Navigation
Discussion Help
Navigating Discussions
Navigate to your class discussions. There is probably a link to it on the homepage and/or navigation bar along the side of the page.
Topics
All topics in the discussion will appear. Your class may have a larger list of topics. The number of messages, read and unread, are displayed to the right of each topic. Choose a topic to see the messages in it.
Menu buttons
- Use the Compose Discussion Message to post a new discussion.
- Use Search to search discussions for a text.
- The Topic Settings will customize how discussions are displayed.
Reading Messages
After choosing a folder to view, you should see something similar to the picture above. Check the box next to the message subject you wish to read and then choose "View Thread" from the drop down menu and press "Go". This will display all of the messages in the thread.
Alternatively you can click on the downward pointing triangle in the far left column. This will display all of the messages in the thread so you can choose only a select number of messages.
Explanation of mail commands
- Mark All As Read Marks all messages as if they have been read.
- Update Listing Works like the refresh button for the discussion frame.
- Show all Shows all messages, read or unread. If selected, the "Show All" will NOT be a hyperlink.
- Show unread Shows only unread messages. If selected, the "Show unread" will NOT be a hyperlink.
- Compile By clicking in the check box next to the subject line you select a message. Compile will create a single page with all the selected messages shown. This is very convenient for consolidating messages.
- Threaded Lists your postings by topic.
- Unthreaded Lists your postings in the order they were received.
- Mark As Read Marks selected messages as read.
- Mark As Unread Marks selected messages as unread.
After reading the discussion
After reading a discussion you can reply by pushing the "Reply" button. This will show your posting to everyone in the class in the proper thread. If you wish to include the text of the original posting in your reply, push the "Quote" button. If you want to reply privately, click the "Reply Privately" to send an email to the author of the post. To save the message to your computer, click "Download".
Posting a discussion
You can post a new discussion message by clicking "Compose Discussion Message" in your mailbox. A box will pop up looking like the picture above. Type the subject of your email into the "Subject:" box and then write your message in the "Message" box. If you wish your posting to be arranged with an existing message or thread, use the reply button instead of composing a new discussion message.
Attachments
To add an attachment to your posting, click "Browse" next to the "Attachments" box. Navigate to the file you want to attach and open it. Click "Attach file" to attach the message to your posting.
When you are ready to send, you can click "Preview" to see how your message will look after it is sent. Click "Post" to send your message.