Working With Discussion Forums

This chapter provides an overview of Discussion Forums and discusses how to:

Create a Discussion Forum.
Manage a Discussion Forum.
Participate in a Discussion Forum.

Understanding Discussion Forums

Discussion Forums provide a platform that groups can use to discuss topics of interest. Participants can post discussion topics, such as issues and suggestions, and receive replies and feedback. This feature enables multiple relevant individuals to contribute to the review and resolution of a question.

In addition, participants can monitor the forums to which they belong using summary and detail pages, as well as the Discussion Forums pagelet, which can be placed on their homepages. Access and privileges in Discussion Forums are regulated by portal administrators through the use of Discussion Forum privilege sets.

See Discussion Forums Pagelet.

Understanding Discussion Forum Privileges

The following table summarizes Discussion Forum privileges granted by portal role or privilege set IDs. Privilege set IDs are defined on the Create Forum - Forum Privileges page and the Manage Forums - Forum Privileges page.

Role or Privilege Set ID	Privileges
Portal administrator role and moderator and contributor privilege sets.	View Discussion Forums to which you belong. Add topics to Discussion Forums to which you belong. Add replies to Discussion Forums to which you belong.
Portal administrator role.	Create new Discussion Forums. Assign moderators to manage Discussion Forums. Manage Discussion Forums. Inactivate or reactivate Discussion Forums.
Moderator privilege set.	Delete any topic or reply. Delete own topic or reply. Edit any topic or reply. Edit own topic or reply. Manage Discussion Forums.
Contributor privilege set.	Delete own discussion topic or reply. (if no replies have been posted to that topic or reply) Edit own discussion topic or reply.
Viewer privilege set.	View Discussion Forum.

Understanding Related Discussions

Related Discussions are Discussion Forums that are related to a particular menu item.

See Managing a Related Discussion.

Creating Discussion Forums

This section describes how to:

Create a Discussion Forum.
Assign Discussion Forum privileges.
Enter a Discussion Forum policy statement.

Pages Used to Create Discussion Forums

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Create Forum	EPPDF_FORUM_NEW	My Content, Create Discussion Forum Click the Create Forum link on the Discussion Forums pagelet.	Create a new Discussion Forum.
Create Forum - Forum Privileges	EPPDF_FORUM_PRIV	My Content, Create Discussion Forum, Forum Privileges Click the Create Forum link on the Discussion Forums pagelet. Click the Forum Privileges tab.	Assign users and roles as Discussion Forum participants. Assign privileges to the participants.
Create Forum - Policy Document	EPPDF_FORUM_POLICY	My Content, Create Discussion Forum, Forum Policy Click the Create Forum link on the Discussion Forums pagelet. Click the Forum Policy tab.	Enter a policy statement for the Discussion Forum.

Creating a Discussion Forum

Access the Create Forum page.

Title

Enter a title for the Discussion Forum. This text appears on the Discussion Forums pagelet as the link to access the Discussion Forum.

Description

Enter a description of the goal of the Discussion Forum. This text appears on the Discussion Forums pagelet as hover text for the link used to access the Discussion Forum.

Show by Default For All Users

Select to display this Discussion Forum in the pagelet by default for all users who are included in the users and roles assigned on the Forum Privileges page.

Default View Options

Select the default view for the discussion thread. Valid values are:

Threaded View, which displays the hierarchy of the discussion.

Flat View, which displays the details of all discussion postings.

Active

This option displays after you save the Discussion Forum. This option is selected by default.

Clear this option to inactivate the Discussion Forum. The Discussion Forum will no longer appear for any users on the Discussion Forum pagelet or the My Forums page.

Reselect this option to make an inactive group active again. Reactivating a group makes existing topics and replies available again.

Setting Default View Options for Discussion Threads

You can change preferences for the default display of discussion threads

The following is an example of a flat view of the discussion. The topic is displayed with the responses to the initial question in the order in which they were posted. This view enables you to see the details of the responses. The current topic is highlighted in yellow.

The following is an example of a threaded view of the discussion. The threaded view enables you to see a collapsed view of the entire discussion without the details.

You can toggle between flat and threaded discussion views by clicking the Flat View and Threaded View links at the top of the Post Details page. You can also change the default view by selecting a view option on the Preferences page.

Administrators can set system-level preferences by setting the discussion forum view options on the Installation Options page.

See Defining Portal Solutions Installation Options.

Assigning Discussion Forum Participants and Privileges

Access the Create Forum - Forum Privileges page.

Type

Select the type of participant you want to add to the Discussion Forum. Available values include:

Role. Select to be able to select a role name in the Member Name field. Available role names are derived from PeopleSoft roles defined in the Roles component.

