From DotProjectWiki

The forums module in dotProject is a very simplistic communication module, with absolutely no pretensions of being a big grown up / bells and whistles / you beaut forums package. It's simple by design, intent and desire.

Contents 1 Projects / Project Tab Integration 2 Filters 3 Main Forums Listing 4 Forum Display 5 Detailed Topic Display 6 Creating a Forum 7 Editing A Forum 8 Deleting an Existing Forum 9 Starting Topics 10 Replying to Topics 11 Deleting / Editing Topics 12 mailto Link 13 Watches (Forums and Topics) 14 Return to... 15 Footnotes

1 Projects / Project Tab Integration

On the main Project view screen there is a tab called Forums which will list any related to that project. This listing shows:

• The forum name (which is a clickable link direct to the forum itself).
• The total number of posts in the forum (in the messages column) - this is the number of thread postings and replies combined.
• The date of the last posting to the forum (in the Last Post column).
• The forum description.

2 Filters

There is a filter option on the main forum display and within the individual forums allowing you to streamline the list of items for the current session (filters are not remembered).

The main forum display includes a filter which has options for:

My Forums	List just the forums that you have created
My Watched	List just the forums that you have set a watch on.
My Projects	List just forums associated with projects that you own.
My Company	List just forums associated with projects that are recorded against the same company that you belong to
Inactive Projects	List forums from inactive projects only

The forum display (within the forum itself) has a list of optional filters:

My Watched	Changes the view to just show topics that you have flagged for watching
Last 30 Days	Filters the view to include just postings from the last 30 days

3 Main Forums Listing

The main forum display (Forums from the options menu) provides a listing of all open forums (connected to projects that you have access to). The details shown across the screen are:

Project Name / Colour Coding	The top line of each forum display shows the name of the project that the forum is attached to and automatically shades that line with the same colour that is applied to it's parent project
Edit Icon	The standard dotProject edit icon is shown if you have permission to change the forum details.
Lightbulb Icon	The lightbulb icon is shown if the forum contains posts that you have not yet read (the posts themselves have the same icon displayed beside their subject lines
Watch	This box indicates the forums that you have ticked Watch on for - see Watches below for more details
Forum Details	This section shows the name of the forum, the forum description and the Owner and date the forum was created in three lines down the screen.
Topics	This column shows the total number of topics in the forum
Replies	This column shows the number of replies on those topics
Last Post Info	Shows the Date, time and a short synopsis of the last post in the forum, as well as a quick visual summary of the number of days since the last post

From this screen you have the option of creating a New Forum using the link at the top right hand side of the screen.

4 Forum Display

When you select a specific forum, dotProject displays the details of that forum at the top of the screen a listing of the individual topics below that.

Forum Name	The forum name is listed at the top of the first box
Related Project	Shows the project that the forum is associated with
Owner	Shows the name of the moderator or owner of the forum
Created On	Shows the Date that the forum was originally generated
Description	Full description / purpose of the forum

Each individual topic "name" is then a link to the Detailed Topic display.

5 Detailed Topic Display

When you select an individual topic within a forum, the display screen will show that topic and any replies that have been created. You'll also see a number of options between the forum summary and the actual topic listing.

breadcrumbs	The breadcrumbs at the right hand side of the options listing allow you to return to the main Forum Display, return to the topics listing for this forum, create a PDF of the forum topics.
View	There are options for controlling the topic view including Normal, Collapsed and Single message at a time - these are options that you click on to select
Sort by Date (desc)	Allows you to sort the view in descending order on date
Post Reply	Create a reply to a topic
New Topic	Create a New Topic

6 Creating a Forum

Forums are generated via the Forums module (from the main module listing), new forum option on the extreme right hand side of the screen. Click on that button to generate your forum. You will need to provide:

Forum Name	A name for the forum
Description	Descriptive outline of the forum purpose
Related Project	Forums (as of 2.x) have to be attached to a Project, select the relevant project from your dropdown list
Owner	Select the name of the forum owner - at this stage forum ownership does not imply any special permissions or access
Moderator	Nominate a dotProject user who will moderate the postings in your forum

7 Editing A Forum

If you have permission to edit a forum, then the Edit Icon will be displayed beside the forum detail display on the Main Forum display page.

8 Deleting an Existing Forum

Go to the forum, select the forum you wish to delete, click on the edit icon to the left hand side of the forum name. There is a delete forum link on the top right hand side of the screen.

9 Starting Topics

To start a topic you must first select the forum. You can then either create a new topic or reply to an existing one (as we'll outline up next). To create a new topic you click on the start a new topic option (just under the forum summary) and you'll need to provide:

Subject	Subject line for the topic
Message	Body of the topic

Use the submit button to record your topic.

At the top of this screen there is a date / time for the message, a Subject and message box. These are used when you are replying to a topic - see Replying to Topics for details.

10 Replying to Topics

To reply to any topic within a forum, firstly select that topic. A list of the original topic and any associated previous replies will be displayed. At the top right hand side of the listing of replies there is an option for Post Reply (in between Sort by Date and New Topic). Click on post reply and the same screen as is used when creating a topic will be displayed, only this time, the original topic will be displayed in the top part of the screen and the last reply will be automatically incorporated into the Message box at the bottom (prefaced with > to indicate included text).

Type your response into the bottom message box according to the established protocol for your site (ie some people may remove the text being responded to, others may choose to leave it in position). Use the submit button to save your reply.

11 Deleting / Editing Topics

If you have permission to either edit or delete any particular topics there will be an edit icon (a notepad and pencil) and a delete icon (garbage can) on the last line / right hand side of the topic. Click on either of those to effect that action.

12 mailto Link

The user names included in the Detailed Topic listing is a mailto link - click on the user's name to send them an email. The email you send will not be recorded in the forum.

13 Watches (Forums and Topics)

Watches can be placed on forums and topics by ticking the box either on the main forum display (against the forum name) or on the Topic display (beside the topic subject). Once a forum watch has been set the system will send an email advising you of any updates.

14 Return to...

...back to User Manual

15 Footnotes