Changes: Help:Forum

Revision as of 03:47, 28 February 2021

This feature is no longer available on Fandom. Please see Help:Discussions instead.
For help using the older, wiki-style forums, see Help:Wiki-style forums.

The Forum feature provided a central location for discussion about the topic of a wiki and other matters important to the community. Any user could participate in a Forum conversation, and registered users could follow discussion threads and receive notifications when updates occurred. The overall structure of the Forum was managed by the community's administrators and discussions moderators.

As of February 2021, all Forum content has been migrated to Discussions. See Help:Discussions FAQ for why Forum was retired.

Step-by-step

Forum hierarchy

A wiki's Forum had three levels:

Special:Forum – This page was linked from the wiki's navigation and listed all of the boards on the Forum, and their descriptions. On all wikis, this special page now redirects to the Discussions overview.
Boards – These were different subject areas within the Forum, containing discussion threads. On wikis whose Forums migrated to Discussions, the Board: links now direct to the migrated Discussions categories.
Threads – These were the actual user discussions, and below the most recent reply, topics could be added to connect a given thread to specific articles on the wiki. Links to these old threads now direct to their migrated variants in Discussions, and "topics" have been converted to Discussions "tags".

Legacy threads

Links from old Special:Forum threads may appear in Special:WhatLinksHere or other maintenance reports such as Special:WantedPages. While these can be ignored, editing the threads to remove them can be tricky due to the thread pages themselves redirecting to Discussions. Simply deleting the threads is also undesirable, since this would eliminate the redirects and only serve to produce more broken links.

To clear out unwanted links while preserving the redirects, bot software or Dev Wiki scripts such as RemoveLegacyThreads can be used to blank the thread pages. Further, Special:PrefixIndex/Board Thread: can display a list of all legacy Forum threads, so one can preemptively blank all thread pages if desired. Be sure to use these tools from a bot account as a courtesy to your fellow editors, and only with permission from a local community!

Gallery

Further help and feedback

Browse and search other help pages at Help:Contents
Check Fandom Community Central for sources of further help and support
Check Contacting Fandom for how to report any errors or unclear steps in this article

