Help
Subsections
UP | Help Index
| See also: | Help on: Discussions |
|---|
- What's a Discussion Item?
- Who can read and comment on Discussion Items?
- Can you edit Comments and Discussions? How's it done?
- What does the reply link do?
- What do all the links on the brown Discussion bar lead to?
- What do the links in a Discussion Item header lead to?
- What's this feedback stuff I see?
What's a Discussion Item?
A Discussion item is a thought, comment or view published in a Group's discussion section.
Who can read and comment on Discussion Items?
A discussion item cannot be changed by anyone but the owner of the item, but anyone who is a member of the Group can add a Comment.
Comments are attached to the Discussion items in chronological order.
The titles (but not the content) of Discussion Items you create will appear in your profile for anyone to see, as will the fact that you added a comment to a given topic (indicated by a "Comment on [discussion item name]").
Can you edit Comments and Discussions? How's it done?
Yes! Whoever authored the Comment or Discussion Item can edit their own Comment/Item.
To edit a Comment, click on the datestamp of the Comment (it appears on the first line of the comment, directly to the right of the author's name). This will open the comment up in its own page. In the brown nav bar at the top of the page are the edit and delete links to perform the desired action.
To edit a discussion item, please refer to the next section on what the links in the brown Discussion nav bar lead to.
What does the reply link do?
The functionality of the reply link is the exact same as the "add a comment" box at the bottom of the page with one crucial difference:
When you click reply, the entire text of the message you are replying to is pre-populated in the comments box, indented so as to stand out from whatever you type in behind it.
If you only want to quote part of the text, delete everything but that select part.
If, after hitting reply, you decide you don't want to quote any of the text, delete it all and your post will look just as if you'd entered it directly in the "add a comment" box at the bottom of the discussion.
Either way you choose to add a comment (as a reply or not), your words will appear at the bottom of the list, since we have the discussions listed in chronological order of posting.
What do all the links on the brown Discussion bar lead to?
| view: | you can view the discussion as plain text (especially helpful if you want to see how someone formatted the discussion so nicely). There are two choices for viewing:
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| edit: | only the originator of the topic can edit the contents of the original discussion item. None of the comments are affected by this feature if the originator chooses to edit their words. For all other viewers, this option is greyed out and inaccessible. |
| delete: | Only the group owners have the ability to delete a topic in its entirety (this means all the comments disappear, too). For all other viewers, even the originator of the topic who is not also a group owner, this option is greyed out and inaccessible. |
What do the links in a Discussion Item header lead to?
| Posted to: | shows you the group into which the discussion item was posted |
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| by: | the original author of the discussion item. |
| Feedback score: | shows how many feedback points have been given to this item. Items of high value to the group will (probably) have a high feedback score. |
| Comment by: | shows the author of the comment |
| datestamp: | links to the comment on its own page (sometimes called a "backlink") where the author of the comment can edit or delete what was said in that comment. |
What's this feedback stuff I see?
At the end of each discussion topic, where you add a comment to the discussion, you also have the opportunity to leave feedback to the topic and/or leave feedback to the topic's originator.
Leave feedback to this topic? Here you can use one of your points in your feedback bank to give the topic a higher or lower score (by assigning positive or negative feedback, respectively).
If you feel the topic is one of importance to the rest of the group, you can assign it positive feedback, and the discussion will appear higher in the "highest rated discussions" list for your group.
Conversely, if you feel the discussion is off-topic or inappropriate for your group, you can assign negative feedback and that will push the topic down on the list.
Leave feedback to this topic's originator, NAME? Here you can use one of your points in your feedback bank to give the person who started the topic a higher or lower score (by assigning positive or negative feedback, respectively).
By giving feedback this way, you directly affect the value of the number next to the person's name (their personal feedback score). Positive feedback will push the number up. Negative feedback will push the number down.
For more information about feedback, please see the feedback help page.
Page name: Help on: Discussion Item
Last editor: Thomas Kriese (517)
Date: Fri, 03 Sep 2004 09:34:56 PDT
Feedback score: 2
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