How to create a discussion forum

Introduction

Use forums to organize your discussion topics into categories. Your course can have multiple forums and topics, but you must create a forum before you can create a topic since all topics belong to forums.

Environment

An internet-connected device with a web browser (Edge, Firefox, Chrome, or Safari).

Instructions

1. On the navigation bar, click Communications > Discussions.
   
    
2. On the Discussions List page, from the New button drop-down menu, click New Forum.
   
    
3. Enter a title and description for your new forum.
   
    
4. In the Options section, select any of the following checkboxes:
   
   • Allow anonymous posts- To enable users to post anonymously.
   • A moderator must approve individual posts before they display in the forum- To ensure that posts are approved by a moderator before they display in the forum.
   • Users must start a thread before they can read and reply to other threads under each topic- To ensure user participation.
   • Display forum descriptions in topics- To provide instructors the option to display a discussion forum description within a discussion topic description.
5. In the Restrictions tab, in the Availability section, add start or end dates.
   
    
6. Select Locking Options for your forum. Locking a forum prevents users from posting to any of its associated topics until it is unlocked; they can still read posts made to a topic prior to it being locked.
   
    
7. Click Save and Close.
   
    

Additional Resources

Create a discussion forum

Create a discussion topic

Create a discussion thread

Reply to a discussion thread

Subscribe to a discussion

Edit a discussion forum or topic

Delete discussion forums, topics, threads, and posts