Click  Discussions on the navbar.

Once a discussion gets going, new posts can come in very quickly. There are a number of places in Learning Environment that identify new posts to help you keep on top of things:

• The Updates widget on your course homepage lists the total number of unread posts for all discussion topics in your course.
• The number of unread posts appears beneath each topic in the Discussions List. To see only topics with unread posts, click Unread in the Filter by tool navigation.
• All topics that contain unread posts appear bolded if you have the Discussions List pane visible when viewing topics or threads.
• Inside a topic, click Unread in the Filter by tool navigation.
• You can subscribe to specific discussion forums, topics, or threads to receive an email, SMS, or minibar notification whenever there is a new post.

Search for discussion posts

1. On the Discussions List page, click on the topic you want to search for posts.
2. Enter the terms you want to find in the search field and click the Search icon.

To see all posts again, click the Clear icon in the search field.

Read discussion threads

Click on a topic to display the View Topic page. Then, click on a thread to display all replies to the thread, along with the original post.

Create a thread in Discussions

1. Click on the topic where you want to create a thread.
2. Click Start a New Thread.
3. Enter a Subject.
4. Enter your Post.
5. Set any other posting options you want. (These options may not be available, depending on the course and the topic.)

   To	Do this
   Keep the thread at the top of the list	Select Pin thread.
   Post anonymously	Select Post as Anonymous.
   Receive updates on the thread via your selected notification method	Select Subscribe to this thread.
   Attach a file	In the Attachments area, click Browse to locate the file you want to attach, or, if you are using a supported browser, drag and drop your files onto the attachments upload target. You can attach as many files as you want. Note Internet Explorer 9 and older currently do not support dragging and dropping files from your desktop into Learning Environment.
   Attach an audio recording	In the Attachments area, click Record Audio. Ensure your microphone is set up correctly and click Record. Click Flash Settings to make adjustments to your microphone selection and volume. Click Play to listen to your recording. Click Clear to erase your recording. If you have pre-recorded audio and are using a supported browser, you can drag audio files onto the attachments upload target.
   Attach a video recording	In the Attachments area, click Record Video. Click Allow when the Flash player prompts you to allow camera and microphone access. Click Record. Click Stop when you finish recording. Click Clear to erase your recording or Add to add the recording. If you have pre-recorded video and are using a supported browser, you can drag video files onto the attachments upload target.
   Post your thread to more than one topic simultaneously	Click Post to other topics. Click Add Topics, and select the topics you would like your thread to appear in. To post in every topic simultaneously, select the Select All check box, then click Add Topics.

6. Click Post.

If the topic is moderated, your post will not appear until a moderator approves it. Moderated topics will display Moderated beside the topic name in Discussions List. Inside the topic, all threads track how many Unapproved replies each thread contains. Inside the thread, any posts requiring approval display Approve Post in the subject header.

If a topic is assessible, and has one or more rubrics attached to it, you will see a Rubrics section in the collapsible Discussions area at the top of the topic that contains links to any rubrics associated with the topic. To preview the expectations for the topic, click on the rubric. It will open in a pop-up window.

Note The rubric does not display any personalized feedback or results.

Reply to a thread in Discussions

1. Locate the thread you want to reply to.
2. Click Reply to Thread to reply to the main thread post or click Reply to reply to a particular post inside the thread.
3. Enter your reply in the HTML Editor. To include the original post’s text in your reply, click the Add original post text link. (If this option is already enabled by your course administrator, this message will not display.)
4. Set any other options you want. (These options may not be available, depending on the course and the topic.)

   To	Do this
   Post anonymously	Select Post as Anonymous.
   Receive updates to the thread via your selected notification method	Select Subscribe to this thread.
   Attach a file	In the Attachments area, click Browse to locate the file you want to attach, or, if you are using a supported browser, drag and drop your files onto the attachments upload target. You can attach as many files as you want. Note Internet Explorer 9 and older currently do not support dragging and dropping files from your desktop into Learning Environment.
   Attach an audio recording	In the Attachments area, click Record Audio. Ensure your microphone is set up correctly and click Record. Click Flash Settings to make adjustments to your microphone selection and volume. Click Play to listen to your recording. Click Clear to erase your recording. If you have pre-recorded audio and are using a supported browser, you can drag audio files onto the attachments upload target.
   Attach a video recording	In the Attachments area, click Record Video. Click Allow when the Flash player prompts you to allow camera and microphone access. Click Record. Click Stop when you finish recording. Click Clear to erase your recording or Add to add the recording. If you have pre-recorded video and are using a supported browser, you can drag video files onto the attachments upload target.

5. Click Post.

You can save your thread as a draft instead of publishing it right away. This lets you return to the thread later to edit it before publishing it to the topic.