See Enterprise PeopleTools 8.48 PeopleBook: Security Administration, “Setting Up Roles”

User. Select to be able to select a user in the Member Name field. Available users are derived from PeopleSoft users defined in the User Profiles component.

See Enterprise PeopleTools 8.48 PeopleBook: Security Administration, “Administering User Profiles”

Privilege Set ID

Select a privilege level you want to assign to the member. Available values are:

Moderator.

Contributor.

Viewer.

At a minimum, every Discussion Forum requires a moderator.

See Assigning Discussion Forum Participants and Privileges.

Enter a Discussion Forum Policy Statement

Access the Create Forum - Forum Policy page.

Enter a statement about any policies about which you would like to inform participants in the Discussion Forum.

Managing Discussion Forums

This section discusses how to manage Discussion Forums.

Pages Used to Manage Discussion Forums

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
My Discussion Forums	EPPDF_MYFORUMS	My Content, My Discussion Forums Click the My Forums link on the Discussion Forums pagelet.	Provides access to all of the Discussion Forums that are available to you. Click a Forum Name link to access the Discussion Forum page for the Discussion Forum.
Administer Discussion Forums	EPPDF_MYFORUMS	Portal Administration, Administer Forums	Provides access to the management pages for all of the Discussion Forums that are available to you. Click a Forum Name link to access Manage Forum page, Forum Privileges page, and Forum Policy page for the Discussion Forum.
Discussion Forum (The name of this page corresponds to the title of the Discussion Forum)	EPPDF_FORUM	On the My Forums page, select the Forum Name link for the Discussion Forum you want to manage.	View discussion topic details. Access a variety of pages that allow you to add a Discussion Forum topic, subscribe to email alerts regarding updates to the Discussion Forum, and view the Discussion Forum policy, for example. If you are the moderator of the Discussion Forum, access a page you can use to manage the Discussion Forum.
Forum Policy	EPPDF_POLICYDOC_SP	Click the Forum Policy link on the Discussion Forum page.	View the policy statement for the Discussion Forum.
Search	EPPDF_SEARCH	Click the Search link on the Discussion Forum page.	Perform a search in the selected Discussion Forum.
Manage Forum	EPPDF_FORUM_MANAGE	Click the Manage Forum button on the Discussion Forum page.	Edit title and description text of a Discussion Forum. Activate or inactivate a Discussion Forum. The fields on this page are the same as those that appear on the Create Forum page.
Forum Privileges	EPPDF_FORUM_PRIV	Click the Manage Forum button on the Discussion Forum page. Click the Forum Privileges tab.	Manage users and roles assigned as Discussion Forum participants. Manage privileges assigned to the participants. The fields on this page are the same as those that appear on the Create Forum - Forum Privileges page.
Forum Policy	EPPDF_FORUM_POLICY	Click the Manage Forum button on the Discussion Forum page. Click the Policy Document tab.	Manage the policy statement for the Discussion Forum. The fields on this page are the same as those that appear on the Create Forum - Forum Policy page.

Managing a Discussion Forum

Access the Discussion Forum page. (The name of this page corresponds to the Discussion Forum title.)

If you are a moderator for the Discussion Forum, the message You are a moderator displays at the top of the page.

Add Topic	Click to access the Create New Topic page. Note. This button only appears for contributors or moderators of the discussion. Viewers will not see the Add Topic button.
Manage Forum	This button displays if you are a moderator for the Discussion Forum. Click to access the Manage Forums - Manage Forum page.
Alerts	Click to access the Add Alert Subscription page.
Forum Policy	Click to access the Forum Policy page, where you can view the policy statement for the Discussion Forum.
Search	Click to access the Search page for the Discussion Forum where you can perform a search of selected Discussion Forum.

Discussion Topics

Last Updated On	Displays the last date on which the Discussion Forum was created or last updated.
	Designates that the discussion topic does not yet contain any replies.
	Designates that the discussion topic contains one or more replies.
Discussion Topics	Click to access the Post Details page for the topic.
Messages	Displays the number of replies that have been posted to the topic.

Participating in Discussion Forums

This section provides an overview of participating in Discussion Forums and discusses how to:

Add a topic to a Discussion Forum.
Access discussion topic details and features.
Add a reply to a discussion topic.

Pages Used to Participate in Discussion Forums

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Create New Topic	EPPDF_REPLY_TOPIC	Click the Add Topic button on the Discussion Forum page.	Add a discussion topic to a Discussion Forum.
Post Details	EPPDF_VIEW_TOPIC	Click a Discussion Topic link on the Discussion Forum page.	Access discussion topic details and features. Edit or delete the discussion topic. View details about the discussion topic.
Preferences	EPPDF_VIEW_PREF	Click the Preferences link on the Post Details page.	Set the display view options for the discussion.
Add a Reply	EPPDF_REPLY_TOPIC	Click the Reply button on the Post Details page.	Add a reply to the discussion topic. The fields on this page are the same as those on the Create New Topic page.
Edit a Post	EPPDF_REPLY_TOPIC	Click the Edit button on the Post Details page.	Edit a discussion topic.
Notify Members	EPPCW_MBNOTIFY	Click the Notify button on the Post Details page.	Send an email message containing a link to the Discussion Forum. The To field is automatically populated with available addresses for all members of the Discussion Forum. Only members will be able to access the link destination.

