Forum

Last modified by Carina Enke on 16.01.2024

KB_Forum.pngThis course element allows authors to integrate a Forum into a course or group. In a forum, participants can exchange information and ask questions to the course owners and tutors.

Content

Usage: Learners' View

Overview

After opening a forum course element, you will see the topics overview, i. e. a tabular overview of all existing forum topics. This table contains the following information:

  • Topic title
  • Topic author
  • Information on the last post within a topic
  • Total number of replies as well as marked and new (unread) posts.

The entries in the table are automatically sorted in chronological order with the most recent post at the top. Alternatively, you can choose a different sorting by clicking on the column header, which will then be saved for this forum.

Icons are used to indicate the topic type.

Kursrun - Forum Überblick_en.png

Type

Description

Icon_Forum Thema.png

This is the standard icon for each topic.

Icon_Forum Neu.png

Newly created topics or topics which contain new, unread posts are marked with NEW.

Icon_Forum Wichtig.png

The topic is marked as important and always displayed at the top of the topic list.

It is also possible to mark posts within a thread.

Icon_Forum Versteckt.png

The topic is hidden and not visible to other users in the topic list.

Standard users are only able to hide their own topics, while moderators are also entitled to hide topics of other users.

Icon_Forum geschlossen.png

The topic is closed. Users cannot reply to closed topics.

Standard users are only able to close their own topics, while moderators are also entitled to close topics of other users.

Functions for users

As a user, you have the following options in a Forum course element:

Icon_Abonnieren_en.png

Subscribe to forum

You can subscribe to course elements to get automatically informed about changes.

How to do that?

To subscribe to a course element, proceed as follows:

  1. Open the relevant course and go to the desired course element.
  2. Click the Subscribe button in the upper right corner of the course element view.

Example: Subscribing to a course element File discussion

Kursbaustein Dateidiskussion - Abonnieren_en.png

 

3. If you have already subscribed to this course element, you will see the button Unsubscribe. Click this button if you want to cancel the subscription.

Kursbaustein Dateidiskussion - Abo beenden_en.png

For further information about the general configuration options for receiving notifications, refer to the page Subscriptions and notifications.

Options in the topics overview

In the overview table, the following functions are available:

 

Open topic

Clicking on the title of a topic in the topics overview opens the relevant topic.

Icon_Neues Thema_en.png

Create new topic

This function allows you to create your own topic. Other users can then respond to your topic and/or submit a rating.

How to do that?
  1. Open the relevant course element.
  2. Click on New topic.

Kursrun -Neues Forenthema erstellen_en.png

3. Enter a title and your post in the appropriate text fields. More formatting options can be found on Page Texteditor.

Kursrun - Titel und Betreff zum Forenthema_en.png

4. Now you can mark your topic as important by selecting the checkbox. A topic which is marked as important is always listed at the top of the post overview.

Kursrun - Forenthema als wichtig markieren_en.png

5. If anonymous posting has been enabled by the course author, this option is also available to you. To publish your topic anonymously, activate the respective checkbox.

Depending on the setting of the course author, the anonymous post may need to be released by the moderator. Only after the release, it will be visible to other users.

Kursrun - Forenthema als anonym markieren_en.png

6. If necessary, add a file as an attachment to the post.

7. Click on Submit.

8. Your topic will be created and is now available in the forum overview.

Kursrun - Thema erstellen_en.png

Icon_Tabellendownload.png

Download table

Export table content as a file. The file format you have selected within your System settings will be used as the default format.

Open topic options

Depending on the user's rights, the following functions are available for an open topic and the posts it contains:

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Back to overview

Clicking this button will directly take you to the post overview. The post overview lists all existing topics.

Icon_Zum letzten Beitrag_en.png

Last post

Clicking this button takes you to the last post created on the respective topic.

Icon_Anzeigeoptionen im Forum_en.png

View

Here you can filter the displayed posts. You can choose between four different post views. For example, you can view all posts or just the most recent ones.

The following settings are available ...
  • All posts
  • All posts (flat)
  • Favourites
  • New posts

Kursrun - Anzeige innerhalb eines Themas_en.png

Icon_Pfeil.png

Reply (directly)

With this option, it is possible to reply directly to a post. You should use this function if you want to reply to a post other than the last one in the thread. The reply is displayed directly below the entry concerned.  

Learn more ...
  1. Click on the arrow next to the post you want to reply to.
  2. A reply window opens. Enter your reply, add a file if necessary, and click on Save .
  3. Your reply will now be displayed directly below the post.

