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The forums workflow

Lisa Wong
Updated

Running a forum involves forum creation, distribution, moderation, and data analysis.

Step 1: Build and configure a forum

Create a new forum by entering the forum's name, title, and description, and perhaps creating a few top-level posts to get the conversation started. Afterward, on the Configure page, review the forum's default settings and make any changes if necessary. If you're unsure of what to do or if this is your first time running a forum, it's best to just accept all defaults.

For more information, see these topics:

Step 2: Distribute the forum

On the Distribute page, create and send invitations and reminders. Once the forum is open, invited members can access the forum through their invitations and contribute. You also begin collecting qualitative data.
Note:
  • The forum automatically opens after you send an invitation.
  • You can only invite members to forums. Inviting nonmembers to forums is not supported.

For more information, see these topics:

Step 3: Moderate participant contributions

While the forum is active, participants create posts and reply to or vote on posts left by others.

As an Admin or Author user, you will automatically have moderator permissions in all forums.

At any time, you can:

  • Sign in to start new conversations
  • Contribute to existing conversations
  • Check forum activity levels
  • Suspend abusive participants

For more information, see Moderation and Contribution.

Tip: If you want to see posts and replies as they come in, refresh the forum page, or collapse and expand the replies under a post intermittently.

Step 4: Monitor and analyze forum data

At any time, you can:

  • View participation statistics on the Monitor page
  • Export forum or participation data in a CSV file
  • Filter posts and replies by using the word cloud

For more information, see these topics:

Parent topic: Forums

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