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This video shows you how to use some of the latest features of Forums in Connections.
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Duration 3:18 | Contains audio
This video shows you how to use some of the latest features of Forums in IBM Connections.
To watch the video, click the play button. To read a text version of this video, scroll to the Welcome section on this page.
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Table 1. Welcome
Step | Audio | Onscreen action |
1.1 | Forums provide users with a place to ask questions, share their expertise, and discuss topics of common interest. | The Welcome screen displays.
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2012.
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Finding forums
Table 2. Finding forums
Step | Audio | Onscreen action |
2.1 | If you are looking for the answer to a question or need help troubleshooting a particular problem, the Public Forums page is a great place to start. | The Public Forums page displays. |
2.2 | To find forums, focus on a specific subject; look for a relevant tag in the tag cloud and click it to find forums that are tagged with that keyword. | Click marketing in the tag cloud. |
2.3 | Click the tag again to return to the main page. | Click the marketing tag to close it and return to the main display. |
2.4 | Forums can be stand-alone or associated with a community. | A stand-alone forum is highlighted.
A community forum is highlighted. The label Community Forum displays next to the forum name to indicate that it is a community forum.
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2.5 | Stand-alone forums are always public and anyone can participate, but you must be a community member to contribute to a community forum. | Open the Renovations Marketing Enablement community forum.
The message, Join this community to start a topic is highlighted.
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| | Click Worldwide Events. The Worldwide Events community forum displays. |
Posting a reply to a forum topic
Table 3. Posting a reply to a forum topic
Step | Audio | Onscreen action |
3.1 | Participating in a forum is easy.
When you see an ongoing discussion thread that you want to participate in, all you need to do is click Reply and fill out the form that displays.
| The Renovations Leisure forum displays. 1. Click Soccer.
2. Click Reply. The reply form displays. |
3.2 | If your reply involves supplementary information that is too long to include as part of your reply, you might want to include an attachment that contains the information.
By the way, when a user is notified by email that someone has added a topic to a forum, the user can click a Reply to this topic link in the email. This creates a response email the user can add content to and send and also creates a new forum topic as a response to the topic they were notified about in the email.
| Enter a reply in the text field.
Click Attach a File.
The Attach a File form displays.
Click Cancel to close the form.
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Following forums and forum topics
Table 4. Following forums and forum topics
Step | Audio | Onscreen action |
4.1 | You can keep track of forums you are interested in by following them.
Following a forum means that you get notified whenever the forum is updated.
| The Worldwide Events forum displays.
Click Follow.
The following options display:
- Follow this Topic
- Follow this Forum
- Follow this Community
Select Follow this Topic. |
Creating a forum
Table 5. Creating a forum
Step | Audio | Onscreen action |
5.1 | If you cannot find any forums that deal with your subject of interest, why not create a new forum and get a discussion going? | The Public Forums page displays. |
5.2 | Anyone with access to the Forums application can create a forum. | Click Start a Forum.
The Start a Forum form displays.
Enter Summer Rebate Promotion in the Name field.
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5.3 | Include tags that categorize the forum and make it easy for people to find. | Enter rebate, promotion, sales, and marketing in the Tags field.
Highlight the Summer rebate Promotion forum.
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Pinning a forum topic
Table 6. Pinning a forum topic
Step | Audio | Onscreen action |
6.1 | As more threads are added to your forum, from time to time you might find that you need to highlight or prioritize important topics so that they don’t get lost in the mix. | A forum, Fall rebate Promotion forum", containing a long list of topics displays. |
6.2 | Pinning a topic moves that topic to the top of the forum so that it gets the attention of the forum participants. The thumbtack icon means that the topic is pinned | Select a topic in the "Latest social business trends" forum.
Click Pin this Topic under the topic.
The topic is moved to the top of the list of forum topics.
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Posting a question
Table 7. Posting a question
Step | Audio | Onscreen action |
7.1 | If you are troubleshooting a particular problem or looking for a piece of information, posting a question to a forum is a good way to find help. | The My Forums page displays.
Open the Fall Rebate Promotion forum.
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7.2 | To post a question to a forum, all you need to do is create a regular topic, but be sure to mark the topic as a question. | Click Start a Topic.
Enter a title in the Title field. Enter "certification start date?"
Select Mark this topic as a question.
Enter tags in the Tags field. Enter certification.
Enter a question in the text field Enter "When does the certification period for 2012 begin?" and click Save.
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Locking a forum
Table 8. Locking a forum
Step | Audio | Onscreen action |
8.1 | If you think that a discussion thread is resolved or complete, you can lock it to prevent users from making further contributions.
However, you must be the forum owner to do this.
| Select a topic in the "Latest social business trends" forum.
Click Lock Topic under the topic.
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Liking topics in a forum
Table 9. Liking topics in a forum
Step | Audio | Onscreen action |
9.1 | If you see a forum topic that's proposing a great idea, you can like the topic. | A forum topic displays. Click the Like icon for the topic posted by Ed Blanks. |
| 9.2 | You can also see who else has liked this topic. | Click the number indicating the number of likes to see who has liked this topic. |
| 9.3 | When viewing a list of forum topics, the number of likes displays next to the forum topic. You can sort the topics to see which topics have been liked the most. Or you can also sort the topics by the date modified or by the number of replies. | Click Renovations Sales Team to return the list of forum topics. Hover over the Replies and the Latest Post column headers, then click the Likes column to sort the topics by the number of likes. |
Conclusion
Table 10. Conclusion
Step | Audio | Onscreen action |
10.1 | So get started asking questions and sharing your expertise using Forums. | The Closing screen displays. |
10.2 | For more information about using Forums, click Help in the product. | The Closing screen displays. |
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