Contents of this article:
What are Discussions?
Discussions are mini forums/comments that can be embedded into pages of a Group to encourage and facilitate online discussions.
For instance, you may want to find out people's thoughts on a video clip that has been embedded within a Group. Or gather people's opinions on the resources within the page and if they have suggestions for anything else that can be added.
Who can use Discussions?
Any group member can participate in a discussion that has been added to a group.
Embedding a Discussion
Please note, only Group administrators can embed a discussion into the page of a Group.
Locate the page within the Group that you want to embed the discussion on and select the edit option.
Click Insert+ on the editing toolbar and select Discussion from the drop down list that appears.
Using the tabs, you can either:
1) Create a New Discussion
Give your discussion a name or ask a question to invite comments around a particular focus.
Your discussion name needs to be unique, if it is not, you will see this error message:
2) Select from existing discussions already created in the group.
In the next window that appears, choose if you want the discussion to automatically appear closed or open. Then click Next and then the Insert button.
When you are satisfied, save the page and your discussion is ready to go.
Open will look like this:
Closed will look like this:
Commenting and Deleting Comments
Comments
1) To post a comment, type the message you want to appear in the blank box at the bottom of the discussion
2) You can add emojis to your message to help convey it
3) Click the blue send button and it will appear on the board
@ing another User
To directly reply to another user you can @ them from your message. Type the @ symbol and a list of users from within the group will appear.
Replying
Click the Reply button to reply to a comment. There are only 2 levels of comments, meaning that you cannot directly reply to a reply.
Deleting
To delete a comment you have made on a discussion, click the small red cross that appears in the corner of that comment.
Standard members can only delete their own comments. Group administrators can delete their own and other people's comments using the same method.
Unsubscribing and Notifications
You will automatically be subscribed to Discussions that you are participating in. This is to ensure that you receive notifications to help you keep up to date with the conversation.
You can subscribe or unsubscribe from a particular discussion by using the link provided in the email. You will need to go to the specific discussion and click on the User+ icon.
Group admin view:
Standard group member view:
Then click Unsubscribe/Subscribe.
Notification Settings
You can also adjust the 'loudness' of a discussion in the following way.
Click the Settings cog on the right-hand side and a menu of icons will appear. Click the bell icon to adjust the notification level. Once you have made your selection it will save automatically.
Group admin view:
Standard group member view:
Options:
Loud - Receive notifications from all users' contributions.
Medium - Receive notifications from users who contribute from your organisation only.
Quiet - Receive no notifications.
Locking/Unlocking a Discussion
Once a discussion is locked, no further comments can be added.
To lock/unlock a discussion, click the settings cog then click the padlock button.
Then, make your selection.
Deleting a Discussion
Only Group Administrators can delete entire discussions.
To do this, click the settings cog icon in the top right corner. Then click the bin icon to delete the discussion.
NOTE: Once a board has been deleted it (and the comments made within it) cannot be retrieved.