Use this procedure to create an interactive forum on your web site. Design and layout of the Forum page is controlled by entries in the standard PageTypes.css files. Forum pages now support multiple languages.
Navigate to the page that will be the parent of the new page. See Parent and child pages if you are unsure what this means.
Mouse over the +Childpage button and select Forum from the list of page types. If you do not see the +Childpage button you may have insufficient user rights to add pages: speak to your system administrator.
Complete the Page Summary and the General Properties sections of the page.
The first section to complete is the Forum HelpForum Help section.
The Forum Help section is where you can provide instructions to the forum's users on how to use the forum and all of its features. You may wish to include information on:
hiding/displaying the navigation menu using the 
icon. The default is to display the forum navigation menu on the Forum home page and hide it on the thread reading page.
The 
icon allows forum users to expand the list of all sub-forums.
The information you enter here is displayed automatically on the forum help screen.
Complete the Useful LinksUseful Links section.
Content providers with access to the Forum can choose from a list of “useful links” to be displayed as link buttons on top of the forum pages.
Click Add in the Useful Links section of the page to add links in addition to the two predefined buttons mentioned above (not visible in edit mode).
Note: The URL of the links must include the http:// at the front of it - e.g. http://www.activenetwork.com.
The system also contains a number of predefined useful links to enable more forum functions. These predefined link buttons are as follows:
link button 1- Search: Links to forum posts search screen where a forum visitor can specify which forum to search.
link button 2- Help: Links to an auto-generated help page so that user can get familiar with forum and its sub-forums.
These predefined buttons are displayed on the published page but not in the Forum page edit mode.
Define the Sub-ForumsSub-Forums you would like to include in the forum.
The forum administrator can create a list of sub-forums by clicking the Add button.
Click Add to add a sub-forum.
From the Restrictions drop-down, select whether the sub-forum is available always to everyone, or if users must be logged in to view the sub-forum.
In the Category field, enter a descriptive term for the sub-forum. A category name must be given to each of the sub-forums; sub-forums will be grouped by its category in the navigation menu. The items you enter in this field will appear in the Subforum drop-down box in the Moderators section (when you Add moderators). They will also provide the main-level of heading on the forum threads navigation portion of the page.
Enter a brief Description for the sub-forum.
Check the Active checkbox if you want the forum to be displayed on the Forum page and be activated right away.
Repeat these steps for each sub-forum you wish to add.
Click Save to save the page with the sub-forum information you have added.
Complete the Forum PropertiesForum Properties section.
Content providers can select individual users or groups to become forum administrators. Forum Administrators are not related to users with rights to edit the forum page.
Click the Edit Administrators link and select either individuals or a group that will act as the administrator(s) of the forum. These individuals will receive public user emails sent in on the forum.
If you select the Show the Contact Administrator link checkbox, a link to the forum administrator will be added to the top of the Forum page, allowing anyone to contact the forum administrator directly via email.
The Show moderator names as links checkbox is checked by default and cannot be edited until you have added moderators (see below) and saved the page. Once you have added moderators, you have the option of turning this feature off. If you leave it checked, links will be provided allowing users to directly email the forum moderators.
Check the Enable hiding of the Forum Navigation Menu checkbox if you want users to be able to hide/display the Forum Navigation Menu.
For each of the items you want displayed on the published forum page, select Show from the drop-down box. Links to these items will be displayed to make forum navigation easier for its users.
Type in the Number of threads to be listed in the Thread Listing Screen. The default is 25.
Type in the Number of posts to be listed on the Thread Reading Screen. The default is 25.
Default Posting Order: Select the default order in which you wish the posts to be displayed. The system default is Oldest to Newest.
Allow Posting Order Change in View Mode: If you want the end-user to be able to change the default sort order of the forum posts, check this box. Otherwise they will only be able to view the posts in the order you selected in the Default Posting Order field above.
When you check the Allow Thread Tracking checkbox, a Track Topic button is displayed on each topic in the Forum. Users can then click the button in order to track topics of interest. Each time the topic is updated, the user will receive an email containing a link to the updated topic. The email also contains a link the user can use to cancel the topic tracking. The default email text can be changed on the Email tab.
Allow Anonymous Posting: Check this box to allow unregistered users to submit posts to the forum. You can also enter the text you wish to have displayed each time an anonymous users makes a post. The default is to label their post Anonymous.
Include a CAPTCHA: A CAPTCHA is a visual test used on a form to determine whether the user is human. A CAPTCHA box displays distorted characters that only a human being can read. The user must read the distorted text and type what they see into the CAPTCHA text box. This helps verify that the user is human and not a computer sending spam.
