How to add and use a discussion board in Moodle

How to add and use a discussion board (aka Forum) in a Moodle class site.

How to add a discussion board:

  1. Go to the private version of your class site.
  2. In the Adminstration block or in the top right corner, click on the Turn editing on link.
  3. On the Add a activity… drop-down menu in the Discussion Boards block, choose Forum.
  4. On the Adding a new Forum page, enter the name of the forum as you wish it to appear on the class page in the Forum name textbox.
  5. Choose the type of discussion board from the pull-down menu next to Forum type. Standard forum for general use is the default type, and it will most resemble the discussion board tool on Ecampus. For brief descriptions of the other types available, click on the Yellow Question Mark Icon to the right of the pull-down menu.
  6. In the Forum introduction textbox describe the purpose of the discussion board.
  7. You will probably want to use the default settings for the remaining options on the Adding a new Forum page. To learn more about each option, click on the Yellow Question Mark Icon.
  8. Click the Save changes button at the bottom of the page to create the discussion board.
  9. A new page will load displaying the description of the discussion board you provided in step 5. The discussion board must have a discussion topic before it can be used, so click on the Add a new discussion topic button.
  10. Fill in the Subject textbox with a brief title describing the theme of the discussion. Write a question or a comment in the Message field.
  11. Next to Subscription, select whether or not you would like to receive e-mail copies of all messages posted to the discussion board.
  12. Click the Post to forum button at the bottom of the page when you are done composing your message.
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    How to use an existing discussion board:
  1. Click on the name of the discussion board in the Discussion Boards block.
  2. On the next page, you can choose either to start a new discussion thread by clicking on the Add a new discussion topic button as discussed in steps 8-11 above or to contribute to an existing discussion by clicking on the name of the discussion listed under the Discussion column.
  3. By clicking on the name of an existing discussion, the messages in that board will then load in your browser. To reply to a message, click on the Reply link.
  4. Type your reply in the Message field.
  5. Next to Subscription, select whether or not you would like to receive e-mail copies of all messages posted to the discussion board.
  6. Click the Post to forum button at the bottom of the page when you are done composing your message.

Adapted from version by Andrew Miller.

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