# ForumScout Documentation > ForumScout monitors keywords across social media platforms and forums including Reddit, Twitter/X, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, Bluesky, News, and Forums. --- # Introduction ForumScout monitors keywords across social media platforms and forums. This documentation covers how to set up and use the platform. ## Use cases - **Brand monitoring** — Track mentions of your company or products - **Lead generation** — Find people asking for recommendations - **Competitor tracking** — Monitor competitor mentions - **Market research** — Understand audience discussions - **Reputation management** — Catch negative mentions early - **Content ideas** — Discover frequently asked questions ## Supported platforms ForumScout monitors the following platforms: | Platform | Coverage | |----------|----------| | Reddit | Posts and comments across all subreddits | | Twitter / X | Tweets and replies | | LinkedIn | Public posts and articles | | YouTube | Video titles, descriptions, and comments | | Instagram | Public posts and captions | | Bluesky | Posts on the Bluesky network | | News | Major publications and blogs | | Forums | Various online discussion boards | ## Core concepts ### Scouts A Scout is a keyword monitor. Each Scout tracks specific keywords across your selected platforms. You can create multiple Scouts to organize different monitoring needs (e.g., one for brand mentions, another for competitor tracking). ### AI filters AI filters analyze each result and determine relevance based on criteria you define. This reduces noise when your keywords have multiple meanings or when you're looking for specific types of mentions. ### Feed The Feed displays all matches from your Scouts. You can filter by Scout, platform, date, and sentiment. Each result links to the original post. ### Insights Insights provide analytics on your mentions: volume over time, sentiment breakdown, top sources, and trending topics. Available on Pro and Ultra plans. ## Features | Feature | Description | |---------|-------------| | Multi-platform monitoring | Monitor 10,000,000+ sources simultaneously | | AI filtering | Filter results by relevance using natural language prompts | | Email reports | Scheduled email reports with your latest matches | | Sentiment analysis | Automatic positive/negative/neutral classification | | Team collaboration | Invite team members with role-based permissions | | Google Sheets export | Automatically export matches to a spreadsheet | | API access | Programmatic access to your data | ## Questions? Email josh@forumscout.app --- # Choosing keywords The keywords you choose determine what ForumScout finds. This guide covers how to select keywords that capture relevant mentions without generating too much noise. ## Quick setup vs manual keywords ForumScout offers two ways to set up keywords: **Quick setup** — Select a goal (brand monitoring, finding customers, or competitor tracking), enter your website URL or description, and ForumScout suggests keywords using AI. You can select, deselect, or add your own. **Manual setup** — Enter your own keywords from scratch. Use this when you have specific terms in mind or need precise control. ## Keyword length guidelines | Type | Example | When to use | |------|---------|-------------| | Short-tail (1-2 words) | `CRM software` | Broad monitoring, high volume | | Mid-tail (2-3 words) | `CRM for startups` | Balanced reach and relevance | | Long-tail (4+ words) | `CRM software with AI features` | Extremely specific, low volume | **General rule:** Start with short/mid-tail keywords. They're specific enough to be relevant but broad enough to capture variations in how people phrase things. ## Common mistakes ### Too narrow Bad: `ForumScout social listening tool for SaaS companies` This is too specific. People rarely use your exact product description when discussing it. You'll miss most mentions. Good: `ForumScout` or `social listening tool` ### Too broad Bad: `software` This matches millions of posts. You'll spend more time filtering noise than finding relevant mentions. Good: `project management software` or `CRM software` ### Marketing language vs customer language Bad: `AI-powered customer engagement platform` This is how you describe your product. It's not how customers talk about it. Good: `help desk software` or `customer support tool` Think about how someone would describe their problem or ask for a recommendation, not how you'd pitch your solution. ## Keyword examples by use case ### Brand monitoring Monitor your brand name and common misspellings: - Acme Inc - AcmeInc - Acme software - @acmeinc Include product names if they're distinct: - Acme CRM - Acme Analytics ### Finding potential customers Focus on problem-focused and recommendation-seeking phrases: - best CRM - CRM recommendations - "looking for" AND "CRM" - customer management - affordable CRM These capture people actively seeking solutions. ### Competitor monitoring Track competitor brand names: - Salesforce - HubSpot CRM - Pipedrive ## Using negative keywords Negative keywords exclude posts containing specific terms. Add them when you notice irrelevant results. **Example:** You're monitoring `Apple` for the company, but getting posts about fruit. Add negative keywords: recipe, orchard, fruit, pie Negative keywords can be set per-scout or globally (applies to all scouts) in Settings. ## Using exact match Enabling **Exact match** is highly recommended for 99% of scouts. Turning exact match off will use 'broad match', which will return posts that contain synonymous keywords to the ones the scout is tracking. If you want to track mentions of a specific keyword, always keep exact match turned on. ## Boolean expressions For advanced filtering, use boolean operators: | Operator | Example | Matches | |----------|---------|---------| | AND | `CRM AND startup` | Posts containing both terms | | OR | `CRM OR customer management` | Posts containing either term | | NOT | `CRM NOT Salesforce` | Posts with CRM but not Salesforce | | () | `CRM AND (startup OR small business)` | Grouping for complex logic | **Example:** Find people asking about CRMs but exclude Salesforce discussions: `(CRM OR "customer management") AND (recommendation OR suggest OR best) NOT Salesforce` **Note:** Boolean expressions are supported on Reddit, Twitter, LinkedIn, News, and Forums. They're automatically disabled on platforms that don't support them (Instagram, Bluesky). ## Iterating on keywords Your first set of keywords are rarely perfect. Review your results after a few days: 1. **Too much noise?