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+*''This feature is no longer available on Fandom. Please see [[Help:Discussions]] instead.''
 *''For help using the older, wiki-style forums, see [[Help:Wiki-style forums]].''
-*'''''Wikis created after November 2016 cannot have Forum enabled.''' Admins can request to enable the newer conversation feature, [[Help:Discussions|Discussions]] via [[Special:Contact]].''
-*'''''Wikis that already have [[Help:Discussions|Discussions]] enabled cannot switch to Forum.'''''
-*'''''This page will not be needed when the move to the UCP is complete.''' You can read more about the UCP [[User blog:MisterWoodhouse/The first specifics on the Unified Community Platform|here]].''
-The '''Forum''' feature provides a central location for discussion about the topic of a wiki and other matters important to the community. Any user can participate in a Forum conversation, and [[Help:Create an account|registered users]] can follow discussion threads and receive notifications when updates occur. The overall structure of the Forum is managed by the community's [[Help:User rights|administrators and discussions moderators]].
+The '''Forum''' feature provided a central location for discussion about the topic of a wiki and other matters important to the community. Any user could participate in a Forum conversation, and [[Help:Create an account|registered users]] could follow discussion threads and receive notifications when updates occurred. The overall structure of the Forum was managed by the community's [[Help:User rights|administrators and discussions moderators]].
+'''As of February 2021, all Forum content has been migrated to Discussions.''' See [[Help:Discussions FAQ#Forum questions|Help:Discussions FAQ]] for why Forum was retired.
-The Forum is gradually being replaced by the newer [[Help:Discussions|Discussions]] feature and will eventually be retired. Only wikis that have already been using Forums before November 2016 can have them, and those will eventually be migrated to Discussions.
-A wiki's Forum can be accessed from the "Explore" navigation tab (if both Discussions and the Forum were enabled), accessed from the page header, next to the Explore menu (if the Forum is enabled only) or from the Discussions module found at the bottom of some article pages.
-The five most recent Forum posts can be showcased on a wiki's main page, or any other page, by using the <code><nowiki><wikiaforum /></nowiki></code> tag to display the Forum Activity module.
-If a thread has a title like a few other threads, a "Related Threads" module will show up.<gallery spacing="small" columns="4" position="center" widths="150" bordercolor="transparent" bordersize="none">
-ForumOnNav.png|The Forum, being accessed on Community Central, which only has the Forum.
-ForumOnNav2.png|A different community, which has both [[Help:Discussions|Discussions]] and the Forum. In that case, the Forum is accessed on the "Explore" menu.
-ForumActivityTU.png|The Forum Activity module.
-RelatedThreadsModule.png|The Related Threads module.
-</gallery>
 == Step-by-step ==
 === Forum hierarchy ===
-A wiki's Forum has three levels:
+A wiki's Forum had three levels:
-* '''Special:Forum''' – This page is linked from the wiki's navigation and lists all of the boards on the Forum, and their descriptions. The Forum's policies and frequently asked questions can also be accessed from a button in the upper right of this page
+* '''Special:Forum''' – This page was linked from the wiki's navigation and listed all of the boards on the Forum, and their descriptions. On all wikis, this special page now redirects to the Discussions overview.
-* '''Boards''' – These are different subject areas within the Forum, created by the wiki's administrators and discussions moderators. Each board contains discussion threads. Clear board names and descriptions will help visitors find the conversations that interest them.
+* '''Boards''' – These were different subject areas within the Forum, containing discussion threads. On wikis whose Forums migrated to Discussions, the Board: links now direct to the migrated Discussions categories.
-* '''Threads''' – These are the actual user discussions, with replies displayed in chronological order, newest at the bottom. Below the most recent reply, topics can be added, which make a connection between the thread and specific articles on the wiki.
+* '''Threads''' – These were the actual user discussions, and below the most recent reply, topics could be added to connect a given thread to specific articles on the wiki. Links to these old threads now direct to their migrated variants in Discussions, and "topics" have been converted to Discussions "[[Help:Discussions#Article tags|tags]]".
-=== Starting a discussion ===
+=== Legacy threads ===
+Links from old Special:Forum threads may appear in [[Special:WhatLinksHere]] or other maintenance reports such as [[Special:WantedPages]]. While these can be ignored, editing the threads to remove them can be tricky due to the thread pages themselves redirecting to Discussions. Simply deleting the threads is also undesirable, since this would eliminate the redirects and only serve to produce more broken links.
-[[File:ForumHelpStartDiscussion.png|thumb|350px|right|Start a conversation!]][[File:KermitDiscussionsHelp.png|thumb|350px|right|On Muppet Wiki, discussions about Kermit are linked at the bottom of [[w:c:muppet:Kermit the Frog|his article page]].]]
-* The Forum can be accessed via the community's navigation or from the Discussions module at the bottom of some article pages. From the main Special:Forum page, choose one of the boards and then simply click into the "Start a Discussion" field. If you're coming from an article page, you'll be able to choose the best board for your thread before you publish it.
-* Be sure to make the subject of your thread clear and concise. Confusing titles may prevent readers from exploring the conversation.
-* In the body of your message, add images, videos, links and whatever else you like!
-* Add '''topics''' to the thread, which can be the name of any article on the wiki. This will connect your thread to those articles, and to other threads about those articles. This will make more viewers aware of the discussions and encourage participation. If you start a discussion from an article page, that article name will already be added as one of the topics, but you can have as many as four topics on a thread.
