• I Forums on the landing page for members
• 1. Handling
  • 1.1 Overview
  • 1.2 All Forums
  • 1.3 My Topics
  • 1.4 My Messages
  • 1.5 Add
• 2. Inside a Topic
  • 2.1 Add Topic
  • 2.2 Respond
  • 2.3 Quote
  • 2.4 Forward
• 3. Subscribe Forum
• II Forums in the Portal Manager for Administrators
• 4. Administration
  • 4.1 Add
  • 4.2 Edit
  • 4.3 Delete
• 5. Forum Groups
  • 5.1 Add
  • 5.2 Edit
  • 5.3 Delete
• 6. Moderators
  • 6.1 Add
  • 6.2 Assign
  • 6.2 Delete
• 7. Manage Messages (as moderator)
  • 7.1 Check
  • 7.2 Edit
  • 7.3 Delete

v10.0 - Last Mod.: 08/27/2018

---

Create communication platforms with SITEFORUM Forums for visitors and users of your portal. Various forums can be created for various user groups depending on the user rights you assign. Offer your customers virtual rooms where discussions can take place and questions can be answered.

I Forums on the landing page for members

1. Handling

1. Please log in with your login data.
2. To get to the groups please click the link Forum.

You get to the overview of all forums.

1.1 Overview

You get an overview of different elements concerning the forums:

• Top Forums Shows the five most discussed forums.
• Top Topics Shows the five most discussed topics.
• Active Forums Shows the forums which topics were edited most recently.
• Active Topics Shows the topics which answers were edited most recently.
• Quick Search Enables a quick search inside the forums.

• By clicking each element you get to each overview.
• By clicking a Forum you get directly to that forum.
• By clicking a Topic you get directly to that topic.

Top

1.2 All Forums

All existing forums are listed inside their forum group.

• Forum Shows eache forum with its description.
• Last Topic Shows the last topic inside the forum.
• Topic Count Shows the number of topics inside that forum.
• Message Count Shows the number of messages inside that forum.

By clicking the link # more network forums from the network groups you get to the network forums of the network groups.

Top

1.3 My Topics

All topics, which you added to a forum or a network forum are listed here.

• Forum Shows the forum in which you put the topic. By clicking the forum you get to the forum with all topics.
• Topic Shows the topic which you wrote. By clicking the topic you get to that topic with all its further messages.
• Subject Shows your last subject. By clicking the subject you get to that subject with all its messages.
• Date Shows the date of the last modification.

Top

1.4 My Messages

All messages you added to a topic in a forum or in a network forum are listed here.

• Forum Shows the forum in which you put the topic. By clicking the forum you get to the forum with all topics.
• Topic Shows the topic which you wrote. By clicking the topic you get to that topic with all its further messages.
• Subject Shows your last subject. By clicking the subject you get to that subject with all its messages.
• Date Shows the date of the last modification.

Top

1.5 Add

Here you add a new topic.

1. Choose from the selection box Forum the forum in which you want to put the topic.
2. Click the button Select.
3. Enter in the field Subject the subject of the topic.
4. Enter in the field Content the message.
5. In the Share section, you can share the post with your social network contacts by selecting the option "Send a notification to my friends on social networks.", Enter a message and select the connections. If there are no connections available, you can add a connection in the "Connect to" section.
6. Click the button Save when ready.

Top

2. Inside a Topic

General information about messages in forums:

• Only users with Member status can compose messages in a portal forum.
• Users can see whether new messages are available in the forum by using the overview.
• Anonymous guests can only read messages in forums that are accessible to guests.
• Messages consist of a topic, composer, content, and an optional file attachment.
• Messages can be checked by a moderator, before they are published.
• A counter can be used to count how often a message has been viewed.
• Messages can be forwarded via email.
• Forum Managers can delete messages at any time.
• Every subject of a message or subject of an answer to a message is a link to the content of the message.

Top

2.1 Add Topic

1. Log in with your login data.
2. Click the menu Forum.
3. Choose the forum you want to write in.
4. Click the link Add Topic.
5. Enter in the field Subject the subject of your topic.
6. Enter in the field Content the content of your topic.
7. Choose optional in the area Attachments an attachment you want to attach to your message.
   Note: This option is not provided in every forum.
8. In the Share section, you can share the post with your social network contacts by selecting the option "Send a notification to my friends on social networks.", Enter a message and select the connections. If there are no connections available, you can add a connection in the "Connect to" section.
9. Click the button Save when ready.

Your message is added to the forum.

