This information will help explain the Discussion Forum Layout and Sorting Options that you may set to your liking.
There are two layout and sorting options available for the message boards. The layouts are Collapsed (Bulletin Board) and Exapnded Threads. The sorting choices are Active Topics First or sort by Topic Start Date.
My Options
To change and save your options look for this icon at the top of the message board index. You will need to update and save your options for each individual forum.
Message Board Layouts
You can select one of two different layout styles for each discussion forum. The style you choose will not affect the content, but it will change the appearance and function of the message board.
Collapsed Bulletin Board
With the Collapsed Bulletin Board style selected the topic message of each thread is displayed as a link on the message board index page. Additional information is shown beside it including the user who posted it, starting date and time, number of views, number of replies and date and time of the last reply. To read a thread select it by clicking on the linked title.
When reading a thread in the Collapsed format the original topic and all replies will be displayed on the same page.
Expanded Threads
Select this style and the message board layout will be similiar to a newsgroup with the original topic post of each thread and all replies shown as links on the message board index.
When reading a thread in this layout each posted message in a thread appears on its own page. You will link from each individual page using the links that are displayed on each message or from the message board index page.
Topic Sorting Choices
There two different topic sorting choices for the message board index.
Active First
This option is recommended as it will sort all new and active threads to the top of the message board index. You'll easily see what's new and what threads are active.
Thread Start Date
This choice will sort the threads on the message board index in descending order based on the date the topic was started. If you select this option you must also select how many threads you'd like to display (Messages Displayed) from the past number of days or weeks.
Messages Displayed
This option only works if you're using the Thread Start Date sorting order. If you select the Active First sort then there is page-by-page navigation on the message board index to view all of the topics and threads.
If you use the Thread Start Date sort with either the Collapsed or Expanded Threads layout then you may set the number of topics or threads to display on the message board index based on days or weeks.
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MY OPTIONS FOR DISCUSSION FORUMS