+To clear out unwanted links while preserving the redirects, bot software or Dev Wiki scripts such as [[w:c:dev:RemoveLegacyThreads|RemoveLegacyThreads]] can be used to blank the thread pages. Further, [[Special:PrefixIndex/Board Thread:]] can display a list of all legacy Forum threads, so one can preemptively blank all thread pages if desired.  Be sure to use these tools from a [[Help:Bots|bot account]] as a courtesy to your fellow editors, and only with permission from a local community!
-=== Participating in a discussion ===
-[[File:ForumButtonsKudosHelp.png|thumb|200px|Use Kudos to show your approval, and use the Quote button to respond!]]
-* Finding a thread is as simple as browsing through the boards and choosing a discussion that looks interesting. You can scroll to the end of the thread and start typing. You can also reply to specific messages using the '''Quote''' button, found in the lower right of every message. Click Quote, and that user's message will be copied into your new message box, and you can start your entry below it.
-* Use the '''Kudos''' option — the "thumbs up" icon at the upper right of every message — to show that you like what another user has said. The number of Kudos a message has received will be shown. Be generous with the kudos and maybe you will get some of your own!
-* The '''Discussions module''' at the bottom of article pages is another way to find existing forum conversations, by displaying recently active discussions on the topic of that article.
-== Forum management ==
+== Gallery ==
+<gallery spacing="small" columns="4" position="center" widths="150" bordercolor="transparent" bordersize="none">
-=== Managing Boards and Policies ===
+ForumOnNav2.png|A community which had both [[Help:Discussions|Discussions]] and the Forum. In that case, the Forum was accessed on the "Explore" menu.
-[[File:ForumHelpCreateNew.png|thumb|300px|Admins can add more boards to the Forum]]
+ForumActivityTU.png|Forum's "Forum Activity" module.
-* On Special:Forum, administrators and discussions moderators have a Manage Boards button in the lower right corner that allows the creation, renaming and reordering of boards. Boards can also be removed by merging their threads into another board.
+RelatedThreadsModule.png|Forum's "Related Threads" module.
-* Board descriptions can contain bold and italic formatting, links and [[Help:Templates|templates]]. Templates will display on the individual board page, but not on Special:Forum.
+ForumHelpStartDiscussion.png|Forum's thread creation interface
-* Fandom has provided basic forum policies that become available when the feature is first enabled. Administrators can edit the policy page (a [[Help:System messages|MediaWiki message]]) using the edit button on the Policies pop-up, if community-specific policies are preferred.
+KermitDiscussionsHelp.png|On Muppet Wiki, discussions about Kermit were linked at the bottom of [[w:c:muppet:Kermit the Frog|his article page]].
+ForumButtonsKudosHelp.png|Kudos could be used to show your approval, and the Quote button to respond to specific replies
-== Additional Notes ==
+ForumHelpCreateNew.png|Admins could add more boards to the Forum
-=== Forum enabling limitations ===
+</gallery>
-As of June 2019, it is not possible to enable Forum on communities where it is not already in operation. The newer conversation feature, [[Help:Discussions|Discussions]], is gradually being released across the Fandom network, and content from Forum will be migrated to Discussions. Ultimately Forum will be fully retired as a feature.
-Communities who may wish to disable Forum on their communities ahead of its retirement can [[Special:Contact|contact Fandom Staff]] for assistance.
-Where the Forum feature is enabled:
-* A link to Special:Forum appears on the [[Help:Wiki navigation|navigation]].
-* A "Discussions" module may appear at the bottom of article pages if topics are used on a thread.
-* The "Forum" [[Help:Namespace|namespace]], used for the older, wiki-style forums, becomes editable only by administrators (for maintenance purposes) and all content in that namespace acquires a header directing users to Special:Forum. The header is styled according to the wiki's theme, and this helps to prevent user confusion if the wiki-style forums had been used on the wiki in the past.
-=== Search ===
-Forum thread content will not appear when using [[Help:Searching|search]], even if the "Board Thread" and "Thread" name spaces are selected in [[Help:Searching#Advanced_Search|advanced search]].
-=== "More" dropdown ===
-In the "More" dropdown, there are multiple features. The following table lists their information:
-{| class="article-table"
-!Button
-!Where Available
-!Use
-!Rights Required
-|-
-|Edit
-|Your replies (all threads and replies if you are a discussions moderator or admin).
-|Edits a specific reply.
-|N/A (unless a specific community has disabled anonymous users).
-Editing other users' threads and replies require discussions moderator or admin rights.
-|-
-|History
-|Threads and replies
-|Views the history of a reply.
-|Any user
-|-
-|View Source
-|Threads and replies
-|Views the source of a specific reply.
-|Registered user (this can be enabled via [[Special:Preferences]]).
-|-
-|Remove
-|Your replies (all threads and replies if you are a discussions moderator or admin).
-|Removes a specific reply.
-|Any user (unless a specific community has disabled anonymous users).
-Removing other users' threads and replies require discussions moderator or admin rights.
-|-
-|Close this Thread
-|Threads only
-|Closes a specific thread, to prevent further replies. However, the thread will still be visible.
-|Discussions moderator or admin
-|-
-|Move this Thread
-|Threads only
-|Moves a specific thread into a different board.
-|Discussions moderator or admin
-|}
 == See also ==
@@ Line 106: / Line 34: @@
 == Further help and feedback ==
-{{Help and feedback section}}[[be:Даведка:Форум]]
+{{Help and feedback section}}
+[[be:Даведка:Форум]]
 [[de:Hilfe:Forum-Threads]]
 [[es:Ayuda:Foro]]
+[[fi:Ohje:Foorumi]]
 [[fr:Aide:Forum]]
 [[it:Aiuto:Forum]]