Once a discussion gets going, new threads can come in very quickly.

This guide covers the following topics, use these links for easier navigation.

1. Identifying Threads
2. Reading topics on a Discussions List
3. Following a discussion forum, topic, or threads
4. Managing discussion subscriptions and settings
5. Searching for topics in Discussions List
6. Marking discussion threads as read or unread
7. Flagging a thread in Discussions List
8. Printing thread in Discussions List

Identifying Threads

There are a number of places in VU Collaborate that identify new threads to help you keep on top of things:

1. The Updates widget on your course homepage lists the total number of unread threads for all discussion topics in your course.

2. The number of unread threads appears beneath each topic in the Discussions List. To see only topics with new threads, click Unread in the Filter by tool navigation. All topics that contain unread threads appear bolded if you have the Discussions List pane visible when viewing topics.

3. Inside a topic, a blue number under Posts will indicate how many posts are unread.

4. You can subscribe to specific discussion forums, threads, or threads to receive an email notification whenever there is a new post by clicking to the drop-down arrow and selecting Subscribe.

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Reading topics on a Discussions List

There are two ways to view topics inside a topic. See Discussions settings to learn how to change your view.

1. In the Discussions list, a list of topics appears at the top of the page, showing the subject, author, and date for each message.

2. Click a topic subject to read the thread.

3. Use the View dropdown list to switch between Threaded view, where threads are grouped with their replies, and one of the Unthreaded views (Mark All Posts as Read, Mark All Posts as Unread, Flagged Thread).

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Following a discussion forum, topic, or threads

You can receive email and SMS notifications to discussion forums, topics, and message threads that you subscribe to. Ensure your Notifications settings are set up properly.

Subscribe to notifications

1. Click  Subscribe beside the forum or topic to receive notifications of new posts.

2. If you do not have an email address set up in your user profile, you will be prompted to enter your System Password and New Email in a pop-up window. Click Save.

3. In the Customize Notifications pop-up window, select your Notification Frequency. Click Subscribe.

4. In the confirmation pop-up window, click Subscribe.

Note: To subscribe to individual messages inside a topic, click the Subscribe icon for the message, then click Subscribe.

Unsubscribe from notifications

5. Click  Subscribed beside the forum or topic to stop receiving notifications.

6. In the confirmation pop-up window, click Yes.

Note: To unsubscribe to individual messages inside a topic, click the Unsubscribe icon for the message, then click Yes.

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Managing discussion subscriptions and settings

You can make changes to your subscriptions in Notifications and in the Subscriptions area of Discussions.

Change default frequency of notifications and email address

1. Click on Subscriptions next to the Discussion List tab. Here you can select the Default Notification Method and add an email address.

Note: You must be subscribed to at least one topic to view this option.

2. Discussions Settings has various settings configurations, which you can set up considering your own preference.

5. Click on Settings icon to your right to access Discussions Settings.

Manage subscriptions for forums, topics or threads

1. Click Subscriptions from the tool navigation.

2. Modify your Notification Frequency settings, or unsubscribe from any forum, topic, or message thread you do not want to follow.

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Searching for topics in Discussions List

1. On the Discussions List page, click on the topic you want to search for messages.

2. Enter the terms you want to find in the Search For field and click the Search icon on the top right corner.

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Marking discussion threads as read or unread

Thread automatically mark themselves as read when you open them if you use the Grid Style message list (depending on your site’s configuration). However, if you use the Reading Style message list or you print threads to read them, you will need to manually mark the thread as read to indicate to the system that the thread is no longer new.

In some cases, you might also want to manually mark a message as unread for example if you open the message from the Grid Style message list but do not finish reading it.

Mark a message read or unread

1. Select the Grid View to see the topic

2. In the Grid View message list, select one or more messages from the list and click the Mark Read or Mark Unread at the top of the list. When you click on Mark All Read, a notification confirmation appears. Click Yes if you want to mark all posts as read.

3. In the Reading Style message list, click the Mark Read or Mark Unread link below the message header.

4. In either view, click Mark All Posts as Read (topic view) and Mark All Read (Grid view) to mark all messages in the topic as read.

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Flagging a thread in Discussions

If you want to return to a Tread at a later time, or if you want to monitor replies to a tread, you should flag the tread.

1. On Grid View click the  Not Flagged Click to Flag or Flagged Click to Unflag icon next to the thread subject to flag or unflag a tread.

2. To quickly find your flagged tread, select Flagged Only from the View drop-down list and click Apply.

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Printing thread from Discussions List

You can view messages in a printable format and send the messages to your printer when using the Discussion List.

In the Discussion list, select the Tread you want to print.

1. Click on the drown-drop arrow select  Print Tread.

2. In the Printable View pop-up window, click Print.

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See also

• Posting and replying to messages