** Add negative keywords or make keywords more specific 2. **Missing mentions?** Add keyword variations or make keywords broader 3. **Irrelevant platforms?** Disable platforms that aren't producing useful results Use AI filters to further refine results without changing keywords. ## Tips - **Monitor your competitors' keywords too** — If you sell CRM software, you should know when people complain about Salesforce - **Include common typos** — People misspell brand names frequently - **Watch for new slang** — Communities develop their own terminology over time - **Check multiple platforms** — The same topic is discussed differently on Reddit vs LinkedIn - **Use the AI keyword generator** — It suggests keywords based on how customers actually search, not marketing language --- # AI filters AI filters analyze each post and score how relevant it is to your criteria. Posts are scored 0-100, and only posts above your threshold appear in your feed. ## How AI filters work 1. Your scout finds posts matching your keywords 2. Each post is sent to an AI model with your filter prompt 3. The AI scores each post 0-100 based on how well it matches your criteria 4. Posts below your threshold (default: 90) are hidden 5. Each post includes a reason explaining the score ## When to use AI filters AI filters are useful when: - **Keywords have multiple meanings** — e.g., "Apple" returns posts about both the company and the fruit - **You want specific intent** — e.g., only people asking for recommendations, not general discussions - **You need context-aware filtering** — e.g., only negative sentiment, or only B2B contexts If your keywords are specific enough that most results are relevant, you may not need AI filtering. ## Writing filter prompts Write your filter as if you're explaining to a person what posts you want to see. Be specific about: - **What to include** — Types of posts you want - **What to exclude** — Types of posts you don't want - **Context about your product** — Helps the AI understand relevance ### Basic structure ``` Only show me posts that [describe what you want]. For example: - [specific example 1] - [specific example 2] - [specific example 3] Do not show: - [what to exclude] About my product: [brief description] ``` ## Example filters ### Finding potential customers ``` Only show me posts where someone is actively looking for a CRM solution or asking for recommendations. For example: - Posts asking "what CRM do you use?" or "best CRM for small business" - Posts where someone is frustrated with their current CRM - Posts asking for advice on managing customer relationships Do not show: - General discussions about CRM concepts - Posts from companies promoting their own CRM - Job postings mentioning CRM experience About my product: We sell a CRM for small businesses. ``` ### Brand monitoring (filtering noise) ``` Only show me posts that are genuinely about Acme Inc (the software company). Include: - Customer feedback or reviews - Questions about our product - Mentions in discussions comparing tools Exclude: - Posts about other companies named Acme - Posts where "acme" is used as a generic placeholder name - Spam or irrelevant mentions ``` ### Competitor intelligence ``` Only show me posts where someone is expressing opinions about Salesforce. Include: - Complaints or frustrations with Salesforce - Comparisons between Salesforce and other CRMs - People considering switching away from Salesforce Exclude: - Salesforce job postings - Salesforce's own marketing content - Neutral mentions without opinions ``` ## Match score threshold The default threshold is **90** — only posts scoring 90 or above appear in your feed. You can adjust this in Settings: | Threshold | Effect | |-----------|--------| | 95+ | Very strict, only the most relevant posts | | 90 | Default, good balance | | 80 | More permissive, may include borderline posts | | 70 | Loose filtering, more volume with some noise | Lower thresholds show more posts but may include less relevant results. ## Testing filters Use the AI filter playground to test filters before applying them: 1. Go to a scout's settings 2. Enter or modify your filter 3. Click "Test filter" 4. Review how posts would be scored with the new filter 5. Compare results against your current filter 6. Apply when satisfied The playground tests against your last 7 days of posts (up to 1000). ## Scout-level vs global filters **Scout-level filter** — Applies only to a specific scout. Set this in the scout's settings. **Global filter** — Applies to all scouts that don't have their own filter. Set this in Settings > AI Filter. Scout-level filters override the global filter. ## Tips - **Be conservative** — It's better to miss some relevant posts than to be flooded with noise. You can always loosen criteria later. - **Include "do not show" instructions** — Explicitly stating what to exclude improves accuracy. - **Add product context** — The AI makes better decisions when it understands what you're selling or monitoring. - **Review regularly** — Check posts scoring 70-89 occasionally to see what's being filtered out. Adjust if you're missing relevant content. - **Start with the suggested filter** — When using quick setup, ForumScout generates a filter based on your product. Use it as a