The Discussion module is where members post messages to share ideas, ask questions, and answer the questions posed by others. Generally, these discussions are monitored by administrators to ensure they remain on topic and don't contain inaccurate or inappropriate content.
Thread types
The Discussion module includes one default type of thread: an Open-ended Discussion. Super Admins can enable another type of thread: a Question to be answered (known as Q&A), which focuses on members' questions.
These thread types can be enabled per community; you could have dedicated Discussion types in different communities.
The thread types that are available in a community is indicated on the All Communities page.
- Discussions indicates the community offers the Open-ended Discussion thread type only.
- Questions indicates the community offers the Questions to be answered thread type only.
- Threads indicates the community offers both thread types.
NOTE: If both thread types are enabled, Discussions is the default type.
You can choose which thread type (under Focus your thread) at the top of the thread-creation page.
The thread type icons make it easy to quickly visually identify the type of post.
Manage Discussion and Q&A threads
As an administrator, you can manage the Discussion and Q&A threads in your discussions. While there are a few "back-end" management settings for these threads, most of it is done right in each Discussion or Q&A thread.
NOTE: Due to the nature of Discussion and Q&A threads and the "shared engagement" that is encouraged in online communities, most of these management options are available to all logged-in community members.
Discussion threads
There are several options for managing Discussion threads and they are available from the dropdown right in the Discussion.
- Some of these options are available to admins only and display only if you're logged in as an admin. Others (e.g., the "best answer" and "inappropriate" options) are available to all community members.
Q&A threads
There are a few options for managing Q&A threads and they are available from the ellipsis icon right in the thread.
- Some of these options (e.g., Edit and Delete) are available to admins only and display only if you're logged in as an admin. The "best answer" and "inappropriate" options are available to all community members.
Thread-management options
The following table provides an overview of the options mentioned above.
- See Manage Your Discussion Posts for a deeper dive into and better understanding of these options and how they work.
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Discussion Thread options | |
| Make Best Answer | Super Admins, Community Admins, and the thread's original poster can mark a reply as the Best Answer.
NOTE: This option is disabled by default. Admins can enable it per community via the Discussion Thread View widget. |
| Reply Privately | Members can privately reply to the person who created the thread. |
| Mark As Inappropriate | When a community is set to Self Moderation, this option becomes available to all members for each discussion in the thread, thereby making the community "self-moderating." |
| Pin post to top | Pinned posts display on the Latest Discussions List widget (generally displayed on the Home pages of community sites and individual communities), which must be configured to show pinned posts. |
| Close Thread | Super Admins and Community Admins can close and re-open individual posts within a discussion. When a discussion is closed, it is still visible but cannot accept replies.
NOTE: This option is disabled by default. Admins can enable it per community via the Discussion Thread View widget. |
| Edit | Super Admins, Community Admins, and the discussion thread's original poster can change the content of the post. |
| Remove | Any post in a discussion thread can be removed. When a post is removed, it remains in the thread structure but its content is removed and replaced with "This post was removed." References to the author are sanitized. Admins can permanently delete a removed post as described in the Remove posts section.
TIP: Be sure to review the distinction between "delete" and "remove" in Manage Your Discussion Posts. |
| Delete reply | Any post in a discussion thread, including the original post, can be deleted — as long as it does not have any "child" posts (i.e., replies). In order to delete the original post, all of its replies (and any replies to its replies) have to be deleted, in order, starting with the latest (see the examples in Post-deleting dependencies in Manage Your Discussion Posts).
TIP: Be sure to review the distinction between "delete" and "remove" in Manage Your Discussion Posts. |
| Q&A Thread options | |
| Edit | Super Admins, Community Admins, and the question poster can change the content of the post. |
| Mark As Best Answer | Super Admins, Community Admins, and the question poster can mark a reply as the Best Answer. |
| Mark As Inappropriate | When a community is set to Self Moderation, this option becomes available to all members for each thread post. |
| Delete | Any post in a Q&A thread, including the original post, can be deleted — as long as it does not have any "child" posts (i.e., answers). In order to delete the original post (the question), all of its answers (and any replies to its answers) have to be deleted, in order, starting with the latest.
TIP: Learn about all the available options in Manage Questions & Answers. |
Related articles
Visit the Discussions section of our knowledge base to learn how to:
- Participate in Discussions
- Enable Questions & Answers
- Ask Questions
- Update Question Thread Text
- Move Discussion Threads
- Tease Discussion Content