Forum is created, but students cannot make comments.

Forum is created, but students cannot make comments.

by Danny Vaughn -
Number of replies: 17

Hello:

I am fairly new to Moodle and actually have several questions, although it appears I will have to address each to separate Forums. I have created a Forum link in our courses, but upon allowing a student user to access the course, they can see the Forum, open it, read my comments, but their does not appear to be any way for them to respond. We are currently using an earlier version (2.1), but I do not see this as the issue since we were able to create the Forum in this version. I have looked at switches under the define Roles window, but I do not have any success allowing students to respond.

Cordially,

Danny Vaughn

Post Script: We will ultimately be upgrading our software to version 2.4, but since Moodle does not appear to be backward compatable, we are concerned that we must first load 2.2 followed by 2.3, followed by 2.4. Very concerning.

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In reply to Danny Vaughn

Re: Forum is created, but students cannot make comments.

by Helen Foster -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Moodle HQ Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Plugin developers Picture of Testers Picture of Translators

Hi Danny,

Please see the Forum FAQ for an answer to the question 'Why are students unable to post in the forum?' If you have any further questions, please shout!

I'm not sure exactly what you are concerned about regarding Moodle versions. If you've not done so already, please feel free to post in an appropriate forum about them.

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In reply to Helen Foster

Re: Forum is created, but students cannot make comments.

by Danny Vaughn -

Dear Helen:

Thank you for the prompt response. I have tried many times (successfully) to create a Forum using the method described by you and others from your reference URL, and it does create the forum, however, there does not appear to be any way  to make comments. I am finding this very frustrating.

Cordially,

Danny

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In reply to Danny Vaughn

Re: Forum is created, but students cannot make comments.

by Helen Foster -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Moodle HQ Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Plugin developers Picture of Testers Picture of Translators

Hmm, do you mean being able to post to a forum (start a discussion or reply to another forum post) or do you mean being able to add comments, like in a database or glossary?

You can add a Comments block to a forum, but it's not possible to add comments to individual forum posts.

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In reply to Helen Foster

Re: Forum is created, but students cannot make comments.

by Danny Vaughn -

Posting a reply to a forum. There should be a blank on the forum page that enables one to reply to e.g. two discussion questions, or any means to reply to e.g. a video. Thre forum will come up when selected, but there is no way to respond.

Danny

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In reply to Danny Vaughn

Re: Forum is created, but students cannot make comments.

by Michael Phillips -

Danny,

There are several variables to consider and since you're new to Moodle, perhaps the terminology is being confused. Let's try this:

  1. Enter your course and turn editing on.
  1. Choose to add a new Forum (forget about the one you already created for now)
  1. Provide a name and introduction for the forum, and leave the Forum type set to Standard forum for general use (the default)
  1. Leave all other settings/options at their defaults
  1. Click Save and display at the bottom of the page. You'll see something similar to the image below (hopefully). At this point, since there are not posts yet, there is nothing to reply to.

  1. Click Add a new discussion topic
  1. Provide a name and message, then click Post to forum. In the image below, the initial post now appears for users to read (they have to click to enter the thread and read the post).

  1. From the student's perspective, they will be able to enter the post and see the reply option (see below):

So, if you've been following those steps and students still cannot reply, I'm not sure what to suggest as a solution.

But, you mentioned you allowed "a student user" to try to reply to your post. Did you enroll the student with a student role, or as a guest? I don't believe that users with the "guest" role can participate in forums (they can't reply or post).

Remember, too, that the News forum is unique, in that it does not allow for students to reply (it's a one-way push of information, so "forum" is a bit of a misnomer).

Other factors that may prohibit posts and/or replies include permissions, blocking, groups, and access restriction settings.

I hope this is helpful to you, but feel free to ask more questions and provide us with more details so that we may better understand your predicament. Screen shots (captures) can be very helpful, too.

Good luck!

-Mike

 

 

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In reply to Michael Phillips

Re: Forum is created, but students cannot make comments.

by Danny Vaughn -

Mike:

Your instructions were outstanding and I was able to successfully create a Forum, as before, and the post I created does show up in a student user, BUT, I do not see the banner to click on the thread. It just does not exist!!

I think I need to stand on one leg, cross my eyes, and chant to succeed on this issue.

Cordially,

Danny

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In reply to Danny Vaughn

Re: Forum is created, but students cannot make comments.

by Michael Phillips -

Thanks, Danny, but I'm sorry you're still having trouble. You may not have to do the one-legged, cross-eyed ritual chanting just yet... Can you take a screen shot of the post as it appears to the student and share it here?

Even better, are you a Moodle Admin on your campus? If so, do you have any "fake student" or "test" accounts that would allow me to be enrolled in your course site so that I may experience it from my end?