starting point. --- # Creating your first scout A scout monitors keywords across your selected platforms and finds matching posts. This guide walks through the creation process. ## Onboarding wizard When you first sign up, ForumScout walks you through creating your first scout with a goal-based flow: 1. **Brand tracking** — Enter your brand name and optionally add competitors 2. **Customer acquisition** — Describe your product and ForumScout suggests keywords people use when looking for solutions like yours 3. **Custom tracking** — Skip the wizard and set up keywords manually You can skip onboarding entirely and create scouts from the Scouts page. ## Creating a scout From the Scouts page, click **Create Scout**. You'll configure: ### Keywords Enter the keywords you want to monitor. ForumScout will find posts containing these terms. ### Platforms Select which platforms to monitor. You can enable any combination of Reddit, Twitter/X, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, Bluesky, News, and Forums. Different platforms have different strengths. Reddit and Twitter tend to produce the most conversational results. LinkedIn skews professional. News covers publications and blogs. ### Exact match **Keep this on for almost all scouts.** Exact match ensures ForumScout only finds posts containing your exact keywords. Turning it off enables broad matching, which includes synonyms and related terms — useful in rare cases but usually too noisy. ### Negative keywords Words that disqualify a post. If a post contains any of your negative keywords, it's excluded regardless of whether it matches your main keywords. ### AI filter A natural language prompt that tells the AI what types of posts you want. Each post is scored 0-100, and only posts above your threshold appear in your feed. ### Excluded / included usernames **Excluded usernames** — Posts from these users are always hidden. Useful for filtering out bots or irrelevant accounts. **Included usernames** — Only show posts from these users. Use this when you want to monitor specific accounts. ### Sentiment filter Choose which sentiments to include: Positive, Neutral, Negative, or any combination. Defaults to all three. ### Daily mention limit Cap how many mentions a scout collects per day. Useful if you're monitoring high-volume keywords and want to control usage. ### Email notifications Add email addresses to receive notifications when the scout finds new matches. You can add multiple recipients. ### Scout type Classify your scout as tracking your brand or a competitor. This determines how posts are grouped in your feed (under "Your Brand" or "Competitors" categories). ## After creating a scout Your scout runs immediately after creation to collect initial results. After that, it runs hourly to find new mentions. You can check a scout's status on the Scouts page: - **Active** — Running on schedule - **Paused** — Not running (you can pause/resume anytime) The Scouts page also shows each scout's mention count over the last 7 days, whether AI filtering is on, and whether email notifications are enabled. ## Editing and managing scouts From the Scouts page, you can: - **Edit** any scout setting after creation - **Pause/Resume** a scout - **Delete** a scout and its associated data ## Tips - **Start with one scout per goal** — One for brand monitoring, one for competitor tracking, one for lead generation. This keeps your feed organized. - **Use the onboarding wizard** — The AI-suggested keywords are based on how real people search, which is usually better than guessing. - **Don't over-monitor** — It's better to have a few well-tuned scouts than many noisy ones. You can always add more later. - **Review after a few days** — Check your feed and adjust keywords, negative keywords, or AI filters based on what you're seeing. --- # Using the feed The feed is where all your scout matches appear. Each result shows the post title, a snippet, the source platform, author, date, and a link to the original post. ## Filtering The feed provides several ways to narrow down results: ### By scout Use the scout selector at the top to view results from a specific scout or all scouts at once. ### By platform Filter to show only results from a specific platform (Reddit, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.). ### By sentiment Show only positive, negative, or neutral posts. Useful when you want to focus on complaints or praise. ### By search Search within your results by keyword or username. This searches across post titles and snippets. ### By AI filter score Use the score slider to adjust the minimum AI filter score. The default is 90. Lowering it shows more results that the AI was less confident about. Raising it shows only the most relevant matches. ### By category On Pro and Ultra plans, posts are automatically sorted into AI-generated categories like "buyer intent", "bug reports", "feature requests", and more. Use the category carousel to filter by these. All plans can filter between "Your Brand" and "Competitors" if you've set up scouts with those types. ## Bookmarks Click the bookmark icon on any post to save it. View all your bookmarked posts by selecting "Bookmarks" in the feed filters. Bookmarks persist across sessions. ## Post details Each post card shows: - **Title** — The post title or first line - **Snippet** — A preview of the post content - **Source** — Which platform it came from - **Author** — Who posted it - **Date** — When it was posted - **Match score** — How relevant the AI rated this post (if AI filtering is enabled) - **Match reason** — A short explanation of why the AI scored it the way it did - **Sentiment** — Positive, negative, or neutral classification Click any post to open the original on its source platform. ## CSV export Export your mentions to a CSV file from Settings. You can: - Select which scouts to export - Optionally filter by AI match score - Set a date range - Exported