A Forum must contain a Topic in order for users to create a post. See How do I create a new forum? for more information about Forums.
Select Discussions from the Tool Menu of your site.
Complete the Topic Title field.
If desired, complete the Short Description field. This information about the Topic is displayed to site participants when they view the Discussions tool.
If desired, use the Rich Text Editor to complete the Description field to provide more detailed instructions about this Topic.
Optionally attach file attachments to the Topic. Click the Add attachments button to browse for and select a file from your device.
There are several discussion posting options in the Topic Posting area from which to choose. Settings selected here will apply to this Topic only.
Note: Posts are anonymous cannot be changed once the topic is created.
Optionally activate Mark All Messages in Conversations Read. This option provides students with an option to mark all messages within a conversation, or thread, as read.
Open Select a Gradebook item to specify a Gradebook item that will automatically be used when you grade posts in the new Topic.
Note: You must first create the Gradebook item in Gradebook tool before you can select it to be associated with a discussion or topic.
Select Automatically create multiple topics for groups to create multiple private group Topics. This will create a series of new Topics with the following default permissions:
In most cases, the default discussion permissions are appropriate. By default, instructors are discussion Owners, and all other site participants are Contributors. The Owner can add and delete Topics, modify permissions, edit the Topic descriptions, etc. Contributors can only read, post, and reply to messages.
In the example, the Teaching Assistant is provided with the Owner role for the new Topic.
Click Save to create the new Forum.
Alternatively, click Save Settings & Add Topic to create the Topic and advance immediately to a new Topic creation page.
Note: All Forums need at least one Topic in order to be active. See How do I add a new topic? for more information.