Working with Topics
When you add an instance of the Bulletin Boards feature to a page, by default it contains a topic called Open Discussion (within the General topic). However, you may want to rename this topic or add and edit additional topics. Note that the feature instance must have at least one topic (and one category) in order for users to be able to post items.
Attributes of a Topic
In the Bulletin Boards feature, a topic has the following configurable attributes:
Name—This is a word or phrase that describes the topic and is displayed to any user with permission to display the feature instance.
Description—This is an additional description of the topic that is displayed to any user with permission to display the feature instance.
Category—This is the category that will host the topic.
List This Topic—You use this setting to specify where this topic will be placed relative to other topics.
Start and End—You use these settings to specify when the topic will be displayed. The default settings are that they will be displayed immediately. If you choose to have a topic end at a specific point, you can choose to delete it or have it become read-only after the specified endpoint.
Remove Posts After—You use this setting to specify when posts will be deleted, if ever.
Permitted Users—A setting that determines which roles and users are allowed to display the category.
Log in to the portal as a member of the Administrators role or someone with Can Admin privileges in the appropriate context. Navigate to the appropriate feature instance.
Choose Manage > Add a Topic.
The system displays a form.
Fill out the fields as appropriate. For help understanding a specific field, see the Attributes of a Topic section.
Click Save.
Log in to the portal as a member of the Administrators role or someone with Can Admin privileges in the appropriate context. Navigate to the Bulletin Boards feature instance.
Maximize the feature instance.
Locate the topic that you want to edit and click the corresponding pencil icon.
The system displays a form.
Make any necessary changes. For help understanding a specific field, see the Attributes of a Topic section.
Click Save.
Note
When you delete a topic, you also delete all of the posts within the topic.
Log in to the portal as a member of the Administrators role or someone with Can Admin privileges in the appropriate context. Navigate to the Bulletin Boards feature instance and maximize it.
Locate the topic that you want to edit and click the corresponding trash icon.
The system displays a dialog asking whether you are sure you want to delete the topic.
Click OK.
By default, a message posted in the Bulletin Boards feature will be left active until a user deletes it. However, you can configure any instance of the feature to automatically delete messages after a certain period of time.
This section explains how to work with this setting, which affects all categories of the feature instance, unless the category has its own setting.
Note that users who have permission to manage categories can also further limit the lifespan of messages in any particular category, as described in Managing Permissions.
Log in to the portal as a member of the Administrators role or someone with Can Admin privileges in the appropriate context. Navigate to the page that contains the Bulletin Boards feature instance.
Click the wrench icon in the upper-right corner of the page.
The admin bar displays.
Click the Settings link in the admin bar.
The system displays the Settings screen.
Select the Bulletin Boards feature from the drop-down list of features. (Note: If the feature is on a page of its own, this drop-down will not appear, and you can skip this step.)
The screen updates to show settings for the Bulletin Boards feature.
In the Maximum Days Active area, choose the appropriate value from the drop-down list. (Choices are 3, 7, 15, 30, 60, 120, and No Limit.)
Click Save Changes.