columns include: Title, Snippet, URL, Source, Date, Author, Sentiment, Match Score, and Scout ## Refresh frequency Scouts run hourly to find new mentions. The feed shows when each scout last ran. ## Tips - **Start with "All scouts"** — Get an overview, then drill into specific scouts when you need focus. - **Use sentiment filtering for reputation management** — Filter to negative posts to catch complaints early. - **Bookmark posts you want to follow up on** — Keeps them accessible without scrolling through your full feed. - **Lower the AI score threshold temporarily** — If you feel like you're missing relevant posts, try lowering to 70-80 to see what's being filtered out, then adjust your AI filter prompt accordingly. --- # Email reports ForumScout can send you email reports with your latest matches on a schedule you define. This is useful if you prefer to review mentions from your inbox rather than checking the dashboard. ## Setting up email reports Go to **Settings** and find the **Scheduled Email Reports** section. You can create up to 5 separate email schedules. Each schedule includes: - **Send time** — When the email is sent (adjusted to your timezone) - **Scouts** — Which scouts to include in the report - **Toggle** — Enable or disable the schedule without deleting it ## Default email recipients In Settings, you can set **default email recipients** that receive notifications across all your scouts. Individual scouts can also have their own email recipients configured during scout creation or editing. ## Mention limit warnings ForumScout sends automatic warning emails when you approach your monthly mention limit: - **75% warning** — Heads up that you're using most of your monthly allowance - **90% warning** — Urgent notice that you're about to hit your limit You can toggle these warnings on or off in Settings. ## Tips - **Set reports for your morning** — Configure the send time so reports arrive when you start your day. - **Use separate schedules for different teams** — Create one schedule for marketing (brand scouts) and another for sales (lead generation scouts). - **Keep mention limit warnings on** — Getting caught off guard by a paused scout is worse than one extra email. --- # Negative keywords & exclusions ForumScout gives you several layers of noise reduction. Understanding when to use each one helps you keep your feed clean without missing relevant mentions. ## Noise reduction layers | Layer | Scope | Where to set it | |-------|-------|-----------------| | Scout negative keywords | Single scout | Scout settings | | Global negative keywords | All scouts | Settings | | Excluded usernames (scout) | Single scout | Scout settings | | Global excluded usernames | All scouts | Settings | | AI filter (scout) | Single scout | Scout settings | | Global AI filter | All scouts without their own | Settings | ## Negative keywords Negative keywords exclude any post that contains the specified term, regardless of whether it matches your main keywords. ### Scout-level negative keywords Set during scout creation or editing. Only affect that specific scout. **Example:** Your scout tracks `Apple` for the tech company. Add negative keywords: recipe, orchard, fruit, pie, cider ### Global negative keywords Set in **Settings > Global Negative Keywords**. Apply to every scout on your account. Use these for terms that are universally irrelevant to your monitoring. For example, if you never want to see job postings: hiring, job opening, we're looking for, career opportunity ## Excluded usernames Block posts from specific users. ### Scout-level excluded usernames Set per scout. Useful when a specific bot or account keeps triggering matches on one scout but not others. ### Global excluded usernames Set in **Settings > Global Username Exclusions**. Apply to all scouts. Use these for bots or accounts that are always irrelevant. ## AI filters AI filters are the most flexible noise reduction tool. Instead of matching exact words, they use AI to evaluate whether a post is relevant based on criteria you describe in plain language. ### Scout-level AI filter Each scout can have its own AI filter. Set this during scout creation or in the scout's settings. ### Global AI filter Set in **Settings > AI Filter**. Applies to all scouts that don't have their own scout-level filter. Scout-level filters always override the global filter. ## When to use what | Problem | Solution | |---------|----------| | A specific word keeps appearing in irrelevant posts | Negative keyword | | A bot or spam account keeps showing up | Excluded username | | Results are technically on-topic but not the type you want | AI filter | | A broad issue affects all your scouts | Use the global version | | An issue is specific to one scout | Use the scout-level version | ## How the layers combine All layers stack. A post must pass every active layer to appear in your feed: 1. Post matches your keywords 2. Post does not contain any negative keywords (scout-level or global) 3. Post is not from an excluded username (scout-level or global) 4. Post passes the AI filter (scout-level, or global if no scout-level filter exists) If a post fails any layer, it's hidden. ## Tips - **Start with AI filters, add negative keywords as you go** — AI filters handle most noise. Add negative keywords when you notice specific recurring terms the AI doesn't catch. - **Check what's being filtered** — Occasionally lower your AI score threshold to see borderline posts. You might find your filter is too aggressive. - **Use global settings for account-wide noise** — If you see the same spam account across multiple scouts, add it to global exclusions once rather than per-scout. - **Negative keywords are absolute** — If a post contains the word, it's excluded. Be careful with common words that might appear in relevant posts too. --- # Boolean queries Boolean operators let you build precise keyword queries using logic. Instead