Group forum

A group's Forum tab is where its members talk. It is organised in three levels: sections hold categories, and categories hold discussions. A discussion is a first post plus its replies.

It is for conversation that should outlive a mailing list. The soilcarbon group used through this chapter runs three categories — one for the field season, one for the analysis pipeline, and one for papers in draft — so a question about a sampling protocol asked in March is still findable in October by whoever inherits the site. Members who would rather read it as mail can have the forum email them; see Email settings.

The hub also has a forum of its own, at /forum, open to every member. That one is the whole hub's; this one belongs to the group and is usually shut to everyone else. See Forum for the hub-wide one.

Who can read the forum is set by the group's access permission for the Forum tab, which is Group Members Only unless a manager changes it. Only group members can post, whatever that setting says.

The forum is empty when a group is created, and says so: This forum is currently empty and requires some set-up by the managers before it can be used. A manager has to make the first section before anyone can use it.

Reading and posting

Anyone who can reach the tab can read. Posting needs group membership, so this is where a member starts.

The tab opens on the list of sections, each with its categories and a count of the discussions and posts in each. Statistics and Last Post summarise the forum in the sidebar. The search box searches posts, across the whole forum or within one category.

To start a discussion, open a category and select New Discussion. Category, Title and Comments — the text of the first post — are required. Your tags and an Attachment are optional, and so is Post Anonymously where the manager has allowed it.

A manager's form has two more boxes, Make discussion sticky and Closed thread (no new posts).

Who can read this thread? — Anyone, Logged-in users or group members — appears only when the group has opened the Forum tab beyond its own members. The group's access setting still overrides whatever you choose, and the form says so.

To reply, use the form at the foot of the discussion. When the forum is set to nested threading, each post also carries its own Reply link, so you can answer one post rather than the discussion as a whole. Sort a category's discussions by creation date, activity, number of posts or title.

Edit and Delete appear on your own posts. A manager can delete anyone's reply, and edit or delete the discussion itself.

A closed discussion, or a category marked No new posts, takes no replies.

What a manager can do

A group's forum arrives empty and stays useless until someone gives it a shape. That is the manager's job, and it is worth doing once, carefully: a section per broad concern, categories inside it for the things people actually ask about.

A group manager can:

• Create, rename, reorder and delete sections.
• Create, edit and delete categories within a section.
• Lock a category, or close it to new posts.
• Edit and delete any discussion or post.
• Change the forum's settings.

Settings, at the top of the tab, offers:

Setting	What it does
Comment threading	Flat, one level threads (traditional) or Nested comments (tree)
Nested depth limit	How many levels a nested thread may go. Applies to nested threads only. Default 3
Default thread sorting	Most recent activity, Creation date, Number of posts or Title
Allow anonymous posts?	Whether members may hide their name on a post

An empty forum offers a manager a shortcut: generate example content, to get a section and some categories in place quickly.

Email settings

Members can have the forum email them. The Email Settings box sits in the sidebar of the Forum tab.

What the box offers depends on which of the hub's two extra options is on.

The digest

When the hub allows a forum digest, the box shows your current preference and a Change your settings link.

1. Open the group and select the Forum tab.
2. Find Email Settings in the sidebar and select Change your settings.
3. Tick Email me about new posts in this group.
4. Choose how they arrive:
   • individually as new posts are made, or
   • as part of a Daily, Weekly or Monthly digest email — pick the frequency from the menu.
5. Select Save.

The line above the link then reads back what you chose: not receive email notifications, receive immediate notification, or receive a daily, weekly or monthly digest.

Per-category subscriptions

When the hub allows per-category subscriptions instead, the box lists the forum's categories under Posts to:. Tick the ones you want mail from and select Save.

The simple form

With neither option on, the box is a single checkbox, Email forum post notifications, and a Save button.

Being subscribed automatically

A group manager can set the group so that new members start subscribed to its forum email: the Auto subscribe new group users to discussion email checkbox under Group Email Settings in the group's settings. Everyone can change their own setting afterwards.

Every notification the forum sends also carries an Unsubscribe link.