Forums, also known as Message Boards or Messageboards, are online discussion platforms that use a commenting software system where as members who are logged in, and sometimes even guests who are not logged in(if the forum owner allows guests to create posts), are able to comment in an active discussion with real humans across the world. Forums allow members to post discussions relating to subjects that interest them. These discussions are developed in two ways.
The first way is when a member of a forum who is logged in, creates a new “Topic.” Then after the topic is created, additional members of the forum who are logged in, are able to reply to that topic by creating what is known as a “Post.” Topics, are commonly referred to as the “Parent Post.” Meaning that subsequent posts that come after the initial post(topic) carry on the conversation until it develops into a discussion.
A Topic, is usually created when a user of a forum is logged into their profile and visits one of the categories in the forum that interests them, and when the user has something on their mind, or knows of a subject that they want additional opinions on, then they visit one of the categories in the forum and creates a “New Topic.” The user would then chose a topic title, or subject title, and will then create the content that will appear as the initial first post. These newly created topics are usually pretty broad in scope, and the posts that follow the initial first post(topic) expand on the topic subject, with a wide range of opinions and views from the other members of the forum.
The topic creator, after creating the initial first post, also known as the “Topic,” waits for a duration of time before other members post their views about the topics subject. These “postings” from other members are commonly referred to as a “Post.” These “Posts,” are a sort of “miniature” topic, housed within the parent topic, which is the first post of the thread(the entire discussion including the first post and subsequent posts). A user who is logged in to their profile and visits one of the topics in a category on the forum that interests them, usually has the ability to post replies to that topic. They will usually have the ability to post a new reply via a new page for post creation, or will have the option to post what is known as a “Quick Reply.” Quick Replies, are similar to creating a new reply in a seaparate page, only the quick reply may lack additional grammar and formatting options when creating the content for the reply to the topic.
Both newly created topics and follow up posts, may also feature a function what are known as “Polls.” These polls are simply a way for a member to ask a question and allow other members of the community from the forum to choose at least one answer to the polls’ question. Polls are sometimes featured on the index page of the forum if the forum owner enables that feature. When creating a new Topic, Reply, or Poll, the user will usually have the ability to choose from an array of formatting options to format the text, also known as the “content” of the topic/reply. A few of these options include functions such as “aligning” text, left, center, or right. A few more options that may be included in topic and post creation include choosing different font sizes and font colors. Creating sections within the topic and reply/post should be created with a style differentiating from the other content in the text, such as “Bolding” or “Underlining” the important sections of the text content. Inserting images in the content of the message can be a way of capturing and holding the prospective readers of the message.
Discussion Topic: Forum Posts, Topics, and Polls Explained