of monitoring a single phrase, you can combine terms with AND, OR, NOT, and group them with parentheses. ## Operators | Operator | What it does | Example | |----------|-------------|---------| | `AND` | Both terms must be present | `CRM AND startup` | | `OR` | Either term can be present | `CRM OR "customer management"` | | `NOT` | Exclude posts containing the term | `CRM NOT Salesforce` | | `()` | Group terms for complex logic | `CRM AND (startup OR "small business")` | | `""` | Match an exact phrase | `"project management tool"` | ## Platform support Boolean operators are not supported on all platforms: | Platform | Boolean support | |----------|----------------| | Reddit | Yes | | Twitter / X | Yes | | LinkedIn | Yes | | YouTube | Yes | | News | Yes | | Forums | Yes | | Instagram | No | | Bluesky | No | On platforms that don't support boolean operators, ForumScout skips searching that platform when a boolean expression is detected. ## Examples ### Find people asking for recommendations `(CRM OR "customer management") AND (recommendation OR suggest OR "looking for" OR best)` Matches posts that mention CRM or customer management AND include words indicating the person is looking for a tool. ### Monitor a brand but exclude job postings `"Acme Inc" NOT (hiring OR "job opening" OR career OR recruiter)` Matches posts mentioning Acme Inc but filters out recruitment-related content. ### Track competitor complaints `Salesforce AND (frustrated OR expensive OR "switching from" OR alternative OR complaint)` Matches posts about Salesforce that express dissatisfaction or interest in switching. ### Multiple product names `"Acme CRM" OR "Acme Analytics" OR "Acme Platform"` Matches posts mentioning any of your product names. ### Complex brand monitoring `(Acme OR AcmeHQ OR @acme) AND (review OR opinion OR feedback OR complaint OR love OR hate) NOT (job OR hiring OR "acme hardware")` Finds opinion-based posts about your brand while excluding job posts and a similarly-named company. ## Common mistakes ### Unnecessary AND `CRM AND software` — This requires both words to appear, but they don't need to be adjacent. A post saying "I use CRM tools and build software" would match. If you want the exact phrase, use quotes: `"CRM software"`. ### Overly complex queries Very long boolean expressions are hard to maintain and debug. Consider splitting into multiple scouts instead — one for each topic — and using AI filters for nuanced filtering. ### Conflicting operators `CRM NOT CRM` — This matches nothing. Make sure your NOT terms don't overlap with your main keywords. ## Boolean queries vs AI filters | | Boolean queries | AI filters | |-|----------------|------------| | **How it works** | Exact keyword logic | AI reads and scores each post | | **Best for** | Controlling which posts are found | Controlling which found posts are relevant | | **Speed** | Filtered at search time | Applied after search | | **Flexibility** | Rigid — exact word matching | Flexible — understands context and intent | They work well together. Use boolean queries to get the right pool of posts, then use AI filters to score relevance within that pool. ## Tips - **Keep queries readable** — If you can't understand your query at a glance, simplify it or split it into multiple scouts. - **Use quotes for multi-word phrases** — `"project management"` finds the exact phrase. Without quotes, `project management` matches posts containing both words anywhere. - **Test with simple queries first** — Start broad, review results, then add operators to refine. - **Prefer AI filters for subjective criteria** — Boolean can't understand intent, tone, or context. Use AI filters for "only show posts where someone is complaining" type requirements. --- # Insights & analytics The Insights dashboard provides analytics across all your mentions. It's organized into four tabs, each focused on a different aspect of your data. Available on **Pro** and **Ultra** plans. ## Time ranges All tabs support time range filtering: Today, Last 7 days, Last 14 days, Last 30 days, or a custom date range. Select the range at the top of the Insights page. ## Overview The Overview tab shows high-level metrics: - **Total mentions** — Count and trend vs. previous period - **Overall sentiment** — Breakdown of positive, neutral, and negative mentions - **Most negative platform** — Which platform has the most negative mentions - **Top platform** — Which platform generates the most volume - **Conversation volume chart** — Mentions over time - **Sentiment breakdown** — Visual breakdown with progress bars - **Top sources** — Which communities and publications mention you most - **Emerging topics** — Trending keywords across your mentions ## Sentiment analysis The Sentiment tab provides deep emotional analysis using the Plutchik emotion model: - **Sentiment score** — Overall sentiment score with change over time - **Dominant emotion** — The most common emotion detected (joy, trust, fear, surprise, sadness, anger, anticipation, or disgust) - **Negative post percentage** — What portion of mentions are negative - **Emotional intensity** — How strong the emotions are on a 1-10 scale - **Sentiment over time** — Chart showing how sentiment changes day by day - **Emotion trends** — How each of the 8 Plutchik emotions trend over time - **Most negative mentions** — Posts with the strongest negative sentiment - **Top mentions by emotion** — Posts grouped by their dominant emotion This goes beyond basic positive/negative classification. It tells you not just that people are unhappy, but whether they're angry, fearful, sad, or disgusted — each of which calls for a different response. ## Competitive intelligence The Competitive tab appears when you have scouts tracking competitors (scouts with the "competitor" type). It provides: - **Share of voice** — How your brand's mention volume compares to competitors - **Total market volume** — Combined mentions across