Forums

The Forums portlet can be used as a discussion area for course or group participants.  Message topics are posted for all members of the course or group to view and responses can be sent.  A threaded discussion can continue on the topic with input from all participants.

The highest level of grouping displayed in a forum is called a Category.  Each Category can have multiple Topics associated with it.  You are able to view several components:

• topic (click on it to display all messages related to that topic)

• the author who created the topic (click on the header to sort by author)

• the number of threads created for a topic

• the number of messages associated with a topic (includes all threads)

• the number of times the topic has been viewed

• the number of replies to the topic

• the date of the last posting

Preferences

• Default Screen Topic

  Select a topic that will be displayed on your default screen.

• Show Photo with Messages

  You may choose to display your photo along with your messages.  Whatever is chosen here will take precedence over the settings you selected in My Info.

• Default Message Views

  You may choose to view a single message or multiple messages at the same time in your message view.

• Messages Per Page

  Select the number of search results that will be displayed on a page.

Functions

There are two menu options available from the Forums portlet:  Manage and Search.  The following options are available from the Manage menu:

• Add a Category

  • Click on Add a Category from the Manage menu

  • Enter a label for the new category

  • Enter a description for the new category

  • Identify the position for this category that will determine where it will be displayed in the list of categories

  • Click on the to expand your user view and display the Principal Selector Control.  Select the checkbox next to the roles or users that will be able to view your new category

  • Click the Save button

• Edit a Category

  • Click on Edit a Category from the Manage menu and then choose the category you wish to edit

  • Make the necessary changes

  • Click the Save button

• Order Categories

  • Click on Order Categories from the Manage menu

  • Change the numbers for each category to indicate the sequence in which they will be ordered

  • Click the Save button

• Add a Topic

  • Click on Add a Topic from the Manage menu

  • Enter the name of the new topic

  • Enter a description of the new topic

  • Select the category in which this topic will be displayed

  If the topic does not fit into an existing category, you can click on the Add Category link and create a new category from this screen

  • Select the position of this topic within the category

  • Select the Start and End dates and times for this topic to appear

  • Choose to have the topic become a 'read only' topic or be deleted when the end date and time has been reached

  • Click on the to expand your user view and display the Principal Selector Control.  Select the checkbox next to the roles or users that will be able to view your new topic

  • Click the Save button

• Subscriptions

  Click on Subscriptions from the Manage menu to view a listing of all the topics to which you have subscribed

  • You may choose to receive all messages on the topic or only the first message in a thread

  • Select one or more check boxes and click on the Delete Selected link to remove yourself from  these subscriptions

  • Click on the Delete All link to remove yourself from all subscriptions

You can select from two types of Search options:

• Click on Search from the Manage menu

• Enter the text for which you are searching

• Select one of the results radio buttons

OR

• Select the name of an author

• Choose one of topics in which to search

• Select a date range

• Click the Search button

You can  perform several functions when viewing a topic:

• Click on Add a Thread to contribute towards the threaded discussion

• Click on Subscribe to Topic to be notified whenever a message is posted for a topic