Adding a Discussion Topic

Access the Create New Topic page.

Title

Enter a title for your discussion topic posting. This text displays as the topic link on the Discussion Forums pagelet and the Discussion Forum page.

Attachment

Attachment Type

Select the type of attachment you want to include in your posting. Available values include:

File Attachment. Select to attach a file from a directory that is accessible from the machine on which you are working.

Managed Content. Select to attach a piece of managed content.

See Setting Up and Working With Managed Content.

Add Attachment

If you have selected the File Attachment attachment type, click to access a page that enables you to browse directories for the file you want to attach.

Select Content

If you have selected the Managed Content attachment type, click to access the Look Up Content ID page, where you can select the piece of managed content you want to attach.

Alert Delivery Options

Add Alert Subscription

Select if you want to receive email alerts regarding updates to this discussion topic.

Frequency

Everyday.Select to have an email alert sent to you everyday.

Once Per Week. Select to have an email alert sent to you on the day you select in the adjacent drop-down list box.

Update Subscriptions

Click to access the Update Alerts Subscription page, where you can update any existing alerts subscriptions you have defined for the discussion. This link appears only if alert subscriptions have already been defined for the topic or for the forum.

Accessing Discussion Topic Details

Access the Post Details page.

Reply

Click to access the Add a Reply page, where you can enter a reply to the selection discussion topic or reply. This button only appears for users with the appropriate privileges. For example, Viewers will not see the Reply button.

Edit

Click to access the Edit a Post page, where you can edit the selected discussion topic or reply if you have been granted appropriate privileges. This button only appears for users with the appropriate privileges.

Notify

Click to access the Notify Members page, where you can send an email containing a link to the Discussion Forum to forum members.

Delete

Click to delete the selected discussion topic or reply if you have been granted appropriate privileges. This button only appears for users with the appropriate privileges. You will be prompted to confirm your deletion.

Flat View

Click to display all discussion postings with details.

Threaded View

Click to display the hierarchy of the discussion without the details.

Preferences

Click to display the Preference page, which enables you to set the view options for the display of discussions.

Click the Alerts link accompanied by this icon to access the Add Alert Subscription page, where you can subscribe to email alerts that keep your apprised of updates to the selected discussion topic or reply.

Click the Alerts link accompanied by this icon to access the Update Alert Subscription page, where you can update any existing email alerts that you have defined. This link displays if you have already defined alerts for the Discussion Forum.

Search

Click to access the Search page, where you can perform a search within the Discussion Forum.

See Searching Within Discussion Forums.

Click the links in the Discussion Forum tree to navigate through the discussion topics and replies.

Click the author link to access an author profile.

The text of the selection discussion topic or reply displays on the page. If the discussion topic or reply contained an attachment, a link to access the attachment displays.

Setting Discussion View Preferences

Access the Preferences page by selecting the link on the Post Details page.

Select the view option for the display of messages in the forum.

Forum Default	Select this option to accept the view that the forum administrator has specified.
Threaded View	Select to display the hierarchy of the discussion without the details.
Flat View	Click to display all discussion postings in chronological order with details.

Note. Preferences set on this page will override the administrator's selections unless the user selects the forum default or the user has not selected any preferences.

Response Messages

Displays links to view any replies to the selected discussion topic or reply.

Editing a Discussion Topic

Access the Discussion page.

The fields on this page are the same as those on the Create New Topic page. However, if the original posting contains an attachment, the Attachment group box is replaced by a link you can click to display the attachment.

Also, if the original posting contains settings for alert delivery options, the Alert Delivery Options group box does not enable you to define settings. Instead, it provides the Update Subscriptions link. Click this link to access the Update Alert Subscription page.

Subscribing to Discussion Forum Alerts

This section discusses how to:

Subscribe to Discussion Forum alerts.
Update your Discussion Forum alert subscriptions.

Understanding Discussion Forum Alerts

You can configure the Discussion Forum feature to send you email alerts about updates to a Discussion Forum or a discussion topic.