all tracked brands - **Sentiment advantage** — How your sentiment compares to competitors - **Opportunities found** — Posts where competitors are mentioned negatively (potential opportunities for you) - **Share of voice over time** — Chart showing how relative volume changes - **Share of voice distribution** — Pie chart of mention share - **Competitor weakness finder** — AI-identified weaknesses and complaints about each competitor - **Sentiment comparison** — Side-by-side sentiment analysis across brands To use this tab, you need at least one scout with the "competitor" type. Set this when creating or editing a scout. ## Audience & community The Audience tab helps you understand who is talking about you and where: - **Active communities** — How many distinct communities mention you - **Loudest voice** — The most active individual poster - **Unique authors** — How many distinct people are posting about you - **Most negative voice** — The individual posting the most negative content - **Top communities & sources** — Ranked list of where mentions come from - **Key influencers & top posters** — Who talks about you most - **Audience interests** — What other topics your audience discusses ## Tips - **Check competitive intelligence weekly** — Competitor weaknesses change as they ship updates and customers react. - **Watch emotion trends, not just sentiment** — A spike in "anger" is very different from a spike in "sadness" even though both are negative. Anger often signals a specific incident; sadness may signal churn risk. - **Use audience insights for content strategy** — If you know which communities discuss your product, you know where to focus outreach. - **Compare time ranges** — Look at 7-day vs. 30-day sentiment to distinguish one-off incidents from sustained trends. --- # Team collaboration ForumScout supports team access with role-based permissions. All plans include unlimited seats at no extra cost. ## Inviting team members Go to **Settings > Team Members** and click **Invite**. Enter the email address and select a role. The invited person receives an email with a link to join your account. If they already have a ForumScout account, their existing account is linked. If not, they'll create one during the invite process. Pending invitations show as "Pending" in the team member list. You can resend an invite if the recipient didn't receive it. ## Roles | Role | What they can do | |------|-----------------| | **Viewer** | View the feed, browse mentions, use bookmarks | | **Admin** | Everything a viewer can do, plus create, edit, and delete scouts, configure integrations | | **Owner** | Full access including billing, team management, and account settings | The person who created the account is the **account creator** and always has full owner access. You can invite additional members with any role, including owner. However, only the account creator can manage team members (invite, remove, change roles). Invited owners get full access to everything else — scouts, settings, integrations, billing — but cannot modify the team itself. ## Managing members From **Settings > Team Members**, you can: - **Change a member's role** — Upgrade a viewer to admin or vice versa - **Remove a member** — Revoke their access immediately - **Resend an invite** — For pending invitations that weren't accepted ## Switching accounts Team members who belong to multiple ForumScout accounts can switch between them. Use the account switcher to move between accounts you've been invited to and your own account. ## Tips - **Give sales teams viewer access** — They can browse the feed for leads without changing scout configurations. - **Use admin for marketing managers** — They can create and tune scouts without needing billing access. - **Keep owner access limited** — Only the account creator and key stakeholders should have owner access. --- # Google Sheets integration ForumScout can automatically export your mentions to a Google Sheets spreadsheet. New mentions sync in the background as your scouts find them. ## Connecting Google Sheets 1. Go to the **Scouts** page 2. Find the **Google Sheets** card in the Integrations section at the bottom 3. Click **Connect** 4. Authorize ForumScout to access your Google account ForumScout requests offline access so it can sync data in the background without you being logged in. Once connected, click **Configure** to set up which scouts sync and how data is organized. ## Configuring the sync After connecting a spreadsheet, configure how data flows: ### Selecting scouts Choose which scouts should sync their mentions to the spreadsheet. You can select individual scouts or all scouts. ### Combined vs individual tabs - **Combined** — All selected scouts write to a single sheet tab - **Individual** — Each scout gets its own tab in the spreadsheet ### Column mapping Mentions are synced with the following columns: - Title - Snippet - URL - Source (platform) - Date - Author ## How syncing works Once configured, ForumScout syncs new mentions to your spreadsheet in the background. When a scout finds new posts, they're automatically appended to the configured sheet. Syncing is one-way — ForumScout writes to the sheet. Editing or deleting rows in the sheet does not affect your ForumScout data. ## Disconnecting To disconnect, go to the **Scouts** page, find the Google Sheets card in Integrations, and click **Disconnect**. This stops future syncing but does not delete data already in the spreadsheet. ## Tips - **Use individual tabs for reporting** — If you report on brand mentions separately from competitor mentions, use individual tabs so each scout has its own clean dataset. - **Build dashboards on top** — Use Google Sheets charts or connect the sheet to Looker Studio for custom visualizations. - **Don't edit synced columns** — ForumScout appends new rows, so your edits in other columns are safe. But avoid modifying the synced columns or the header