Kursrun - Im Forum antworten_en.png

 

Icon_Stern grau leer.png

Star

Click on the star to mark a post as a favourite. You can undo this process at any time by clicking on the star again.

Icon_Bester Beitrag.png

Mark as best post

Using this option, you can mark the best post on a topic.

Icon_Artefakt.png

Artefact

With this button, you can save your posts to the ePortfolio.

Icon_Erweitern Dreieck.png

Advanced functions

  • Quote
  • Edit
  • Delete

This option allows you to quote, edit, or delete posts.

Quote post ...

The Quote function allows the user to refer directly to a specific statement from another user. In this way, the overview in the discussion is for example maintained.  

  1. Click on the expand icon and select Quote .

Kursrun - Funktion Forenantwort zitieren_en.png

2. It opens the reply field with the quoted text in the upper area. Enter your reply below the quote and click on Save .

Kursrun - Forum Beitrag zitieren_en.png


Edit post ...

To edit your reply, proceed as follows:  

  1. Click on the expand icon and select Edit .

Kursrun - Forum Beitrag bearbeiten_en.png

2. You are now in the editing mode. Make your desired changes and click on Save to complete the editing process.

Kursrun - Fenster Thema bearbeiten_en.png


Delete post ...

To delete a reply, proceed as follows:  

  1. Click on the expand icon and select Delete .

Kursrun - Forum Löschen_en.png

2. Confirm the deletion process with Delete .

Kursrun - Forumantwort löschen bestätigen_en.png

 

Icon_Antworten_en.png

Reply

Use this button to reply to the last post. The given answer is displayed at the end of the thread. 

Learn more ...
  1. Click on Reply .
  2. A reply window opens. Enter your reply in the appropriate text field. Upload a file if necessary.

Kursrun - Im Forum antworten_en.png

3. If anonymous posting has been enabled by the course author, you have the option of marking your post as anonymous. To do so, activate the checkbox Post anonymously .

4. Click on Save .

Kursrun - Antwort im Forum speichern_en.png

 

Icon_Antwort im Forum bewerten.png

Rate

 

Moderate topic

Users with the right to moderate have, among other things, the option to release posts, close topics, and delete other users' posts.  

Functions for moderators ...

If you have the right to moderate in the forum, the following functions will be available to you: 

Hide topic

A hidden topic will no longer be visible to users without moderating rights.

How to do that?
  1. Open the course element Forum and the topic you want to hide.
  2. Click on the down arrow next to the Subscribe button and select Hide topic.

Follow the same procedure to make the topic visible again. 

Kursrun - Forum Thema verstecken_en.png 

 

Close topic

If a topic has been closed, it is no longer possible to respond to it.

How to do that?
  1. Open the course element Forum and the topic you want to close.
  2. Click on the down arrow next to the Subscribe button and select Close topic.

Follow the same procedure to reopen the topic.

 Kursrun - Forum Thema beenden_en.png

Configuration: Authors' View

In the course editor

The following functions are available in the course editor:

Add a forum course element

Click to open instructions on how to add a course element ...

To integrate a course element into your course, proceed as follows:

1

Open the course you want to edit.

Use the pencil icon at the top of the page to open the editing mode.

Kurs-zum Editor wechseln_en.png

2

Select a course element from the menu on the right.

Kurseditor-KB auswählen_en.png

3

In the new window, you can define the position of the new course element within your course structure (left navigation pane). The available positions are marked with an insert icon.

To insert the new course element into an existing substructure, you need to open the substructure by clicking on the small triangle symbol next to its title. The area will open and you will again see insert icons at the positions which are available.

Click on the insert icon at the desired position within the structure. The selected area will be highlighted.

Confirm your choice with Insert course element.

Kurseditor-KB in tree einfügen_en.png

4

The element will be inserted into the course structure at the selected position.

Depending on the course element, you have to make additional configurations or add content in order to complete the configuration.

For these changes to take effect, you must publish the course. The course element will then also become available in the course view.

Kurseditor-KB konfigurieren_en.png

 

General configuration settings

In the course editor, you will find the following configuration tabs:

Title and description

Configuration options in the tab title and description ...

Kurseditor - Tab Titel und Beschreibung_en.png

Elements

Description

Title

You need to enter a title for the course element. The title can comprise a maximum of 100 characters. All special characters and numbers are permitted. The title will appear in the navigation menu of the course and also as a heading in the content area.

