Building Web Connections - Training Materials

addforum.pdf

Step 1

Once you've added a Message Board, you need to add a Forum.

You can add as many Forums as you like to a single Message Board. Different Forums can have different properties. For example, you can make one Forum open to the public, and restrict another to a group of users.

Step 2

To add a Forum, click on Add a Forum at the top of your Message Board. A window like the one below will appear.

An Edit Forum screen like the one below will appear.

Some Key Features:

Title Give your forum a meaningful name. This name will appear in the page tree menu. By default, the title will also appear on your page. See Step 3 for instructions on how to hide this title.

eg, PovNet's Public Forum

Description Any text that you type in the Description box will appear above your forum.
For more on formatting your text, see WebGUI Training - Add an Article.
It's a good idea to use the Description field for instructions on how to use the Message Board. See WebGUI Training - Using a Message Board for sample instructions.

There are lots of other Forum options. See Step 3 for more details.

Step 3

You can change the way your Forum looks, and control who has access to it, using some of the other Forum options.

Forum Template Choose a template for your forum from the drop down list. This will control the layout of the overall forum.

Thread Template Choose a template for each thread from the drop down list. A thread is a series of postings on a single subject. This template will control the layout of each thread.

Post Form Template Choose a template from the drop down list. The Post Form Template controls what users see when they post a new message.

Posts Per Page Choose the number of posts to display on a single page. The default number is 30.

Who can post? You can limit who can post messages to the Forum based on user groups. Choose everyone if you want any user to post.

Moderate posts? If you would like to moderate posts before they appear on the Forum, choose yes. Posts will not be displayed until a moderator (see below) approves the message.

Who can moderate? Choose a group that is allowed to moderate posts (see above).

When you're finished, click on the Save button. 

© PovNet, 2004. If you want to reproduce or otherwise use these training materials, please contact PovNet at povnet@povnet.org.
WebGUI is open source content management software. For more about WebGUI, see www.plainblack.com/webgui