row. --- # Webhooks Webhooks let you send new mentions to an external URL in real time. Use this to pipe mentions into Slack, Zapier, n8n, Make, or any custom tool that accepts HTTP requests. ## Setting up a webhook Webhooks are configured from the **Scouts page** under the **Integrations** section at the bottom: 1. Go to the **Scouts** page 2. Find the **Webhooks** card in the Integrations section 3. Click **Configure** 4. Enable webhooks and enter your webhook URL 5. Save Once enabled, all your scouts send new mentions to the webhook URL. You can configure per-scout match score filtering to control which posts trigger the webhook — by default, all posts are sent regardless of match score. ## Testing Click **Test webhook** to send a sample payload to your URL. This lets you verify the connection works and inspect the data format before real mentions start flowing. ## Syncing existing mentions When configuring a webhook, you can check **Sync existing mentions on save** to replay all previously found mentions to your webhook URL. This backfills your external tool with data you've already collected. ## Match score filtering By default, each scout sends all posts to the webhook regardless of AI filter score. In the webhook configuration modal, expand **Per-Scout Settings** to toggle this per scout. When "Send all" is unchecked for a scout, only posts scoring above your default match score threshold are sent. Posts below the threshold still appear in your ForumScout feed but won't trigger the webhook. This is useful when you want to see everything in ForumScout but only get notified about high-confidence matches. ## Use cases - **Slack notifications** — Send high-relevance mentions to a Slack channel so your team sees them immediately - **Zapier / Make / n8n** — Trigger automations when new mentions arrive (e.g., create a CRM task, add to a Notion database) - **Custom dashboards** — Feed mentions into your own analytics tools - **Alerting** — Trigger PagerDuty or similar for urgent negative mentions ## Tips - **Set a high match score for noisy scouts** — If a scout generates a lot of results, use a higher webhook threshold so you only get pinged for the most relevant ones. - **Test before going live** — Always use the test button to confirm your endpoint receives data correctly. - **Sync existing mentions after setup** — If you add a webhook after your scouts have been running, enable "Sync existing mentions on save" to backfill your external tool. --- # Sentiment & emotion analysis ForumScout analyzes the sentiment and emotional tone of every mention. This helps you understand not just what people are saying, but how they feel about it. ## Sentiment classification Every mention is classified as **Positive**, **Neutral**, or **Negative**. This is available on all paid plans. You can filter your feed by sentiment to focus on specific types of mentions. For example, filter to negative posts to catch complaints early, or positive posts to find testimonials and advocates. ### Sentiment in scouts When creating or editing a scout, you can set a sentiment filter to only collect posts matching specific sentiments. For example, a scout that only collects negative mentions of your brand. ## Emotion analysis On **Pro** and **Ultra** plans, ForumScout goes deeper with emotion analysis using the Plutchik emotion model. Each mention is analyzed for eight core emotions: | Emotion | Signals | |---------|---------| | Joy | Happiness, satisfaction, delight | | Trust | Confidence, reliability, loyalty | | Fear | Anxiety, concern, worry | | Surprise | Unexpected reactions, shock | | Sadness | Disappointment, loss, regret | | Anger | Frustration, hostility, outrage | | Anticipation | Excitement, expectation, interest | | Disgust | Disapproval, aversion, rejection | Each post gets an emotion breakdown showing which emotions are present and how intense they are on a 1-10 scale. ## AI mention sorting On **Pro** and **Ultra** plans, mentions are also automatically categorized using AI. Default categories include: - **Buyer intent** — Posts showing interest in purchasing or comparing products - **Bug reports** — Posts reporting technical issues or errors - **Feature requests** — Posts asking for new features or improvements - **Sarcasm & satire** — Posts using humor or irony - **Promotional posts** — Posts promoting products or services - **Hiring** — Job-related posts ForumScout dynamically creates new categories as it encounters posts that don't fit existing ones. You can filter your feed by these categories. ## Viewing sentiment data ### In the feed Each post card shows its sentiment classification. On Pro/Ultra plans, you can also see the emotion breakdown for individual posts. ### In Insights The **Sentiment** tab in Insights provides aggregated sentiment analytics: - Sentiment score trends over time - Dominant emotion identification - Emotional intensity tracking - Emotion trend charts - Most negative mentions ## Tips - **Don't just count sentiment — look at emotions** — A spike in "anger" requires a different response than a spike in "sadness". Anger might mean a bug or outage; sadness might mean people are leaving. - **Use sentiment filters on scouts strategically** — A scout that only captures negative competitor mentions is a powerful sales tool. - **Watch for emotion intensity changes** — A mention with 9/10 anger intensity is very different from 3/10. High-intensity negative emotions often signal urgent issues. - **Use AI categories to prioritize** — Filter to "buyer intent" posts first if lead generation is your primary goal. --- # Plans & billing ForumScout offers three plans. All plans include unlimited team seats, Google Sheets syncing, and webhooks. ## Plan comparison | | Starter | Pro | Ultra | |-|---------|-----|-------| | **Price** | $19/mo | $49/mo | $129/mo | | **Yearly price** | $15.83/mo | $40.83/mo | $107.50/mo | | **Mentions/month** | 5,000 | 25,000 | 100,000 | | **Keywords (scouts)** | 10 | 20 | 25 | | **Historical data** | 3 months | 6 months | 12 months | | **Update frequency** | Hourly | Hourly | Hourly | | **AI filtering** | Yes | Yes | Yes | | **Unlimited seats** | Yes | Yes | Yes | | **Google Sheets** | Yes | Yes | Yes | | **Webhooks** | Yes | Yes | Yes | | **Emotion analysis** | No | Yes | Yes | | **Competitive intelligence** | No | Yes | Yes | | **Audience insights** | No | Yes | Yes | | **AI mention sorting** | No | Yes | Yes | Yearly billing saves the equivalent of 2 months. ## Trial New accounts start with a **7-day trial** on the Pro plan. No credit card required. You get full access to all Pro features during the trial, including competitive intelligence, emotion analysis, and audience insights. After the trial ends, choose a plan to continue. Your data and scouts are preserved. ## Managing your subscription Go to **Billing** to view your current plan, usage, and subscription status. From the Billing page you can: - **View usage** — See how many mentions and scouts you've used this month - **Compare plans** — See what each plan includes - **Subscribe** — Choose a plan after your trial - **Manage subscription** — Opens the billing portal where you can update your payment method, switch plans, view invoices, or cancel ## Upgrading and downgrading To change plans, click **Manage Subscription** on the Billing page. This opens the Stripe billing portal where you can switch between Starter, Pro, and Ultra. Upgrades take effect immediately. Downgrades take effect at the end of your current billing period. ## Tips - **Start with the trial** — The 7-day Pro trial gives you full access to evaluate whether Pro features like competitive intelligence and emotion analysis are worth it. - **Choose yearly if you're committed** — You save 2 months of billing per year. - **Watch your mention count** — If you consistently hit your limit before the month ends, it's time to upgrade. --- # Settings The Settings page is where you manage your account, configure global filters, set up email reports, export data, and manage your team. ## Global negative keywords Add words that should be excluded from all scouts. Any post containing a global negative keyword is hidden, regardless of which scout found it. Use this for terms that are universally irrelevant — spam phrases, job posting keywords, or bot-generated content. ## Global username exclusions Block specific usernames across all scouts. Posts from these accounts will never appear in your feed. Useful for filtering out known bots, spam accounts, or your own company's social media accounts (if you don't want to see your own posts). ## Default email recipients Set email addresses that receive notifications from all your scouts. Individual scouts can also have their own recipients configured separately. ## Mention limit warnings Toggle email warnings when you reach **75%** and **90%** of your monthly mention limit. Both are enabled by default. ## Scheduled email reports Create up to **5** email report schedules. Each schedule lets you choose a send time (adjusted to your timezone) and which scouts to include. ## Global AI filter Set an AI filter that applies to all scouts that don't have their own scout-level filter. Scout-level filters always override the global filter. ## CSV export Download your mentions as a CSV file. Options include: - Select which scouts to export - Filter by AI match score (optional) - Set a date range (optional) Exported columns: Title, Snippet, URL, Source, Date, Author, Sentiment, Match Score, and Scout. ## Team members Invite team members, manage roles (viewer, admin, owner), remove members, and resend pending invitations. --- # Mention limits Each plan has a monthly mention limit. A "mention" is a single post or comment that one of your scouts finds and processes. ## Limits by plan | Plan | Monthly mentions | |------|-----------------| | Starter | 5,000 | | Pro | 25,000 | | Ultra | 100,000 | Mention counts reset on the first of each calendar month. ## How mentions are counted Every post that your scouts find counts as one mention against your monthly limit. This includes posts that are later filtered out by AI filters or negative keywords — the mention is counted when it's found, not when it appears in your feed. If multiple scouts find the same post, it's deduplicated and only counted once. ## Warning emails ForumScout sends warning emails as you approach your limit: - **75% warning** — You've used three-quarters of your monthly allowance - **90% warning** — You're close to the limit Both warnings can be toggled on or off in **Settings > Mention Limit Warnings**. ## What happens when you hit the limit When you reach your monthly mention limit, your scouts are **automatically paused**. They stop running and no new mentions are collected until: 1. **The next month starts** — Mention counts reset on the 1st, and scouts resume automatically 2. **You upgrade your plan** — A higher plan gives you more mentions, and scouts resume immediately Paused scouts don't lose their configuration. They simply stop running until mentions are available again. ## Checking your usage You can see your current mention usage in two places: - **Billing page** — Shows a progress bar of mentions used vs. your limit - **Feed** — Shows your current month mention count You can also view mention counts per scout to see which scouts are using the most mentions. ## Tips - **Monitor high-volume scouts** — If one scout is consuming most of your mentions, consider narrowing its keywords or adding more specific AI filters. - **Pause scouts you're not actively using** — Paused scouts don't consume mentions. - **Keep warning emails on** — Getting surprised by auto-paused scouts is worse than two extra emails per month. - **Plan for growth** — If you consistently hit your limit in the first half of the month, upgrade before you start missing mentions.