Discussions

This topic is organized into the following sections:

• About discussions

• Discussion topics

• Comments in discussion topics

About discussions

A discussion is a collection of topics. In a discussion, teams can converse and exchange ideas over an extended period. Discussions make their own transcripts, so you can reference them later, or use them to bring a new team member up to speed on a project.

Note: To hold a temporary conversation in real time with other eRoom members (lasting only for the duration of your login session) use the Intercom.

See also: Contacting another eRoom member for information about communicating with members via email or instant message (if you have eRoom Instant Messaging Integration Services)

When you create or edit a discussion, its properties are

• the title of the discussion -- required

• whether members can insert nested responses (direct replies to individual comments) in topics -- initially on

• (only when you are creating a discussion) an option for the creator to start the first topic -- initially on

• the access control settings for the discussion

• what the icon for the discussion looks like

• whether the discussion has any custom commands (for details about custom commands, see the Server Extension Programmer's Guide within the eRoom API Help)

Discussion topics

A topic is a collection of comments and, optionally, embedded polls. Topics have their own properties, which include

• the title of the topic -- required

• the body of a comment

• whether members can add attachments to the topic page -- initially off

• the access control settings for the topic, which can differ from those of the discussion or other topics

To go to a discussion topic:

• Go to a discussion page by clicking on its title or icon in the map or the item box.

  eRoom opens the Topics page and automatically displays either the first unread topic, or if all topics have been read, the first topic in alphabetical order.

On the Topics page, the contents of the topic appear below the title, and titles of all other topics in the discussion appear in a list at the top.

To go to another topic:

• Click a title in the list at the top of the Topics page.

Or, go to the top-level page of the discussion and in the map or the item box, click a topic title or a topic icon ().

Within a topic, you can create an embedded poll by clicking the "take a vote" button. Once the poll is created, members can vote by clicking the Vote button.

To add a topic to a discussion:

1. At the top of the Topics page, click the "start a new topic" button.

2. On the Create Topic page, fill in the title and the body of the first comment, and specify whether the topic has an attachments box.

3. Modify access control settings or leave the defaults.

4. Click "OK".

Your topic is now the current page, and the new title appears in the list of topics in the discussion.

Comments in discussion topics

In a discussion, you can contribute comments. You can edit a comment or topic of your own by clicking , or delete it by clicking .

To add a comment to a topic:

1. On a discussion page, click the "add a comment" button.

2. On the Create Comment page, fill in the title and the body of your comment, and then click "OK".

Your comment appears below the last comment, set even with the left margin of the one above it.

To respond to a particular comment:

1. By the comment you want to respond to, click .

2. On the Create Comment page, fill in the title and the body of your comment, and then click "OK".

eRoom inserts your remarks below the comment you are responding to, indented to the right.