Forum activity settings

Forum name

The name for the forum. Will be displayed on the course page.

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Description

The description is optional but could be used to give instructions or guidance about how to use the forum.

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Display description on course page

If enabled, the description above will be displayed on the course page just below the link to the forum.

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Forum type

There are five forum types:

• A single simple discussion: A single discussion topic which everyone can reply to (cannot be used with separate groups)
• Each person posts one discussion: Each learner can post exactly one new discussion topic, which everyone can then reply to
• Q and A forum: Learners must first post their perspectives before viewing other learners' posts
• Standard forum displayed in a blog-like format: An open forum where anyone can start a new discussion at any time, and in which discussion topics are displayed on one page with Discuss this topic links
• Standard forum for general use: An open forum where anyone can start a new discussion at any time

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Maximum attachment size

When learners attach files to their posts, you’ll want to limit the maximum size of their posts so you don’t use up all your server space. This is especially important if you are paying a commercial hosting company for your Totara site.

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Maximum number of attachments

This setting specifies the maximum number of files that can be attached to a forum post.

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Display word count

This setting specifies whether the word count of each post should be displayed or not.

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Subscription mode

Subscriptions to forums provide notifications to the users of new posts to the subscribed forum or forum topic. The notifications will be delivered depending on the user's messaging preferences.

It is possible for  the trainer to choose whether a  subscription forum is optional or not.

The four subscription mode options are:

• Optional subscription: Users can choose whether to be subscribed.
• Forced subscription: Every member of the forum is subscribed and cannot unsubscribe.
• Auto subscription: Every member of the forum is subscribed initially but can choose to unsubscribe at any time.
• Subscription disabled: Subscriptions are not allowed for learners, although trainers can still subscribe.

The subscription mode and subscribe or unsubscribe links appear in Navigation > Forum administration when viewing the forum. Trainers can quickly change the mode via the Subscription mode options and view the current subscribers via the Show/edit current subscribers link.

Changing the subscription settings will only affect users who enrol to the course after the change is made it will not back-port and subscribe or unsubscribe existing course members.

Read tracking

Read tracking for a forum allows users to track both read and unread forum posts.

There are three options for this setting:

• Optional: Learners can turn tracking on or off for the forum via a link Track / Don't track unread posts in Administration > Forum administration, or via their profile Forum Tracking option.
• Off: It is not possible to track unread forum posts.
• Forced: Tracking is always on in this forum, regardless of user preference or setting. No link in is present in Administration > Forum administration. This setting is only available when the Allow forced read tracking administrative setting is enabled.

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Lock discussions after period of inactivity

It is possible to lock a discussion after a certain period of inactivity. This can be configured in the settings when creating or editing the forum, although it is disabled by default (no locking will occur). Once a discussion is locked then only users with the right capabilities (such as Editing Trainers) can unlock the discussion by replying to the forum. Any users without the right permissions will simply be unable to reply to any posts in the locked forum after the set period of inactivity. 

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Time period for blocking

Allows you to block learners posting after a given number of posts in a given period, after a certain number of posts learners can be warned that they are close to the limit.

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Post threshold for blocking

Sets the threshold for blocking. Setting  block threshold to 0 disables blocking. If blocking is disabled, warnings are automatically disabled.

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Post threshold for warning

Sets the threshold for warnings. Setting the warning threshold to 0 prevents learners being warned that they are near the limit.

None of these settings affect trainers posting.

Grade category

This setting controls the category in which this activity's grades are placed in the gradebook.

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Grade to pass

This setting determines the minimum grade required to pass. The value is used in activity and course completion, as well as in the gradebook, where pass grades are highlighted in green and fail grades in red.

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Roles with permission to rate 

To submit ratings users require the /rating:rate capability and any module specific capabilities. Users assigned the following roles should be able to rate items. The list of roles may be amended via the permissions link in the administration block.

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Ratings aggregate type

A score in the grade book for the learner’s submissions in the forum. The grade is set using the dropdown menu below this option.

