only submissions for a specific assignment
• Class-level: Matches submissions across all assignments in the class

To create an error pin:

1. Navigate to a discussion thread that addresses a common error
2. Click Create Error Pin in the thread actions
3. Choose between assignment-specific or class-level
4. Define matching rules based on:
   • Test names and output
   • Build/lint errors
   • Score ranges
   • Error messages
5. Preview matches to see which submissions would be linked
6. Save the pin

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Rule Logic

Error pins support two rule evaluation modes:

• AND logic: All rules must match for a submission to be linked
• OR logic: Any rule matching will link the submission

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Managing Error Pins

View and manage all error pins for your class in the Error Pins management interface. You can:

• Enable or disable pins
• View match counts
• Edit pin rules
• Delete pins

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Karma System

Pawtograder includes an optional karma system to encourage student participation and recognize helpful contributions.

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How Karma Works

Students earn karma points when:

• Their posts receive likes from other students
• Their answers are marked as the accepted answer to questions
• They provide helpful replies that get upvoted

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Enabling Karma

To enable the karma system for your course:

1. Navigate to course settings
2. Enable the Discussion Board Karma option
3. Optionally configure karma weights for different actions

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Karma Display

When enabled, karma scores appear:

• Next to student names on posts and replies
• On student profile pages
• In the course leaderboard (if enabled)

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Best Practices

• Recognize contributions: Encourage students to like helpful posts
• Mark answers: Mark the best answer to questions to reward helpful students
• Leaderboard: Enable the leaderboard to showcase top contributors
• Balance: Ensure karma doesn’t create unhealthy competition

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Image Uploads

Students and staff can add images to posts and replies using drag-and-drop:

• Drag and drop: Drag image files directly into the editor
• Paste: Copy an image and paste it into the editor
• Upload: Click the image button in the toolbar

Images are automatically uploaded to secure storage and embedded in posts. The discussion board includes a karma system that rewards students for helpful contributions. Students earn karma points through:

• Receiving likes on their posts
• Having their answers marked as helpful
• Generating meaningful engagement in discussions

Karma scores are visible on student profiles and serve as a measure of community contribution. This system encourages students to:

• Provide thoughtful, helpful responses
• Actively participate in course discussions
• Support their peers’ learning

As an instructor, you can use karma scores to identify students who are particularly engaged and helpful in the course community.

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Drag-and-Drop Image Uploads

The discussion board supports drag-and-drop image uploads, making it easy for students and staff to share screenshots, diagrams, and other visual content. Simply drag an image file into the post editor to upload it.

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Karma System

The discussion board includes a karma system that rewards helpful contributions. Students earn karma points by:

• Creating helpful posts that receive likes
• Providing answers that are marked as solving questions
• Engaging constructively with the community

Karma scores are visible to instructors and can help identify active, helpful community members. This gamification element encourages quality participation in course discussions.

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Karma System

Pawtograder includes a karma system to encourage student engagement on the discussion board:

• Students earn karma for creating posts and replies
• Additional karma is awarded when posts receive likes
• Karma scores are visible to students and staff
• Helps identify active and helpful community members

The karma system gamifies participation and rewards students who contribute meaningfully to course discussions.

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Image Uploads

The discussion board supports drag-and-drop image uploads, making it easy for students and staff to:

• Share screenshots of errors or issues
• Post diagrams and visual explanations
• Include images directly in posts without external hosting

Simply drag an image file into the post editor to upload it. The discussion board includes a karma system that rewards students for helpful contributions. Students earn karma points through:

• Creating helpful posts and replies
• Receiving likes from other students and staff
• Having their answers marked as helpful by instructors
• Engaging constructively with the community

As an instructor, you can use karma scores to:

• Identify active and helpful students
• Recognize students who contribute to peer learning
• Award participation credit based on discussion board engagement
• Encourage quality contributions over quantity

Student karma scores are visible on their profiles and in the discussion board interface.

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Error Pins

Error pins are a powerful feature that automatically surfaces relevant discussion posts to students when they encounter errors in their submissions. When a student’s autograder run produces an error, the system:

• Matches the error message against discussion board posts
• Displays relevant pinned posts and discussions to the student
• Helps students find solutions without joining the office hours queue
• Reduces repetitive questions by surfacing existing answers

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Creating Effective Error Pins

To maximize the effectiveness of error pins:

1. Pin posts about common errors: When you notice students frequently encountering the same error, create and pin a discussion post explaining the solution
2. Use clear error messages: Include the actual error message text in your post so the system can match it
3. Provide step-by-step solutions: Make pinned posts comprehensive so students can resolve issues independently
4. Update regularly: As new common errors emerge, create new pinned posts to address them

Error pins integrate with the test insights dashboard to help you identify which errors are most common and deserve dedicated discussion posts.

