Reading and Posting to a Discussion Forum
This guide shows how to find, read and post to a discussion forum.
Once a discussion gets going, new threads can come in very quickly.
To see a short video on how to subscribe to discussions, see the video below:
This guide covers the following topics, use these links for easier navigation:
- Access Discussions
- Reading Topics on a Discussions List
- Following a Discussion Forum, Topic or Threads
- Managing Discussion Subscriptions and Settings
- Searching for Topics in Discussions List
- Marking Discussion Threads as Read or Unread
- Flagging a Thread in Discussions List
- Printing a Thread from a Discussions List
Access Discussions
1. In your unit space on the navbar, select Communication, then Discussions.
2. The Discussion page will give you an overview of forums and topics under them. Select a discussion topic (5), to view threads within that topic.
- Discussion list (1): contains the list of forums and topics.
- Subscriptions (2): View the forums and topics you have subscribed to.
- Filter (3): Change the filter to view Unread or Read topics.
- Forum (4): Discussion theame, under which you can find the topics listed.
- Discussion Topics (5): Click to open any one of the discussion topics listed under the forums.
Reading Topics
1. In the topic, you can Subscribe (1), to recieve notifications of new posts.
2. Select Start a New Thread (2), to respond to the topic.
3. Click on the thead (3), to post a reply.
Following a Discussion Forum, Topic or Threads
You can receive email and SMS notifications to discussion forums, topics, and message threads that you subscribe to. Ensure your Notifications settings are set up properly.
Subscribe to notifications
1. Click 
Subscribe beside the forum or topic to receive notifications of new posts.
2. If you do not have an email address set up in your user profile, you will be prompted to enter your System Password and New Email in a pop-up window. Click Save.
3. In the Customize Notifications pop-up window, select your Notification Frequency. Click Subscribe.
4. In the confirmation pop-up window, click Subscribe.
Note: To subscribe to individual messages inside a topic, click the 
Subscribe icon for the message, then click Subscribe.
Unsubscribe from notifications
5. Click 
Subscribed beside the forum or topic to stop receiving notifications.
6. In the confirmation pop-up window, click Yes.
Note: To unsubscribe to individual messages inside a topic, click the 
Unsubscribe icon for the message, then click Yes.
Managing Discussion Subscriptions and Settings
You can make changes to your subscriptions in Notifications and in the Subscriptions area of Discussions.
Change default frequency of notifications and email address
1. Click on Subscriptions next to the Discussion List tab. Here you can select the Default Notification Method and add an email address.
Note: You must be subscribed to at least one topic to view this option.
2. Discussions Settings has various settings configurations, which you can set up considering your own preference.
3. Click on the Settings icon 
to your right to access Discussions Settings.
Manage subscriptions for forums, topics or threads
1. Click Subscriptions from the tool navigation.
2. Modify your Notification Frequency settings, or unsubscribe from any forum, topic, or message thread you do not want to follow.
Searching for Topics in Discussions List
1. On the Discussions List page, click on the topic you want to search for messages.
2. Enter the terms you want to find in the Search For field and click the 
Search icon on the top right corner.
Marking Discussion Threads as Read or Unread
Thread automatically mark themselves as read when you open them if you use the Grid Style message list (depending on your site’s configuration). However, if you use the Reading Style message list or you print threads to read them, you will need to manually mark the thread as read to indicate to the system that the thread is no longer new.
In some cases, you might also want to manually mark a message as unread for example if you open the message from the Grid Style message list but do not finish reading it.
Mark a message read or unread
1. Select the Grid View to see the topic.
2. In the Grid View message list, select one or more messages from the list and click the Mark Read or Mark Unread at the top of the list. When you click on Mark All Read, a notification confirmation appears. Click Yes if you want to mark all posts as read.
3. In the Reading Style message list, click the Mark Read or Mark Unread link below the message header.
4. In either view, click Mark All Posts as Read (topic view) and Mark All Read (Grid view) to mark all messages in the topic as read.
Flagging a Thread in Discussions List
If you want to return to a Tread at a later time, or if you want to monitor replies to a thread, you should flag the tread.
1. On Grid View click the 
Not Flagged Click to Flag or 
Flagged Click to Unflag icon next to the thread subject to flag or unflag a tread.
2. To quickly find your flagged tread, select Flagged Only from the View drop-down list and click Apply.
Printing a Thread from a Discussions List
You can view messages in a printable format and send the messages to your printer when using the Discussion List.
In the Discussion list, select the Tread you want to print.
1. Click on the drown-drop arrow select 
Print Tread.
2. In the Printable View pop-up window, click Print.