The aggregate type defines how ratings are combined to form the final grade in the gradebook.

• Average of ratings: The mean of all ratings.
• Count of ratings: The number of rated items becomes the final grade. Note that the total cannot exceed the maximum grade for the activity.
• Maximum: The highest rating becomes the final grade.
• Minimum: The smallest rating becomes the final grade.
• Sum: All ratings are added together. Note that the total cannot exceed the maximum grade for the activity.

If No ratings is selected, then the activity will not appear in the gradebook.

Scale

Select the type of grading used for this activity. If scale is chosen, you can then choose the scale from the scale dropdown. If point is chosen, you can then enter the maximum grade available for this activity.

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Restrict ratings to items with dates in this range

Select the dates From and/or To that you want to restrict ratings to be entered. 

See Common module settings to learn more.

Activity completion

See activity completion to learn more.

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Restrict access

See restricting access to learn more.

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Tags

See tags to learn more. 

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Display mode

Choose the default display mode. Select from:

• Display replies flat, with oldest first
• Display replies flat, with newest first
• Display replies in threaded form
• Display replies in nested form

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Short post

Any post under the length set here (in characters not including HTML) is considered short.

Posts displayed on the site front page, social format course pages, or user profiles are shortened to a natural break somewhere between the Short post and Long post values.

Long post

Any post over the length set here (in characters not including HTML) is considered long.

Posts displayed on the site front page, social format course pages, or user profiles are shortened to a natural break somewhere between the Short post and Long post values.

Discussions per page

Maximum number of discussions shown in a forum per page.

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Maximum attachment size

Default maximum size for all forum attachments on the site (subject to course limits and other local settings).

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Maximum number of attachments

Default maximum number of attachments allowed per post.

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Read tracking

The default setting for read tracking. There are three options for this setting:

• Optional: Learners can turn tracking on or off for the forum via a link Track / Don't track unread posts via their profile Forum tracking option.
• Off: It is not possible to track unread forum posts.
• Forced: Tracking is always on in this forum, regardless of user preference or setting. This setting is only available when the Allow forced read tracking administrative setting is enabled.

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Track unread posts

Enable (tick) this option if you want to track read/unread for each user by default.

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Allow forced read tracking

Allows forums to be set to forced read tracking. Will result in decreased performance for some users, particularly on courses with many forums and posts. When off, any forums previously set to Forced are treated as optional.

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Read after days

The number of days old any post is considered read.

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Manual message read marking

If enabled (ticked), the user must manually mark a post as read. Otherwise, when the post is viewed it is marked as read.

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Mark old posts as read hour

The hour of the day to clean old posts from the read table.

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Hour to send digest emails

People who choose to have emails sent to them in digest form will be emailed the digest daily. This setting controls which time of day the daily mail will be sent (the next cron that runs after this hour will send it).

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Enable RSS feeds

This switch will enable the possibility of RSS feeds for all forums. You will still need to turn feeds on manually in the settings for each forum.

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RSS feed type

If RSS feeds are enabled, sets the default activity type.

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Number of RSS recent articles

If RSS feeds are enabled, sets the default number of articles (either discussions or posts).

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Timed posts

Enable (tick) if you want to allow setting of display periods when posting a new forum discussion.

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Email digest type

This setting determines how a user will receive any posts from forums to which they are subscribed, allowing them to receive messages individually or on a daily basis. The three digest options are:

• No digest: The user will receive one email per forum post (this can lead to a lot of emails if forums are very active)
• Complete: The user will receive one digest email per day containing the complete contents of each forum post
• Subjects: You will receive one digest email per day containing just the subject of each forum post

You can also choose a different setting for each forum if you wish.

Forum auto-subscribe

This setting specifies whether a user will receive email copies of any posts that are added to forums in which they have previously posted.  This can be manually overridden within a forum.

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Forum tracking

Enabling forum tracking will highlight posts that have not yet been read (where allowed within the forum).

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When sending forum post notifications

When you are notified of a forum post, you can choose whether this should mark the post as read for the purpose of forum tracking.

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