How do I add a new topic?

A Forum must contain a Topic in order for users to create a post. See How do I create a new forum? for more information about Forums.

Go to Discussions.

Select Discussions from the Tool Menu of your site.

Click New Topic.

Title the Topic.

Complete the Topic Title field.

Enter a short description. (Optional)

If desired, complete the Short Description field. This information about the Topic is displayed to site participants when they view the Discussions tool.

Enter a detailed description. (Optional)

If desired, use the Rich Text Editor to complete the Description field to provide more detailed instructions about this Topic.

Add Attachments. (Optional)

Optionally attach file attachments to the Topic. Click the Add attachments button to browse for and select a file from your device.

Select posting options.

There are several discussion posting options in the Topic Posting area from which to choose. Settings selected here will apply to this Topic only.

  • Lock Topic: lock the contents of the Topic so students can no longer post messages. However, they can continue to read existing messages.  
  • Moderate Topic: configure the Topic such that all messages posted within must be approved by the instructor before other students can see them.
  • Require users to post before reading: require users to post their own response first before they can view other messages posted previously. This is a useful option if you prefer that students respond to a discussion prompt before seeing other student responses.
  • Posts are anonymous: allow site participants to post without displaying the name of the post's author.

Note: Posts are anonymous cannot be changed once the topic is created.

Select the availability options.

  • Select Show Immediately to allow the new Forum to be available to students immediately after creation.
  • Select Specify dates to open (show) and/or close (hide) to configure the Forum to be available during specific dates.

Select Notifications.

  • Select Allow email notifications for new messages to send an email notification to recipients email registered email accounts whenever a new message is posted.
  • Select Include contents of messages in email notifications to include content that was posted to the Topic.

Activate automatic marking as read.

Optionally activate Mark All Messages in Conversations Read. This option provides students with an option to mark all messages within a conversation, or thread, as read.

Specify Gradebook item.

Open Select a Gradebook item to specify a Gradebook item that will automatically be used when you grade posts in the new Topic.

Note: You must first create the Gradebook item in Gradebook tool before you can select it to be associated with a discussion or topic.

Automatically Create Topics for groups.

Select Automatically create multiple topics for groups to create multiple private group Topics. This will create a series of new Topics with the following default permissions:

  • Each group member will have Contributor permissions in their group's Topic.
  • Student permissions for  will also automatically be set to the permission level of "None."

Modifying permissions

In most cases, the default discussion permissions are appropriate. By default, instructors are discussion Owners, and all other site participants are Contributors. The Owner can add and delete Topics, modify permissions, edit the Topic descriptions, etc. Contributors can only read, post, and reply to messages.

Change the Permission Level.

 

  1. Click the Permission Level menu that's associated with a role for which you'd like to change the permissions.
  2. Select a new Permission Level.

In the example, the Teaching Assistant is provided with the Owner role for the new Topic.

Or, create custom a custom permission level.

  1. Click the Customize menu that's associated with a role for which you'd like to change the permissions.
  2. Select new permissions for the role as needed.

Click Save.

Click Save to create the new Forum.

Alternatively, click Save Settings & Add Topic to create the Topic and advance immediately to a new Topic creation page.

Note: All Forums need at least one Topic in order to be active. See How do I add a new topic? for more information.