Leaderboards

Leaderboards are page blocks that rank members by weighted engagement score over a selected time window, giving admins a way to surface activity and encourage participation across an Academy.

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Overview

A leaderboard block reads engagement data that already exists in your workspace and displays it as a ranked list or carousel on any customizable page. The block does not generate scores — it surfaces them. Admins most commonly add leaderboards to Academy home pages, For You feeds, or other dashboard-style surfaces where members land regularly. Leaderboards are configured at the page level, not from a central admin settings page.

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Add a Leaderboard to a Page

To add a leaderboard, work directly on the page where you want it to appear.

1. Open the Academy page or custom page you want to customize.
2. Enter the page editing experience.
3. Click Add Block.
4. Select Leaderboard from the block picker.

The Leaderboard block appears in the Standard Blocks section of the block picker. If the block appears disabled, the tooltip will indicate a page-configuration limitation rather than a leaderboard-specific issue.

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Configure the Leaderboard Block

Once you select Leaderboard, a configuration form opens. Complete each field before saving.

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Title

Enter the heading that appears on the block. This field is required. The default value is Leaderboard.

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Description

Enter a short description. This text appears as tooltip content on the block, not as on-page body copy. This field is required. The default value is The top members based on their activity.

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Leaderboard Style

Choose how the rankings display:

• Carousel is visual and card-based, suited for featured placements
• List is denser and easier to scan at a glance

The default style depends on where you are adding the block. Community-level dashboards default to List. Experience-level dashboards default to Carousel.

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Members to Show

Set how many ranked members appear. The minimum is 3 and the maximum is 15. The default is 10.

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Time Period

Select a time window for the engagement data. Available options:

• Last 7 days
• Last 30 days
• Last 90 days (default)
• Last 365 days
• This week
• Last week
• This month
• Last month
• This year
• Last year

Two behaviors apply to all time periods: week-based windows start on Monday, and all time boundaries are calculated in UTC.

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What Members See

Members see the leaderboard in the display style you configured.

• Carousel view shows ranked member cards in a scrollable carousel format.
• List view shows a vertical ranked list with each member’s identity, point score, and rank iconography.

If a member has a score in the selected time window but falls outside the visible top list, the platform can still show that member their own position appended below the main rankings.

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How Scoring Works

The leaderboard score is a weighted engagement score built from a combination of member activities, not a single fixed metric. Activities that can contribute to a score include curriculum module completion, lesson or content completion, assignment submission and completion, comments, channel messages, reactions, bookmarks, and event attendance. Academy-wide leaderboards incorporate a broader set of activities including direct messages and bookmarks, because the Academy scope has a wider activity surface than experience scope. Adding a leaderboard block does not activate scoring. The engagement scoring model already exists in your workspace. The block makes that data visible on a page.

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Academy Leaderboard vs. Program Leaderboard

The scope of the page where you add the leaderboard determines which activities are counted, and this difference matters more than many admins expect.

• Academy scope uses activity across the broader organization and all its experiences within the selected time window. This includes a wider range of activities.
• Program scope counts only activity within that specific experience. Some engagement sources available at the community level are not included.

This is why the same member can appear very differently on a Academy Home leaderboard versus a leaderboard on an individual Program dashboard. Neither is incorrect, they reflect different scopes.

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Adjust Engagement Weights

You can change how much each activity type contributes to the engagement score. Weight changes affect the ranking order on every leaderboard in your workspace.

1. Open Admin.
2. Go to Insights.
3. Open Engagement.
4. Click Edit Weights.
5. Adjust the weight values for actions including comments, reactions, direct messages, channel messages, content completion, module completion, assignment submission, bookmarks, and event attendance.
6. Click Update.

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Empty State and Minimum Population

The leaderboard block requires at least three members with scores above zero before it renders rankings. If that threshold is not met within the selected time window, members see an empty state instead of a partial list. The empty state shows an icon, a “No engagement yet” title, and helper text letting members know they will appear once they begin engaging. This is expected behavior. A new community, a narrow time window, or an experience with low recent activity can all produce this state. It does not indicate a broken block.

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FAQ

Why is my leaderboard empty even though we have active members? The block only renders rankings when at least three members have scores above zero in the selected time window. Try widening the time period (for example, switch from “This week” to “Last 30 days”) or confirm that members have completed qualifying activities recently. Can I see who ranked highest in a past time period? Yes. Change the Time Period setting on the leaderboard block to the relevant past window, such as Last month or Last 30 days. The block repopulates with engagement scores from that period. There is no automatic archive of leaderboard results, so if you need a permanent record, capture a screenshot before the window rolls over. Can I have multiple leaderboards showing different time periods on the same page? Yes. You can add multiple leaderboard blocks to a custom page and configure each with a different time period. This is a practical way to show “This month” and “Last month” side by side, giving members a running view of recent momentum. Is there a way to reset the leaderboard? There is no manual reset button. The displayed rankings are determined entirely by the Time Period setting. To effectively start fresh, switch the time period to a window that begins now, such as This month or This week. Members who have not yet engaged in that window will not appear until they do. Why does a member rank high on the community leaderboard but low on an experience leaderboard? Community and experience leaderboards use different activity scopes. The community leaderboard counts activity across your whole organization, including actions like direct messages and bookmarks. The experience leaderboard counts only activity within that specific experience. A member who is broadly active may have a lower score when only experience-specific activity is counted. Do engagement weight changes affect all leaderboards? Yes. Weights apply to every leaderboard block in your workspace. Changing weights recalculates scores across all leaderboards simultaneously. Why does my leaderboard block appear disabled in the block picker? A disabled block card typically points to a page-configuration limitation rather than a leaderboard issue. Check whether the page type supports custom blocks. If the issue persists, contact Disco support. Do admins appear on the leaderboard? Leaderboards are primarily member-facing rankings. In experience scope, the scoring logic is centered on enrolled member behavior. Admins and staff do not automatically participate as standard leaderboard members in every context. Is there any admin-facing export or permanent archive of past leaderboard rankings? The only current way to pull a past leaderboard ranking is to adjust the tiler for the time period on the engagement score report.