I have an instructor who is having problems with his forums. I can't figure out what he did differently, but this semester the students cannot "add a new discussion topic" to any of the forum discussions he has set up. He used the "standard forum for general use" as in previous semesters but when he (or I as "administrator") to to the forum as a student it says we do not have permission to ad a new discussion topic.
I have tried to recreate the problem, without success. When I set up a forum in my sandbox and use the "standard forum for general use", the option to create a new discussion topic is right where I would expect it to be.
Anyone with an idea of what I'm missing?
Alan Selig
Hi Alan
What version of Moodle are you using? Are students able to start discussions in other forums or courses? Check the role permissions to see if the student role has the ability to Start new discussions. It could also be that this permission has been overridden on that particular course (via Assign Roles - Override Permissions - Student) or that one forum (via Update this forum - Override Permissions - Student).
I hope this helps
Cheers
Teresa
What version of Moodle are you using? Are students able to start discussions in other forums or courses? Check the role permissions to see if the student role has the ability to Start new discussions. It could also be that this permission has been overridden on that particular course (via Assign Roles - Override Permissions - Student) or that one forum (via Update this forum - Override Permissions - Student).
I hope this helps
Cheers
Teresa
Hi. I actually want a "whole group" discussion in some forums in which students must reply to my thread rather than create their own. I don't want to limit the number of their posts, just force a single nested thread so that the discussion isn't fragmented into several different topics. Thus, I would like to set my courses so students cannot "start a new discussion topic." But I do not find a mechanism in Moodle 1.9 to do that. I'm not finding the Assign Roles path nor the Override Permissions path to that goal. Any suggestions?
Hi David,
In Moodle 1.9 there is a discussion type called a "Single simple discussion" (see pic below) that allows you to create the discussion and there isn't an option for students to create new discussions within that particular forum. This should accomplish what you are looking for.
Hmm~~ I've experienced a similar situation too. For my case, it turned out that it was due to the "Group mode" set to "separate" when there is no groups created in the course at all. So the "Add new discussion topic" button was not appearing.
If it is the "Single Simple Discussion" Type, then the "Reply" link would disappear.
If it is the "Single Simple Discussion" Type, then the "Reply" link would disappear.