Check this option to include a CAPTCHA box that the user must respond to.
Display CAPTCHA for: This field is only displayed if you check the Include a CAPTCHA checkbox. Select whether you want to force all users or only anonymous users to complete the CAPTCHA.
CAPTCHA introduction text: this is the text that tells the user what to do (e.g. "Please enter the characters you see in the picture:").
CAPTCHA error text: The text you enter here is displayed when a user types the incorrect code into the CAPTCHA text box (e.g. "The code you entered does not match the image, please re-enter").
CAPTCHA sound icon: If users are unable to read the distorted text, they can click the sound icon in the CAPTCHA box to have the characters read out loud. They can then type in what they hear instead of having to read the characters.
The default icon displayed is the speaker icon. You can select the system accessibility icon (the wheelchair) or you can select the Custom Icon option and click on the <<Select Digital Asset>> link to select your own icon.
Make changes as required to the Forum Home Page PropertiesForum Home Page Properties.
Hot Topics: The Hot Topics section displays topics with the most posting activity over a selected period. You can select from the following activity periods - over the past 24 hours, over the last week, or the past 30 days. In the Forum Icons section of the page, you can assign an icon to be used for Hot Topics. The Hot Topics section is displayed by default when you create a Forum page.
Contributed Threads: This section displays any threads that the current user has written or contributed to. These threads can be tracked for a specified period of time - for the past 24 hours, the past 7 or the past 30 days. While this feature will always work when turned on, users must be logged in if they want to see their "contributed threads".
Online Members: This section, when activated, will display a list of all users currently online in the Forum.
Statistics: This section, when activated, displays information on members and posts including: Number of online members, Number of topics, Total number of posts, and Number of my topics.
Number of threads to be listed in each section of the Forum Home screen: The default number of topics is 10. When more than this number are available, a link is displayed allowing the user to view additional threads.
You can add a Forum AnnouncementForum Announcement to be displayed at the top of the forum page body.
You can activate the Forum Announcement, automatically clear the announcement on a specified date, and apply special effects to the display of the message.
This feature can be used to make special announcements to forum users.
Complete the Moderator PrivilegesModerator Privileges section.
This section is where you select individual users or groups of users who will act as sub-forum moderators.
Click the Edit Moderators link to select all of the groups and individuals that you will be assigning as moderators to your various sub-forums. The names associated with the individuals or groups you select here, will be displayed in the Moderator drop-down field (displayed when you click Add to add a subforum moderator).
Click Add to add a moderator for the first sub-forum.
From the Moderator drop-down box, select the individual to assign as the moderator for the first sub-forum.
If you selected a Group in the Edit Moderators section, all individuals who are members of that group will appear in the Moderator drop-down.
From the Subforum drop-down, select the sub-forum that this person will moderate.
Check the Set Sticky checkbox if you wish to display the Sticky button on the published forum posts pages. This allows the moderator to make certain posts Sticky (always display at the top of the thread).
Check the Lock checkbox if you wish to display the Lock button on the published forum posts pages. This allows the moderator to Lock a thread so that no more messages or edits can be added or performed.
Check the Edit checkbox if you wish to display the Edit button on the published forum posts pages. This allows the moderator to edit the posts.
Check the Delete checkbox if you wish to display the Delete button on the published forum posts pages. This allows the moderator to delete messages in a thread.
The Ban/Un-ban displays the link so that the moderator can ban/un-ban certain posters.
Use the Administrator Black ListAdministrator Black List section to ban users/ip addresses from participation in your forum(s).
Forum administrators can use this section to ban registered users or IP addresses from using the Forum. You can also the Moderator Privileges section to give moderators the rights to ban/un-ban users.
You can elect to Ban a User or to Ban IP address. If you elect to ban a user, you can select registered users from the drop-down list.
You must enter a Reason for banning (required field) in order to complete the ban.
Enter the date you wish to un-ban the banned user. Leave the date field blank if you wish to impose a permanent ban on this user.
Once you have entered an end-date, click Add to complete the ban. The banned user will be displayed below the Add button.
Click Save to save the page.
Add or edit the items in the Forum IconsForum Icons section.
The Forum Icons section allows you to assign your own icon images for each of the icons used in the Forum.
If you wish to change the Default Icon, click on the <<Select Digital Asset>> link beside the icon you wish to change.
Select the new icon file and click Insert on the Digital Assets window.
Use the Objectionable Words section to filter content submitted by public users. If you check this option, the system will match objectionable words with the list of Objectionable Words you maintain in the Global System Variables and replace any unwanted words.
Click Save and submit the forum page for publication.