Top

2.2 Respond

1. Log in with your login data.
2. Click the menu Forum.
3. Choose the forum which contains the message you want to answer.
4. Click the topic you want to answer.
5. Click the link Answer.
6. Enter in the field Content the content of your answer.
7. Choose optional in the area Attachments an attachment you want to attach to your message.
   Note: This option is not provided in every forum.
8. In the Share section, you can share the post with your social network contacts by selecting the option "Send a notification to my friends on social networks.", Enter a message and select the connections. If there are no connections available, you can add a connection in the "Connect to" section.
9. Click the button Save when ready.

Your answer is listed to the forum.

Top

2.3 Quote

1. Log in with your login data.
2. Click the menu Forum.
3. Choose the desired forum.
4. Click the topic which contains the message you want to quote.
5. Click the link Quote.
6. Enter in the field Content below the quoted text the content of your answer.
7. Choose optional in the area Attachments an attachment you want to attach to your message.
   Note: This option is not provided in every forum.
8. In the Share section, you can share the post with your social network contacts by selecting the option "Send a notification to my friends on social networks.", Enter a message and select the connections. If there are no connections available, you can add a connection in the "Connect to" section.
9. Click the button Save when ready.

Your answer with your quotation is listed to the forum.

Top

2.4 Forward

1. Log in with your login data.
2. Click the menu Forum.
3. Choose the desired forum.
4. Click the topic which contains the message you want to forward.
5. Choose the message you want to forward.
6. Click the link Forward.
7. Enter in the field Sender Email your email address.
8. Enter in the field Recipient Email the email address of the recipient.
9. Enter in the field Comment a text to comment the email.
10. Click the button Forward.

The recipient gets the message as an email.

Top

3. Subscribe Forum

1. Log in with your login data.
2. Click the link My Personal Tools.
3. Click the link Subscriptions.
4. Click the tab Forum.
5. Activate in the area Subscribe Discussion the forums you want to subscribe.
6. Click the button Save when ready.

You will receive a confirmation after a successful procedure.

Top

II Forums in the Portal Manager for Administrators

4. Administration

To get to forums please log in as "Portal Master" or "Forum Manager."

1. Click the button Portal Manager to get to the administrative area.
2. Then click Network & Community > Forums.

You get to the overview of all existing forum and froum groups:

• Position Describes the position of the forums.
  You can change the positions via drag & drop.
• Forum/Description Shows the name and the description of the corresponding forum.
• Moderation type Shows the moderation type.
• Upload Size Shows if you can upload files and which size they can have.
• Topics/Messages Shows the number of topics and the number of messages.
  By clicking the numbers you get directly to the topics/messages.
• Edit By clicking the icon you get to the editing mode.
• Delete By clicking the icon you can delete the forum.

As far as groups exist already they are listed among each other.

Top

4.1 Add

1. Click the tab Add.
2. Enter in the field Name a name for the forum.
3. Enter in the field Description a description.
4. Choose from the selection box Forum Group the forum group which you want to assign to the forum.
   Note: Each forum has to be assigned to a group. There is one forum group per default but you can add further forum groups, q.v. 5. Forum Groups. You can assign a forum to a group later on as well.
5. Activate the checkbox Message Toolbar to activate the so-called "BB code Toolbar" when adding/editing messages.
   Note: With the BB code toolbar you can format messages similar to a WYSIWYG editor, but the possibilities are not as extensive as with a real WYSIWYG editor.
6. Enter in the field File attachment the maximum file size for attachments in KB.
   To deactivate this option enter "0."
7. Choose from the selection box Category a category.
   Note: The selection of categories can be disabled. To manage categories q.v. Services > Documentation > Tools & Administration > Categories & Tags
8. Activate in the area Moderation Type the desired moderation type:
   • Standard Messages become visible in the forum immediately. A moderator can then edit or delete them in the forum.
   • Post-Moderation Messages become visible in the forum immediately. Forum moderators receive an email notification as soon as a new message gets posted. They can then edit or delete messages in the forum.
   • Pre-Moderation New messages do not become visible immediately. Forum moderators receive an email notification and must approve the new message before it becomes visible.
9. Click the button Next ....

You get to the tab Reading Rights.

10. Activate in the area Assign user group(s) the user group(s) which should be able to read the forum.
11. Click the button Next ....

You get to the Writing Rights.

12. Activate in the area Assign user group(s) the user group(s) which should be able to write in the forum.
13. Click the button Save when ready.

The new forum is listed in the overview.

Top

4.2 Edit

1. Choose in the overview the forum you want to edit.
2. Click the icon Edit.
3. Do the desired changes, q.v. 4.1 Add.
4. Click either the button
   • Save to save the changes or
   • Next to edit reading and writing rights.

Top

4.3 Delete

1. Choose in the overview the forum you want to delete.
2. Click the icon Delete.
3. Confirm the erasing procedure by clicking the button OK.