Changes to the title of the first course element, the so-called main course node ...

  If you change the title of the first course element, the new content will only be applied to the main course node and then displayed in the opened course. If you wish to edit the course title or description, you can do so using the more settings menu of the course.

Subtitle

You can enter a subtitle for the course element with a maximum of 255 characters. All special characters and numbers are permitted. The title will appear as a tooltip in the navigation menu and - if selected and configured accordingly - as a subtitle in the content area.

Description

Here you can describe the course element. The description will appear in the content area below the title.

Depending on the settings configured in the element Display, this additional text is displayed to the user when opening the course element. The user can expand or collapse the view of the text.

 

Display

Define which information about the course element should be displayed in the course view. In addition to the content, you can optionally display the title and description. All course elements are provided with a reasonable presetting, which mostly includes the setting Title, description and content. You can adjust this setting in accordance with the options available for each course element.

Set link for this course element

Each course element can be accessed via fixed link addresses. Therefore, an internal and an external URL is assigned to each course element. These direct links to concrete elements can be used within courses or provided to learners. The URLs are located below the title and description of the element and will appear upon selecting Set link for this course element.  

  • External link: To refer to this course element from outside of the course or learning platform, you can use the external link and insert it, for example as a href attribute, into the desired HTML page.
  • Internal link: To set a link to another course element within the same course, you can insert the internal link as a href attribute into the desired HTML page.

ID

You will need the ID number of the course element (on the bottom right), for example, if you wish to use the expert mode in the visibility or access tab.

VisibilityIf necessary, restrict the visibility of the course element here. For more information, see the Visibility help page.
Access If necessary, restrict the visibility of the course element here. For more information, see the Access help page.

Configuration

In this tab, you can perform basic configuration settings for a Forum course element. For example, you can decide whether to allow anonymous posts in the forum. Detailed instructions are given in the following section with the title Special configuration settings.

Multilingualism

In this tab, different translations can be added to individual course element areas.

Special configuration settings

In the Configuration tab, you will find the following configuration options for a Forum course element:

Anonymous forum use

If this function is enabled, users can write anonymous posts.

  1. Open the course editor of the Forum course element and switch to the Configuration tab.
  2. Activate the checkbox next to Allow anonymous posts.
  1. Confirm the anonymous forum use with Save.

Kurseditor - Anonyme Forenbeiträge erlauben_en.png

Posts have to be released by the moderator

This option will only be visible if the Allow anonymous posts function is enabled. Activate this additional option if anonymous posts should be released by moderators before other course participants can see them.

  1. Open the course editor of the Forum course element and switch to the Configuration tab.
  2. Activate the checkbox next to Anonymous posts have to be released by the moderator.
  3. Click on Save.

Kurseditor - Anonyme Forenbeiträge freigeben_en.png

In the course view

In the course view, you have access to all functions available to users as well as the following options:

Moderate forum

 

If you have the right to moderate in the forum, the following functions will be available to you: 

Hide topic

A hidden topic will no longer be visible to users without moderating rights.

How to do that?
  1. Open the course element Forum and the topic you want to hide.
  2. Click on the down arrow next to the Subscribe button and select Hide topic.

Follow the same procedure to make the topic visible again. 

Kursrun - Forum Thema verstecken_en.png 

 

Close topic

If a topic has been closed, it is no longer possible to respond to it.

How to do that?
  1. Open the course element Forum and the topic you want to close.
  2. Click on the down arrow next to the Subscribe button and select Close topic.

Follow the same procedure to reopen the topic.

 Kursrun - Forum Thema beenden_en.png

Via the course element's access rights, you can also enable other users to moderate in a forum.

Manage anonymous forum posts

If the option Anonymous posts have to be released by the moderator has been activated in the course editor, the following functions will be available to you in the course view:

Release post

This option makes the content of an anonymous post visible to other users.

  1. Open the course element Forum and navigate to the post you want to release.
  2. Click on Release post. The post will then become visible to all users.

Kursrun - Anonymen Forumbeitrag freigeben_en.png

Delete post

This option deletes the anonymous post and does not make it visible to other users.

  1. Open the course element Forum and navigate to the post you want to delete.
  2. Click on Delete.

Kursrun - Anonymen Forumbeitrag löschen_en.png

3. Confirm the deletion process with Delete.

Kursrun - Anonymen Forumbeitrag Löschen bestätigen_en.png