Help:Discussions

Beta

Discussions is a conversation feature that is available for use in web browsers (desktop and mobile) and in Community Apps. Participants in Discussions can create new posts, reply to posts, and "upvote" posts or replies.



Participating
Any logged-in user can participate in Discussions. Start a new post by typing into the entry field at the top of the main Discussions list (on desktop) or clicking/tapping the icon in the upper right corner of the screen (mobile).

Longer posts may only be partially displayed on the main Discussions list. Read the full post and its replies by clicking/tapping on a post. Add your own reply on that screen as well! The newest replies will be displayed automatically. On posts with many replies, you may need to click to view the older replies.

Upvote a post or reply by clicking/tapping the on the left side of the text. This icon will appear yellow once you've upvoted.

Posting Links
Use the full URL for any link in a post, even a link to an article page on the same Wikia community. In Community Apps, article links to the same community will open seamlessly within the app.

Finding Discussions
The main Discussions list can be ordered by either 'Latest' or 'Trending'. The 'Trending' list is determined by length of time since the post was made and the amount of attention the post has received from other users.

In the mobile web layout, a user can switch between 'Latest' and 'Trending' via the ('Filter') tool on the top menu bar.

To see a list of all posts and replies by a specific user:
 * On desktop or mobile web, click or tap the 'More' icon (three vertical dots) in the upper right corner of one of their posts or replies.
 * In a Community App, tap the user's avatar or username to get to their profile, and find a link there to their post and replies.

Sharing
Use the sharing buttons to link a specific Discussion on a social network or blog. As on article pages, the buttons available to users will vary depending on language and location.

Notifications
Community App users will receive push notifications when their own posts received replies and upvotes, and if their own replies receive upvotes.

Reporting Content
If users encounter inappropriate content (such as spam or vandalism) they can choose to report the post or reply for review, via the 'Report' option on the 'More' menu.

A user will see an orange triangle and a "Reported to moderators" banner on any post or reply that he or she has reported. This is only visible to the user who reported the post or reply, and to Discussions Moderators and Administrators.

User Profile
Any Community App with Discussions enabled will also give logged-in users the option to upload an avatar and add content to a profile page. Avatars uploaded via apps will represent that user everywhere else on Wikia. However, profile content entered in an app will only be seen in Community Apps. The conventional profile page content remains separate at this time.

Moderating
Users in the Administrator and Discussions Moderator user groups have additional tools to moderate Discussions.

Delete and undelete
Individual posts and replies can be deleted via the 'More' menu option in the upper right of the post or reply. Once deleted, the text content becomes grayed out and the post/reply gets a red triangle visible in the upper left corner.

Posts and replies can be undeleted in the same way, with the 'Undelete' option available on the 'More' menu.

Delete all posts by a user
Any user can see a list of all posts and replies by a specific user, via the 'More' icon in the upper right corner of a post/reply. On this list page, Administrators and Moderators have a 'Delete All' option in the upper right. This allows for all a user's Discussions content to be deleted quickly.

In Community Apps, this 'Delete All' option is found via the user's profile page.

Viewing Reported Content
Users can 'report' a post or reply, which signals that the content should be reviewed by a Discussions Moderator or Administrator. Reported posts and replies are marked with an orange triangle in the upper left corner and a "Reported to moderators" banner.

To review a piece of reported content, click or tap a post/reply to get to the full post. In that view, any piece if reported content has  ('Approve') and ('Delete') options displayed. Approving a post or reply will clear the orange triangle and banner for all users who can see them.

Discussions Moderators and Administrators can filter their view to show only reported content, allowing for quick review. On desktop displays, this filtering option appears as a check box on the right side of the page. On mobile displays, the check box can be found in the ('Filter') tool on the top menu bar.

Blocking
Administrators can use Special:Block on desktop or mobile web to prevent a specific user from posting again with that username. Special:Block is not available in Community Apps at this time.

Guidelines
In Community Apps, first-time Discussions users will see a welcome message and a link to a short list of general guidelines. The guidelines are also available to view in the app's settings. In the future, these guidelines will be customizable by each community, and will also be accessible on the web layouts of Discussions.

Moderation Panel
In the iOS Community Apps only, Administrators and Moderators can choose to hide already-deleted content from their view. This option is found in the Moderation Panel, in the app's settings.