Create a discussion topic

Your course can have multiple forums and topics, but you must create a forum before you can create a topic since all topics belong to forums.

Important: For the August 2021/20.21.8 release, your administrator can choose to opt-in to a new workflow that makes it easier for you to set visibility and posting restrictions for discussion forums and topics. If your administrator turns on the new workflow, Locking Options are consolidated with the Availability Start Date and End Date options. For more information on these changes, see the Changes To Availability And Locking Dates For A Consolidated Dates Workflow blog post.

If the updated group discussions interface has been turned on by your administrator:

  1. On the navbar, click Discussions.
  2. On the Discussions List page, from the New button, click New Topic.
  3. From the drop-down list, select the forum you want to put your topic in. If you want to create a new forum for your topic, click New Forum.
  4. To grant everyone access to the topic and restrict learners to only see threads from their own group or section, under Topic Type, select Group or section topic.
    Note: You cannot edit the topic type once you save the topic.
  5. Enter your New Topic Details.
  6. In the Restrictions tab, set the following options:
    • Availability options specify when learners can access (or view) a topic based on a specific date set by you. For example, you can set a date to make a discussion topic available to learners after the end date for finishing a course module.
    • Locking Options specify if learners can post or reply to a topic based on a specific date set by you. For example, you can set a date to lock a discussion topic after making it available, giving learners time to read and understand the discussion topic, but not post replies. You can also set a date to unlock the topic several days later, allowing learners to post their well thought out replies.
      Note: If the new workflow for setting availability and posting restrictions is enabled, set the following options:
      • Visible with access restricted before start/end. The topic is visible to learners before or after the start or end date, but they cannot access it.
      • Visible with submission restricted before start/end. The topic is visible to learners before or after the start or end date and they can access it, but they cannot post new threads or replies. This effectively makes a discussion read-only.
      • Hidden before start/end. The topic is hidden from learners until the start or end date. Calendar events for Availability Start and Availability End are hidden until the start or end date. Notifications are also not sent until the start or end date.
  7. Click Save and Close.

If you are using the default group discussions interface:

  1. On the navbar, click Discussions.
  2. On the Discussions List page, from the New button, click New Topic.
  3. From the drop-down list, select the forum you want to place your topic in. If you want to create a new forum for your topic, click New Forum.
  4. Enter your New Topic Details.
  5. In the Restrictions tab, set the following options:
  6. Availability options specify when learners can access (or view) a topic based on a specific date set by you. For example, you can set a date to make a discussion topic available to learners after the end date for finishing a course module.
  7. Locking Options specify if learners can post or reply to a topic based on a specific date set by you. For example, you can set a date to lock a discussion topic after making it available, giving learners time to read and understand the discussion topic, but not post replies. You can also set a date to unlock the topic several days later, allowing learners to post their well thought out replies.
    Note: If the new workflow for setting availability and posting restrictions is enabled, set the following options:
    • Visible with access restricted before start/end. The topic is visible to learners before or after the start or end date, but they cannot access it.
    • Visible with submission restricted before start/end. The topic is visible to learners before or after the start or end date and they can access it, but they cannot post new threads or replies. This effectively makes a discussion read-only.
    • Hidden before start/end. The topic is hidden from learners until the start or end date. Calendar events for Availability Starts and Availability Ends are hidden until the start or end date. Notifications are also not sent until the start or end date.
  8. Click Save and Close.