Discussion
Interactive & Engaging Chat Threads
The Discussions feature is a powerful tool designed to enhance community interaction. It allows you to create single or multiple chat threads, enabling members to engage in dynamic conversations in real time.
Key Features:
Multi-threaded chats – Organize conversations into distinct discussion topics.
Interactive polls – Create polls that trigger automations, streamlining decision-making and engagement.
@ Mentions – Tag members easily to notify them of important updates or direct replies.
Seamless navigation – Quickly switch between different chat threads with a single click.
Think of Discussions as a more interactive and structured alternative to posts - similar to Slack, but more on-brand and optimized for community engagement.
Discussions are versatile and can be placed anywhere within your project, ensuring seamless integration across different content types. You can embed them into:
Pages – Keep conversations relevant within structured content.
Blogs – Encourage discussions around articles and shared insights.
Funnels – Allow interaction within sales and conversion journeys.
Community Circles – Foster engagement within dedicated member spaces.
This flexibility ensures members can participate wherever it makes the most sense, keeping discussions fluid and interactive across your platform.
How to Create a Discussion
Firstly, navigate to the left-side taskbar and select the Discussion Widget. Then, simply drag and drop it to where you need it to display.
Now that the Discussion widget has been added to the page, it’s time to explore customization options to ensure it fits seamlessly within your project.
Key Areas to Edit:
Thread Structure – Adjust how discussions are organized and displayed.
Display Settings – Customize visibility, themes, and layout preferences.
Interaction Controls – Manage permissions for posts, replies, and mentions.
Automation & Polls – Configure interactive elements to enhance engagement.
Let’s dive deeper into the settings and display options to refine the discussion experience.
What Kind of Discussion Board do you want
When configuring your Discussion Widget, you can choose between displaying a single channel or multiple discussion threads.
Starting with a Single Channel:
Select a pre-designed thread – Use an existing discussion layout that you’ve already created.
Update an existing thread – Modify content, settings, or participant permissions.
Rename the channel – Customize the name to align with the topic or purpose of the discussion.
Discussion Board Name
You can add a title to your discussion board, which is a great option when using multiple threads, as it helps members easily engage with the right one.
Note: The Thread Title will only be displayed in specific display options, which we will cover below.
Enter Channel Name
The channel naming convention ensures consistency across all displays, allowing seamless integration throughout your project.
Visible everywhere – The assigned channel name appears across all sections where discussions are embedded.
Reusable threads – You can use the same discussion thread in pages, funnels, and circles while keeping all attached chats intact.
Streamlined engagement – Members can continue conversations across different areas without losing context.
This feature enhances organization and maintains a smooth discussion flow within your community setup.
If your project includes default discussion threads, you can easily rename them to better suit your needs:
Delete the existing text and type in your preferred Title.
Customizing names allows you to use the same thread across multiple pages, funnels, and circles while maintaining all attached chats.
Streamlines project organization, ensuring discussions remain consistent wherever they're placed.
This simple adjustment enhances flexibility, making your community more intuitive.
You will see that we went ahead and created 2 new threads for this example:
Tech Support and How to
Who Can Message
You can add comment permissions simply by selecting one of the options:
All Members: Logged in members
Only Admins
Admins and Moderators
Read more about assigning community roles below
Thread Engagement
Using the 'Tech Support' thread as an example, a basic comment has been posted. This demonstrates how discussions can begin and evolve within the thread.
This simple step lays the foundation for a dynamic and interactive support experience.
Replies to member questions are neatly nested within each discussion, ensuring a structured and clean layout.
Replies remain grouped with their original question, keeping conversations easy to follow.
To view responses, simply click the "Replies" button below the question.
The reply window will then display, allowing for seamless interaction within the thread.
This setup helps maintain clarity and enhances engagement within discussions.
Creating Polls
Interactive Polls: Gathering Insights & Feedback
The threads section includes a powerful feature: interactive polls, allowing members to engage in discussions while providing valuable insights.
Gauge deeper opinions – Gather feedback on specific topics to better understand community preferences.
Encourage participation – Members can vote and share their thoughts, fostering engagement.
Automate actions – Poll results can trigger automations, helping streamline decision-making.
This feature ensures discussions remain dynamic and insightful, making it easy to collect feedback in an interactive way.
Poll Settings
When creating polls, you have complete control over how members interact, ensuring polls align with your specific needs.
Set commenting permissions – Decide who can comment on poll discussions.
Allow option additions – Enable members to contribute additional poll choices, letting them add their input.
Encourage engagement – Empower your community to shape discussions with personalized responses.
This flexibility allows for a dynamic and interactive polling experience, fostering deeper insights and collaboration.
How many answers to the poll
This option allows you to enable members to either select a single answer or multiple answers in your poll.
Who can add more poll options
When setting up your poll, you have three options for allowing additional answers:
Only You – Only the poll creator can add new options.
Moderators Only – Moderators have the ability to contribute additional choices.
Everyone – All members can freely add their own poll options.
Note: You can go back in to any of your threads at anytime and modify any settings.
Multiple Channel Threads
With multiple channel discussion threads, you can host more than one thread at a time, allowing diverse topics to run simultaneously while maintaining a clean and customizable layout.
Getting Started:
Navigate to the 'What kind of discussion board do you want' tab.
Select the 'Multiple Channels' option.
This enables various threads to be displayed at once, each with its own unique topic and structure.
Customize the appearance to ensure it fits seamlessly within your project’s design.
This setup is perfect for managing distinct discussions, encouraging engagement across different areas while keeping conversations well-organized.
Styling Multiple Channel Threads
Fine-tuning the styling of your discussion threads ensures a polished, on-brand experience. Here are the essential customization options:
Header Style – Upload a logo or image to visually represent your thread.
Group Description – Add a short, informative description to clarify the thread’s purpose.
Show Group Background Color – Customize the background color to maintain branding consistency.
These features help create a cohesive and engaging discussion space that fits seamlessly into your platform's design.
1: Channel Name
2: Header Style - Group image
3: Group Description
4: Show Group Color as Background
Add an Additional Thread
To create an additional thread within your Discussion Board, follow these steps:
Navigate to the Thread Box labeled "Define the channels of your discussion board."
Select "Add Channel" to open a new thread option.
Enter Channel Name - Select an existing thread or create new
Edit your styling - As mentioned and shown above.
Now you should have 2 threads displayed, here's our example:
View Style
Now that you've created two threads, you can choose a display type that best fits your layout and user experience.
View Style Options:
Row View – Displays threads in a stacked layout, offering a simple and structured flow.
Column View – Organizes threads into contained boxes, visually separating topics for easy navigation.
Sidebar View – Presents threads in a chat-like dashboard, mimicking a real-time messaging experience.
Each style serves a unique purpose, ensuring flexibility in how members engage with discussions.
Row View:
Column View:
The Column View offers an additional styling option that lets you control the number of threads displayed per row:
2 threads per row – Keeps discussions spacious and easy to read.
3 threads per row – Balances compact design with readability.
4 threads per row – Displays more discussions while maintaining a structured look.
5 threads per row – Optimizes space for high-volume discussions.
Sidebar View
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