Discussion Groups 

Use

Discussions are structured online collections of posts with the associated replies. In rooms, the discussions are structured using a hierarchy containing the following objects:

●     Discussion group

A discussion group groups together related discussions. It can be divided into further discussion groups. To participate in a discussion, you must enter the corresponding discussion groups.

●     Discussion

You can create a discussion in a discussion group or as a separate discussion.

●     Post

When you create a discussion, you enter an initial post. In the course of the discussion, a structure of replies to this post is created.

●     Reply

As a participant in a discussion, you can enter replies to the initial post of a discussion or to existing replies.

Prerequisites

To be able to create discussion groups, you must use the corresponding room template, for example, the SAP Project Template.

For more information, see Room Creation and Standard Rooms.

Features

Creating Discussions

You can create a discussion within discussion groups or as separate discussions. The following menu items are available: New ® Discussion (for administrators) or New Discussion (for participants). You can launch these menu items in the following locations:

●     The header of the Discussion Groups iView
On the first structure level, you can create a separate discussion. Within a discussion group, you can create an associated discussion.

●     The context menu for the discussion group
You can create a discussion within the discussion group.

When you create a discussion, you enter the discussion name and the text of your initial discussion post. 

Participating In Discussions

To participate in a discussion, you click the discussion name.
You then reach the discussion structure. The following functions are available here:

●     Limiting the replies displayed according to their age (for example, since your last visit, since yesterday, or in the last week) – see the Select Post menu item in the header of the discussion structure

●     Creating a reply
In the header area for the text in question, you choose Reply and enter the following information:

○     Subject
The subject appears in the discussion structure. It contains the title of the initial post as a default value. In addition, Re: is entered before the subject (for each structure level).
If you want to enter another subject, overwrite the entry.

The subject can be empty depending on how the iView has been configured. In this case, the system automatically adopts the start of the reply as the subject.

○     Description
Enter your reply in the text editor.

●     Calling up the text of the initial post or of a reply
To call up the text of a post or a reply, you click the corresponding structure node in the discussion structure. This results in the text appearing in the work area on the right of the structure with an orange background. The display comprises the following information:

○     Header area
Subject
User name of the poster
Date and time entered
Menu item Reply
Menu item More ® Edit orDelete (only for replies to the post)

○     Text area
Text of the initial post or reply

●     Editing a reply
In the header area of the text, choose More ® Edit and change the subject or the text.

●     Deleting the initial post or a reply
As a discussion group manager, you can delete other users’ replies. As a participant, you can only delete your own replies that no one has replied to.
In the header area of the text in question, choose More ® Delete and confirm the confirmation prompt.

●     Subscribing to a discussion
In the discussion header, choose More ® Subscribe.
You can manage your subscriptions in the Subscription iView.

●     Adding the discussion to your Favorites
In the discussion header, choose More ® Add to Portal Favorites.

Adding a Discussion To Your Favorites

You can add discussion groups or individual discussions to your favorites list (on the portal homepage).

To do this, you use the menu item Add to Portal Favorites, which is provided in the following locations:

●     In the header of the Discussions iView
This allows you to add all discussion groups and discussions in the room to your favorites list.

●     In the context menu for the discussion group or discussion
This allows you to add a single discussion group or discussion to your favorites list.

Sending a Discussion To Other Portal Users

You can send discussion groups or individual discussions as a link to other portal users. To do this, you use the menu item Send to, which is provided in the following locations:

●     The header of the Discussions iView

You can send all discussion groups and discussions as a link.

●     The context menu for a discussion group or discussion

You can send an individual discussion group or discussion to other users.

Feedback

You can enter feedback on individual discussions. To do this, choose Submit Feedback in the context menu for the resource in question.