To save a draft thread, click Save as Draft instead of Post.

To find a saved draft, navigate to the topic where you created the draft and select Drafts from the Filter by tool navigation.

Note Depending on your system configuration, you may not have this option enabled. If you would like the option to save threads as drafts, contact your site administrator or your Desire2Learn Account Manager.

How you rate discussion posts depends on which rating scheme is enabled. You can rate posts using stars or by up voting and down voting.

Note Instructors can set rating schemes on a per-topic basis.

Rate posts using the Five-Star rating scheme

Rate the post by clicking on the number of stars you think the post deserves in the Ratings area of a user's post. You can give a maximum of five stars.

Rate posts using the Up Vote/Down Vote rating scheme

Click the Up icon to increase a post's rating. Click the Down icon to decrease a post's rating.

Rate posts using the Up Vote Only rating scheme

Click the Up icon to increase a post's rating.

You can view posts in a printable format and send the posts to your printer:

1. Do one of the following:
   • Select Print Thread from the context menu of a thread to print a thread.
   • Select Print from the context menu of an individual post to print a post.
2. In the Printable View pop-up window, click Print.

Access Discussions settings

Do one of the following:

• On the Discussions List page, click Settings.
• Click Edit Course on the navbar, click Discussions, then click Settings on the Discussions List page.

Personal Settings

Personal settings control the way you view posts inside a topic. These settings apply to all course offerings wherever you access discussions, but do not affect other users.

Display Settings  The following display settings are available:

• Always show the Discussions List pane  Use this setting to show or hide the list of topics in the View Topic and View Thread pages. Hide it to save space or show it to switch between topics quickly.

Reply Settings  Use this setting to automatically include the original post by default when composing a reply.

See also

• Rating discussion posts [5]

If you want to return to a post at a later time, or if you want to monitor replies to a post, you should flag the post. Select Flag Post or Remove Flag from the context menu of the post to add or remove a flag. To quickly find your flagged posts, click Flagged from the Filter by tool navigation.

When you click on a thread, it automatically marks all of its posts as read.

In some cases you might want to manually mark some posts as unread—for example, if you open a thread but do not finish reading it.

Mark posts as read or unread

Do one of the following:

• Select Mark All Posts as Read from the thread's context menu to mark all posts in the thread as read without viewing the thread.
• Select Mark All Posts as Unread from the thread's context menu to mark all posts in the thread as unread.
• To mark individual posts as unread, click Mark Post as Unread from the context menu of the post.

You can make changes to your subscriptions in Notifications [13] and in the Subscriptions area of Discussions.

Change default frequency of notifications and email address

1. Do one of the following:
   • Click Subscriptions from the tool navigation in Discussions, then click Change your notification settings.

     Note You must be subscribed to at least one forum, topic, or thread to view this option.

   • Click Notifications from the personal menu on the minibar.
2. Modify your Notification Frequency setting and email address.
3. Click Save.

Manage subscriptions for forums, topics, or threads

1. Click Subscriptions from the tool navigation.
2. Modify your Default Notification Method settings, or unsubscribe from any forum, topic, or thread you do not want to follow.

See also

• Setting your notifications [13]

You can receive email, minibar, and SMS notifications for discussion forums, topics, and threads that you subscribe to. Ensure your Notifications settings [13] are set up properly.

Subscribe to notifications for an entire forum or topic

1. On the Discussions List page, click Subscribe from the context menu of the forum or topic to receive notifications of new posts.
2. Select your Notification Method in the Customize Notifications pop-up window. Your options include:
   • Show notifications in minibar only
   • Send me an instant notification
   • Include in my summary of activity

   Note If you do not have an email address set up in your user profile to receive instant and summary notifications, click the Add an email address in a new window link in the Customize Notifications pop-up window. Click the Enable email notifications link, then set your email preferences in the Email Settings pop-up window. Click Save.

3. Click Subscribe.

Subscribe to notifications for a thread

1. On the View Topics page, click   Subscribe beside the thread you want to receive notifications for.
2. Select your Notification Method in the Customize Notifications pop-up window. Your options include:
   • Show notifications in minibar only
   • Send me an instant notification
   • Include in my summary of activity

   Note If you do not have an email address set up in your user profile to receive instant and summary notifications, click the Add an email address in a new window link in the Customize Notifications pop-up window. Click the Enable email notifications link, then set your email preferences in the Email Settings pop-up window. Click Save.

3. Click Subscribe.

Unsubscribe from notifications

1. Click   Unsubscribe from the context menu of the forum or topic you are subscribed to, or click   Subscribed beside a thread, to stop receiving notifications.
2. In the confirmation pop-up window, click Yes.

See also

• Setting your notifications [13]