Configure forum settings

Review the forum's default settings and change them if necessary.

If you are new to running a forum, you can accept the defaults and move on to distributing the forum.

1. Open the forum to configure settings for and click the Configure tab.
2. Optional: Choose a Theme.

   Select a Community theme to control the overall appearance of the forum. By default, the active theme is chosen.

   For more information about how themes affect the appearance of forums, see Community themes.

3. Optional: Select a voting option:
   • Agree and Disagree
   • Agree Only
   • Disagree Only
   • None at all (default)
   Voting options let you capture one-click feedback from participants who would otherwise lurk passively and not comment. However, a vote can also lack context and richness. For example, if a participant makes five points in a post and someone clicks Agree, it's difficult to tell if that person agrees with one, several, or all points.
   Enable voting options if you want to capture one-click feedback, but if you want to encourage participants to have a lively and rich discussion (and ultimately collect as much qualitative data as possible), keeping the default None at all setting may be best.
4. Optional: Select or clear your general preferences.
   By default, all of these are selected.

   Option	Description
   Highlight moderator posts	This option makes moderator posts appear with a grey background. The grey background will override the theme's Discussions Body > Content Box Color setting. The moderator label beneath the profile picture always appears and does not change, regardless of the setting you choose or the theming.
   Allow members to create new posts	This option lets participants create top-level posts. If you clear this option, participants are able to reply to top-level posts only. This means that you must go to the forum and create some conversation-starter posts to which participants can reply.
   Auto-login members through notifications	This option lets participants access the forum through the links in email notifications, without having to sign in. When enabled, participants are able to bypass the forum login screen to simplify their engagement experience; however, anyone with access to the emailed link will be able to authenticate as the intended participant.

5. Optional: Select or clear notification settings.

   The notification settings control when moderators and participants receive email notifications about forum events. These settings are effective for everyone when a forum is open, but participants can select their own notification settings at any time. If they do so, their personal preferences will override the default notification settings.

   Option	Description
   New forum posts	If this option is selected, everyone is notified when someone creates a new top-level post within a forum. (Notifications are not sent for any replies to new top-level posts.) This option is cleared by default. Note: If a forum has notifications for New forum posts enabled, all admin users who have previously entered a forum and provided a screen name will receive the new post notifications.
   Replies to their posts	This option is selected by default and controls how participants are notified of replies to their posts. Choose one of these reply notification options: All replies (default): Participants are notified whenever someone directly or indirectly replies to their post or reply. For example, if Person A replies to you and Person B replies to Person A, you are notified of both replies. Direct replies only : Participants are notified only when someone directly replies to their post or reply. For example, if Person A replies to you and Person B replies to Person A, you are only notified of Person A's reply. None: Email notifications are not sent for any replies.

Parent topic: Forums