The Discussions module is automatically enabled in all Higher Logic communities because it's the backbone of community users being able to more easily and more thoughtfully interact and engage with one another. It's their opportunity to:

• share and exchange thoughts and ideas on a topic,
• ask questions of their peers and leaders, and
• answer one another's questions.

In Higher Logic, these user-to-user communications are called threads. Threads include the following user-generated content types:

• discussions,
• replies (to a discussion),
• questions, and
• answers (to a question).

Often, threads are monitored by Admins in order to ensure that the "conversation" remains on topic and that it doesn't contain inaccurate information or inappropriate content.

Thread types

All communities are loaded with one type of thread enabled by default: Open-ended Discussion. This thread type accommodates user-generated content that is intended to start a conversation with fellow community users.

Super Admins can enable another type of thread: Question to be answered. This thread type is referred to as Q&A and it is intended for your members to ask questions — and for other users to answer them.

Both of these thread types can be managed per community in each community's Settings.

Manage Thread settings in a community

Each community is unique and each has unique needs. This is why the thread types can be individually managed per community.

EXAMPLE: You might have one community that is dedicated to members asking (and answering) questions about your organization or some aspect of it. And, in order to keep those questions-&-answers threads isolated from other, more general conversations, you enable Questions & Answers threads, but not Discussion threads for the community. You also disable Questions & Answers threads for other communities to ensure that users ask their questions in the preferred community.

To manage threads for a community:

1. Navigate to the community's Home page.
2. Click the Settings button.
3. Under Administration, click Settings.
4. On the Edit Community Settings page, locate the Features section and click the checkboxes to enable or disable the Discussion and/or Questions & Answers threads for the community.

To learn more about managing threads and other settings for a community, see Manage Community Settings.

Threads in a community

The threads that are enabled for a community can affect what is available and how things display in that community.

All Communities page

The All Communities page is a great place to easily determine which thread types are available in a community.

If a community:

• has both thread types available, it has the Threads indicator.
• has only the Discussion thread type available, it has the Discussions indicator.
• has only the Questions & Answers thread type available, it has the Questions indicator.

Starting a thread

If a community offers both thread types, the "create-thread" page (default name, Post a Message) defaults to Discussion, but it has both options at the top:

Users can click the Questions option to ask a question and to be sure that it gets "categorized" accordingly.

Notes

If a user:

• selects the Question option, the page refreshes and presents fewer fields (e.g., the Cross post to option no longer displays).
• clicks the Post to community dropdown and selects a community that does not offer Q&A threads, the Question option no longer displays; the page automatically displays the Discussion layout.
• clicks the Post to community dropdown and selects a community that does not offer Discussion threads, the Discussion option no longer displays; the page automatically displays the Question layout.

TIP: The Discussion and Q&A threads each have their own widget that provides easy access to the latest content. See Best-practice Feed widgets in Widgets - Vehicles for Dynamic Content for more information.

Learn about discussions in Post Discussion Threads and Replies and see Ask and Answer Questions (Q&A Threads) to learn about questions and answers.

The list page: tab and icons

The tab of the "threads" list page is labeled according to which threads are enabled for the community. The tab label will be Threads, Discussions, or Questions — it mirrors the indicator that displays on the All Communities page (described above).

Additionally, thread entries on the list page have individual icons which make the thread types easier to distinguish from one another.

• Discussion threads have a blue conversation-bubble icon.
• Q&A threads have a question mark icon in a pink circle.

Integration write-backs

If your Thrive Community is integrated with a third-party AMS/CRM database, some of the Discussion and Q&A thread activities in your community can be written to that database during the standard activity-sync process.

• Navigate to Settings > External Content > Activity Sync in the Admin interface in order to manage these activities on the Subscriptions tab.

To learn about the activity-sync process, see Member Activity Sync.

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• Discussions and Q&A (Threads) Reports