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Notifications

By default, users do not get notifications for new posts, but can optionally “watch” a post to receive notifications when the post is updated or receives a new reply. Interacting with a post (e.g. replying to it) will automatically watch the post.

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Image Uploads

Students and staff can upload images to posts and replies using drag-and-drop. Simply drag an image file from your computer into the post editor, and it will be automatically uploaded and embedded. This feature makes it easier for students to share:

• Screenshots of errors or issues
• Diagrams and visual explanations
• Code output or terminal messages

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Karma and Leaderboard

Pawtograder includes a karma system to encourage helpful participation on the discussion board. Students earn karma when:

• Their posts receive likes from other students or staff
• Their answers are marked as helpful
• They actively contribute to discussions

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Configuring the Leaderboard

Instructors can optionally enable a leaderboard to display top contributors. The leaderboard can be configured to:

• Show or hide the leaderboard entirely
• Set the number of top contributors to display
• Customize the time period for ranking (e.g., all-time, this semester)

The leaderboard feature is designed to be less cluttering and can be disabled if you prefer a simpler discussion board interface.

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Karma and Leaderboard

Pawtograder includes an optional karma system to encourage helpful participation on the discussion board. As an instructor, you can enable or disable these features based on your course culture and goals.

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Karma System

When enabled, students earn karma points for:

• Creating helpful posts and sharing knowledge
• Providing useful answers to questions
• Receiving likes from other students
• Having their answers marked as correct

The karma system is designed to:

• Encourage active participation in course discussions
• Recognize students who help their peers
• Create a positive community atmosphere
• Provide instructors with insights into student engagement

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Leaderboard Configuration

The leaderboard feature can be configured to be:

• Prominent: Displayed prominently to encourage competition and recognition
• Subtle: Available but less emphasized to reduce competitive pressure
• Disabled: Completely hidden if you prefer not to use gamification

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Best Practices

When using the karma system:

1. Set expectations: Explain to students how karma works and what behaviors are rewarded
2. Monitor for quality: Ensure students are providing helpful content, not just posting for points
3. Balance competition: Consider your course culture when deciding how prominent to make the leaderboard
4. Recognize top contributors: Acknowledge students who consistently help their peers
5. Adjust as needed: You can enable or disable these features at any time based on how they’re working in your course

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Drag-and-Drop Image Uploads

Students and staff can add images to posts and replies by dragging and dropping image files directly into the editor. This feature makes it easier for students to:

• Share screenshots of errors or issues
• Show diagrams or visual explanations
• Provide examples of their work

Images are automatically uploaded and embedded in the post when dropped into the text editor.

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Karma System

Pawtograder includes an optional karma system to recognize helpful contributions to the discussion board. Students earn karma points when:

• Their posts receive likes from other students
• Their answers are marked as helpful by the original poster
• Instructors endorse their contributions

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Leaderboard

You can enable or disable the leaderboard feature from the course settings. When enabled, the leaderboard displays top contributors based on their karma scores. This can encourage student participation and help identify students who are actively helping their peers. To make the leaderboard less prominent, you can configure it to be collapsed by default, reducing visual clutter while still making it available for students who want to see it.

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Image Uploads

Students and staff can drag and drop images directly into discussion posts and replies. This makes it easy to:

• Share screenshots of errors or issues
• Include diagrams and visual explanations
• Attach relevant images without external hosting

Images are automatically uploaded and embedded in the post content.

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Karma System

The discussion board includes a karma system to recognize helpful contributions:

• Students earn karma points when their posts and replies receive likes
• Karma scores are visible to instructors and staff
• Use karma to identify active and helpful students in your course
• Karma encourages quality contributions and peer-to-peer learning

The karma system helps foster a positive and engaged learning community.

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Karma System

The discussion board includes a karma system to encourage student participation and recognize helpful contributions. Students earn karma points through:

• Creating posts: Earning likes from other students
• Providing helpful answers: Replies that solve problems or answer questions
• Community engagement: Constructive participation in discussions

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Using Karma

As an instructor, you can:

• View karma scores: See which students are actively contributing
• Track participation: Use karma as a metric for discussion board engagement
• Offer incentives: Award extra credit or recognition for high karma scores
• Monitor quality: Identify students who consistently provide helpful answers

Karma scores are visible on student profiles and can be exported for grading purposes.