---
title: "Forums: Setup, Settings, and Use"
canonical: "https://helpcentre.macewan.ca/space/ETS/2624783014/Forums%3A%20Setup%2C%20Settings%2C%20and%20Use"
format: markdown
---
**AUDIENCE: ****FACULTY**** | ****STAFF**
The forum activity allows students and instructors to exchange ideas by posting comments in a thread. It is possible to link external media, such as images, videos, and websites, to forum posts. Students and instructors can also comment and reply to posts made by other users. The instructor can grade forum posts.
# Adding a Forum to your Course
Enable editing by toggling the **Edit mode** button found in the top-right corner of the course page.
Navigate to the section in your course site where you want to add a forum and select **+ Activity or resource**.
A new menu window for activities and resources will open. Choose **Forum** from the list of options.
Name the forum by putting a title in the box adjacent to **Forum name**. You can display the description on the course page by selecting the checkbox under the description. If enabled, the description will be displayed on the course page below the activity/resource link.
In the **Forum type** selection area, choose the type of forum you would like to use from the drop-down menu. More information about the different forum types is available at the bottom of this page.
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# Forum Settings
In this section, an overview of the forum settings, along with recommended settings and advice, will be provided.
## Availability, Attachments, and Word Count
You can set time parameters for when a forum is available by adjusting the values adjacent to **Due date** and **Cut-off date** under the **Availability **settings. Set a forum cutoff date to prevent posts after the due date.
In the **Attachment and word count** settings, you can limit the size of uploaded files (or eliminate this possibility by setting this value to 0) in the box adjacent to **Maximum attachment size**. Limit the attachment count by setting the **Maximum number of attachments**.
If you wish to set a word limit/requirement for forum responses, select **Yes** in the box adjacent to **Display word count**.
## Subscription and Tracking
If forums are an important activity you want students to actively engage with, selecting **Forced subscription** from the drop-down menu will send email notifications to your students approximately 30 minutes after each forum post. Selecting **Subscription disabled** will turn off all notifications, and students must visit the forum to check for posts.
If you select an **Auto subscription**, the students will be automatically subscribed. Still, they can unsubscribe by selecting the unsubscribe button on the right side of the forum page.
**An optional subscription **works** **the same way, except that students are unsubscribed by default and need to activate the **Auto subscription **on their own. A subscribe toggle button is on the Learning forums view.
## Discussion locking
If you wish to maintain active discussions, you can lock forums after a specified period of inactivity from the **Discussion locking**. Select the time parameters in the drop-down menu adjacent to **Lock discussions after periods of inactivity**.
## Post threshold for blocking
If you wish to limit the number of times a student can post in a forum within a certain time frame, you can set these parameters under the **Post threshold for blocking** in the drop-down menu adjacent to **Time period for blocking**.
## Whole forum grading
If you wish to assign grades for forum posts, you can do so by adjusting **Whole forum grading** settings *Forum title *> Gear menu > Edit Settings > **Whole forum grading**.
If you select **Scale**, you will be asked to choose a created scale from the drop-down list. If you select **Points**, you will be asked to assign a maximum (out of) value in the box below **Maximum grade**.
For information on creating and using your scales, refer to the *Creating Scales tutorial*. Referring to the Gradebook Setup tutorial before entering any grades is also a good idea. Follow the recommended settings below or refer to the *Assignment Setup* tutorial.
**Grade category** in the image above refers to categories that you must first set up in the gradebook.
## Ratings
Ratings can be applied to forum posts, but it is recommended to leave these settings alone. If you wish to know more about this feature, contact the Centre for Teaching and Learning staff.
## Common module settings
**The *****Availability*** setting lets you show the forum on the course page or hide it from students. This feature is helpful if you do not want participants to see the forum or if it is not currently being used in the course. Select **Hide from students** in the drop-down menu adjacent to ***Availability***.
Leave the **ID number** blank unless you are trying to differentiate from a similar item in the gradebook.
## Using Groups in Forums
To use **Group mode** in forums, you first need to set up and assign groups. Please refer to the *Setting up Groups* tutorial for information on how to do this. If you want to assign a variety of topics for discussion but also control the discussion (especially in larger classes), you can assign groups to most forum types. (Information about the forum types is in this section.) **Note**:** **groups *cannot* be used in **Single discussion **forum types.
1. Navigate to *Forum title *> Settings >** Common module settings **to set group settings. Under **Common module **settings, in the drop-down menu adjacent to **Groups**, select one of the three choices to set group mode for the forum you are editing.
- Select **No groups** to allow all course participants to participate in all aspects of the forum.
- Select **Separate groups** to prevent students from seeing any of the other groups.
- Select **Visible groups** if you want students to see other groups and their posts, but prevent them from posting on other groups’ posts.
2. If you select either **Separate groups **or** Visible groups**, an additional drop-down menu called **Grouping **will appear for you to** **select the grouping you would like to use for the forum. *Note: A **Grouping **can contain several groups. (See details in the *Setting up Groups *tutorial.)
## Restrict access
You can restrict access to any forum you create based on various categories. To do so, navigate to *Forum title *> Settings >** Restrict access **and select the desired restriction from the drop-down menu.
## Activity completion
To adjust settings for **Activity completion**, navigate to* Forum title *> Settings >** Completion conditions **and select the desired option from the drop-down menu.
**None**: Select this option to remove activity tracking.
**Students can manually mark the activity as done** by selecting this option and clicking the box next to the activity to indicate they have finished it. This is useful to help students keep track of their productivity.
**Add requirements**: Selecting this option will mark the activity as complete only after students have met the conditions of the activity. If you select this option, additional menu items will appear where you are required to determine the conditions that the student must meet. **You must select at least one requirement from the list** by clicking the box beside the condition (as seen below).
You can also set a date for when you expect completion of the activity by adjusting the date parameters in the drop-down menus adjacent to Expect completion. To enable this, you must also click the box **Enable**, which is located beside the date drop-down menus.
## Tags
Navigate to *Forum title *> Settings >** Tags** to add tags that will populate in the search feature. Type the desired tag into the drop-down menu adjacent to **Tags** and hit Enter.
## Forum types and uses
**A single, simple discussion**: This forum has just one discussion topic and cannot be used with separate groups. The discussion topic is set by the instructor, and students and teachers can reply to the discussion topic and each other’s posts.
**Each person posts one discussion**: Each person can post exactly one discussion topic. All participants will be able to reply to discussion topics posted by others and their own (unless limited by groups, see *Using groups in forums*).
**Q and A forum**: Students must respond to the discussion posted by the teacher before being able to see and respond to other students’ responses. The student must also wait for the 30-minute editing time for their response to elapse.
**Standard forum displayed in a blog-like format**: This is an open forum where students can create a new topic at any time. Each original post will display with the full text of that post (as seen below).
**Standard forum for general use**: Anyone can create a new topic at any time and reply to posts by other users. Topics will display as clickable links, and content can only be viewed by clicking that link (as seen below).
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> | Related Issues | mêskanâs | forum | discussion |
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