See Also

Using Email Alerts

Pages Used to Subscribe to Discussion Forum Alerts

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Add Alert Subscription	EPPAN_ALERTS	Click the Alerts link accompanied by the icon on the Discussion Forum page. Click the Alerts link accompanied by the icon on the Post Details page.	Create subscriptions for email alerts to keep your apprised of updates to the Discussion Forum.
Update Alert Subscription	EPPAN_ALERTS	Click the Alerts link accompanied by the icon on the Discussion Forum page. Click the Alerts link accompanied by the icon on the Post Details page. Click the Update Subscriptions link on the Create New Topic page. Click the Update Subscriptions link on the Add a Reply page. Click the Update Subscriptions link on the Edit a Post page.	Update existing alerts information for the Discussion Forum.

Subscribing to a Discussion Forum Alert

Access the Add Alert Subscription page.

Forum

Select to subscribe to an email alert at the Discussion Forum level. With whatever frequency you define, you will be alerted about any updates made to the Discussion Forum.

Designates that the alert is defined at the Discussion Forum level. The Discussion Forum title displays adjacent to the icon.

Topic

Select to subscribe to an email alert at the discussion topic level within a Discussion Forum. With whatever frequency you define, you will be alerted about any updates made to the discussion topic.

Designates that the alert is defined at the discussion topic level within a Discussion Forum. The discussion topic title displays adjacent to the icon.

Delivery Options

Frequency

Everyday.Select to have an email alert sent to you everyday.

Once Per Week. Select to have an email alert sent to you on the day you select in the adjacent drop-down list box.

Searching Within Discussion Forums

This section provides an overview of Discussion Forum searches and discusses the pages used to access search functionality available within Discussion Forums.

Understanding Searching Within Discussion Forums

You build Discussion Forum search collections by running the Build Search Indexes Application Engine process (EO_PE_IBLDR) using the delivered PAPP_DISCUSSION_FORUMS run control ID.

See Also

Building Search Indexes

Page Used to Search Within Discussion Forums

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Search	EPPCW_SEARCH	Click the Search link on the Post Details page and Discussion Forum page.	Perform a search within a Discussion Forum.
Search	EPPDF_SEARCH	Click the Search Discussions link on the Discussion Forums pagelet.	Perform a search within a Discussion Forum.

Title	Enter a title for the Discussion Forum. This text appears on the Discussion Forums pagelet as the link to access the Discussion Forum.
Description	Enter a description of the goal of the Discussion Forum. This text appears on the Discussion Forums pagelet as hover text for the link used to access the Discussion Forum.
Show by Default For All Users	Select to display this Discussion Forum in the pagelet by default for all users who are included in the users and roles assigned on the Forum Privileges page.
Default View Options	Select the default view for the discussion thread. Valid values are: Threaded View, which displays the hierarchy of the discussion. Flat View, which displays the details of all discussion postings.
Active	This option displays after you save the Discussion Forum. This option is selected by default. Clear this option to inactivate the Discussion Forum. The Discussion Forum will no longer appear for any users on the Discussion Forum pagelet or the My Forums page. Reselect this option to make an inactive group active again. Reactivating a group makes existing topics and replies available again.

Reply	Click to access the Add a Reply page, where you can enter a reply to the selection discussion topic or reply. This button only appears for users with the appropriate privileges. For example, Viewers will not see the Reply button.
Edit	Click to access the Edit a Post page, where you can edit the selected discussion topic or reply if you have been granted appropriate privileges. This button only appears for users with the appropriate privileges.
Notify	Click to access the Notify Members page, where you can send an email containing a link to the Discussion Forum to forum members.
Delete	Click to delete the selected discussion topic or reply if you have been granted appropriate privileges. This button only appears for users with the appropriate privileges. You will be prompted to confirm your deletion.
Flat View	Click to display all discussion postings with details.
Threaded View	Click to display the hierarchy of the discussion without the details.
Preferences	Click to display the Preference page, which enables you to set the view options for the display of discussions.
	Click the Alerts link accompanied by this icon to access the Add Alert Subscription page, where you can subscribe to email alerts that keep your apprised of updates to the selected discussion topic or reply.
	Click the Alerts link accompanied by this icon to access the Update Alert Subscription page, where you can update any existing email alerts that you have defined. This link displays if you have already defined alerts for the Discussion Forum.
Search	Click to access the Search page, where you can perform a search within the Discussion Forum. See Searching Within Discussion Forums.

Forum	Select to subscribe to an email alert at the Discussion Forum level. With whatever frequency you define, you will be alerted about any updates made to the Discussion Forum.
	Designates that the alert is defined at the Discussion Forum level. The Discussion Forum title displays adjacent to the icon.
Topic	Select to subscribe to an email alert at the discussion topic level within a Discussion Forum. With whatever frequency you define, you will be alerted about any updates made to the discussion topic.
	Designates that the alert is defined at the discussion topic level within a Discussion Forum. The discussion topic title displays adjacent to the icon.