This article helps administrators understand the participants view and process of using the Forum tool, from the front end. The tool settings are done by the administrator in the back end and these settings are reflected at the front end. Participants can comment on topics and even create their own on the front end.

NOTE: To understand how admins can add the forum tool, see article Add Forum Topics.

The following steps describe how to preview and access various features of the Forum tool on the front end.

2. This displays the project page. Click on the Forum tool tab and then click the Preview button for the required forum topic.

The following front end view of the selected forum topic is displayed. This is the page that a participant can view and access.

Understanding Front End of the Forum Tool

This section aims to explain various features of the Forum tool available at the front end. Participants use this screen to express their opinions and populate it with comments for topic discussion. The below illustrations help administrators to understand how changes made in the back end are implemented in the front end. 

Participants can perform the following steps in the Forum tool.

1. Enter an appropriate comment regarding the forum topic in the Write to comment box. There is no character limit for the participant comment.

On clicking inside the box, it extends, as shown below ;

Unverified participation- When the unverified option is toggled on, the participants are asked to enter an email and username to submit their comments.

You can tag another person participating in the Forum by typing the @ symbol, followed by their screen name. As you type in the @ in the comment box, you will see a list of users who have commented on the Forum. From this list, you can select the screen name of the user you wish to tag.
The tagged user will then receive an email that says they have been tagged in a comment to the Forum. They will also be able to click on the link 'View Comment' in the email, which will take them to the comment where they've been tagged.

Note: There should be at least one comment to tag a user.

2. Select the Notify me when a reply is posted checkbox to receive notifications when a reply is posted by other participants.

3.Click Submit to submit the comment and make it visible to other participants.  OR, Click Cancel to ‘not submit’ the comment. On clicking Submit, your comment is displayed under the forum tool.

4. Share the forum topic on social media like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Email as well by clicking on the respective symbol shown in the screenshot below.

5. Click on the Edit button to edit your comment. The Edit button will be available as long as the cache & cookies on the browser are not cleared OR the session doesn't expire.

The following screen is displayed. Participants can edit the current comment, or enter a new one and then click Submit. 

6. Other participants can reply to the comment by clicking the Reply button. 

The following screen is displayed. The reply is entered in the box and submitted by clicking the Submit button.

7. The reply to the comment is displayed below the original comment. 

There is an option for the participant to Edit the reply as well.

8. Click the Like (thumbs up) or Dislike(thumbs down) button to like or dislike comments and replies. Note : you can only like or dislike comments made by other users.

9. Click on the Alert Moderator button to report a comment that you believe needs to be escalated to our moderation team. Alerting a moderator will not reveal your identity to the person who posted the comment and you will remain anonymous. For more information on how moderation works in EngagementHQ, please refer to this article.

10. Click the Recently active option to place the recently active comments on top, followed by the less active comments. OR, Click the Posted first option to place comments that were posted at the beginning of the forum topic discussion first, followed by other comments. 

By performing the above actions, participants have successfully added comments and replies to the Forum tool.

You can understand how the social share pop-up works by referring to the article Social media sharing article.

Contact our support team if you need any further assistance via chat or email support@engagementhq.com