The forum will not be shown in the list anymore.

Top

5. Forum Groups

With groups you can sort and classify forums.

1. Click the button Portal Manager to get to the administrative area.
2. Then click Network & Community > Forums.
3. In the navigation on the left, below Forums & Forum Groups, click Forum Groups.

You get to the overview:

• Position Describes the position of the forum groups.
  You can change the positions via drag & drop.
• Name/Description Shows the name and the description of the corresponding group.
• Edit By clicking you get to the editing mode.
• Delete By clicking you can delete the group.
  Note: The default forum group cannot be deleted.

Top

5.1 Add

1. Click the tab Add.
2. Enter in the field Name a name for the group.
3. Enter in the field Description a description.
4. Activate in the area Assign User Group(s) the user group(s) which should be able to read the group.
5. Click the button Save when ready.

The new forum group is listed in the overview.

Top

5.2 Edit

1. Choose in the overview the forum group you want to edit.
2. Click the icon Edit.
3. Do the desired changes, q.v. 5.1 Add.
4. Click the button Save when ready.

Top

5.3 Delete

1. Choose in the overview the forum group you want to delete.
   Note: The default group cannot be deleted.
2. Click the icon Delete.
3. Confirm the erasing procedure by clicking the button OK.

The forum group is not listed in the overview anymore.

Top

6. Moderators

With moderators you can manage the publishing and editing of messages.

1. Click the button Portal Manager to get to the administrative area.
2. Then click Network & Community > Forums.
3. In the navigation on the left, below Moderators, click Overview.

As far as moderators exist already you get the following table:

• Name Shows the name of the moderator.
• Email Shows the email address of the moderator.
• Forum Shows the forum the moderator is assigned to.
• Moderation Type Shows the type of moderation.
• Delete By clicking the icon you can delete the assignment between moderator and forum.

Top

6.1 Add

You can assign the role "Moderator" to a user directly in this menu:

1. In the navigation on the left, below Moderators click Overview.
2. Click the tab Add.
   • If the desired user exists alrady, continue with a).
   • If you need to add the user, continue with b).

a) User exists already in the portal

1. Enter in the field a part of the name.
   All users who match are listed.
2. Choose the desired user and click his/her profile.
3. Click the button Save.


4. The new moderator is shown in the overview.

b) Add new user to this portal

1. Enter in the field Salutation the salutation, e.g. Mr.
2. Enter in the field First Name the first name, e.g. John.
3. Enter in the field Last Name the last name, e.g. Smith.
4. Enter in the field Email the email addresse, e.g. j.smith@domain.com.
5. Click the button Save.


6. The new moderator is shown in the overview.

Top

6.2 Assign

1. In the navigation on the left, below Moderators, click Assign.
2. Choose from the selection box Moderator (Email) the moderator.
   Note: Moderators are users with a moderation role. To assign a moderator role to a user, q.v. 6.1 Add.
3. Choose from the selection box Forum the forum you want to assign.
4. Click the button Save when ready.

Top

6.3 Delete

1. In the navigation on the left, below Moderators, click Overview.
2. Click the icon Delete.
3. Confirm the erasing procedure by clicking the button OK.

Top

7. Manage Messages (as moderator)

As a moderator you watch the assigned forums and you control, edit and delete messages.

7.1 Check

• If you are assigned to a forum as Post-Moderator you get an email when a new message is written. The message is published immediately.
• If you are assigned to a forum as Pre-Moderator you get an email when a new message is written. The message is not published until you accept it.

Now you have the possibility to check the message, to accept or to remove it. Please do the following:

1. Log in with your login data.
2. Click the button Portal Manager to get to the administrative area.
3. Then click Network & Community > Forums.
4. Click the link Moderate below the name and the description of the forum.

Check the message.

5. Click the link Accept message to publish the message in the forum.
6. Click the link Edit and accept message to edit the message and to publish it afterwards, q.v. 7.2 Edit.
7. Click the link Delete message to delete the message, q.v. 7.3 Delete.

Top

7.2 Edit

Please log in with your login data.

1. Click the menu Forum.
2. Choose the desired forum.
3. Click Topics/Messages.
4. Choose the topic whose message you want to edit.
5. Click the link Edit.
6. Do the desired changes.
7. Click the button Save when ready.

The edited message is shown in the overview.

Top

7.3 Delete

Please log in with your login data.

1. Click the menu Forum.
2. Choose the desired forum.
3. Click Topics/Messages.
4. Choose the topic whose message you want to delete.
5. Click the link Delete.
6. Confirm the erasing procedure by clicking the button OK.

The message is not shown in the overview anymore.

Top