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In reply to Michael Phillips

Re: Forum is created, but students cannot make comments.

by Danny Vaughn -

Mike:

Our URl is: http://seros.us/moodle/.

A user name teststudent, and password Hodag1948# will get you into the site. Use the Intro. Volcanoes course and under page frame 2 you will see the two forums I created. The first is the original and the second I created yesterday. As you will also see, I cannot respond to the two questions. I really do not know what I am doing wrong, or if I even set the forums up properly.

Your continued correspondence is greatly appreciated.

Danny

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In reply to Danny Vaughn

Re: Forum is created, but students cannot make comments.

by Mary Cooch -
Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Moodle HQ Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Testers Picture of Translators

It's a groups issue (I just logged in) See that it says "Separate groups:all participants" Is this student in a group?  Try #10 in the Forum FAQ Helen posted at the start of the thread

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In reply to Danny Vaughn

Re: Forum is created, but students cannot make comments.

by Michael Phillips -

Ah, I think Mary hit the nail on the head - you have groups enabled for this forum (separate groups). I confirmed the student account you provided access for wasn't a member of any group in either of the VO101/202 course sites by trying to view the Participants list (which is the reason the student can't reply or post):

If you did that inadvertently (or don't remember doing it), just use the Forum administration block and click Edit settings:

Then scroll down to Common module settings and ensure the Group mode is set to no groups:

 

Last, be sure to save your changes.That should do the trick!

On the other hand, if you really did want groups enabled, you need to add the students to appropriate groups in your course sites as Mary indicated.

But, I'm assuming, given that you said you were new to Moodle, you're not intentionally tackling groups yet, but just want forums where all students can participate. I could be wrong, though...

Let me know how it goes for you.

 

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In reply to Michael Phillips

Re: Forum is created, but students cannot make comments.

by Danny Vaughn -

OK, but how do I get to the forum administration block?

Danny

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In reply to Danny Vaughn

Re: Forum is created, but students cannot make comments.

by Michael Phillips -

When you're on your course site homepage (the initial "landing" page when you enter your course site), notice that you Settings block says Course administration.

When you enter the forum (either click on the forum title, or use the little "gear" icon (edit icon; different themes may have different icons)...

... notice that the Settings block changes to Forum administration. So, that's what I was referring to.

 

Does that help?

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In reply to Michael Phillips

Re: Forum is created, but students cannot make comments.

by Danny Vaughn -

I am feeling very stupid - I do not see what you are referring to, Mike. I do not see Course Administration anywhere. I do not see a Setting block when I enter the course. I see Settings, Site Administration on the Front page, but when I enter the course, I do not see a Settings block, Course Administration.

Sorry to be such as poor student, but I really do not see these blocks you are referring. I must have something set up wrong, or I am just blind.

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In reply to Danny Vaughn

Re: Forum is created, but students cannot make comments.

by Mary Cooch -
Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Moodle HQ Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Testers Picture of Translators

Check at the side of your course page that you haven't accidentally "docked" the settings block, ie minimised it down the side

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In reply to Mary Cooch

Re: Forum is created, but students cannot make comments.

by Danny Vaughn -

Mary: I have noticed that the Settings block does not exist, and the Forum administration drop down is still a mystery.

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In reply to Danny Vaughn

Re: Forum is created, but students cannot make comments.

by Michael Phillips -

No worries, Danny - don't feel stupid, you'll be a pro with Moodle in no time at all!

Mary has a good suggestion about the possibility that you may have accidentally "docked" your settings block. From the student perspective, the Settings block is on the right side in your Volcano course:

 

"Docking" and "minmizing" are user-specific (tied to a user's profile). This means that if I, as a student, dock or minimize the Settings block, it doesn't affect your choice/settings or any other student.

But, since a student can't usually move a block to a new location in a course site, I'd venture to suggest that, if you haven't docked your Settings block, it might be sitting in the right-hand column as it is in the image above.

But, hey, kudos are in order! I see you've successfully added a forum to which the student can reply!

Woo-hoo! big grin

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In reply to Michael Phillips

Re: Forum is created, but students cannot make comments.

by Danny Vaughn -

Mike & Mary:  Many thanks to you and Mary for your patience and help. What I noticed is that I did not have a Setting block displayed so I added one. Upon going into a course, I turned the Editing On, followed by adding a Setting block. From there I selected Edit Course Settings, and under the Groups section, Group Mode,  I selected No Groups and saved. I never did see a Forums Administration option (I am still using Moodle version 2.1), so I do not know if it resides somewhere else in the ether. 

Although this question may not be appropriate for this forum, I am going to ask you, how to disable a student user from changing or editing their user account and password? We are using the student account to enable an open admission to the courses since they were funded by NASA, and educational materials developed by government agencies should be public domain. It follows, we may not even be using the best user account for this purpose.

Cordially,

Danny

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