The problem with using 'Restrict access' instead of 'Availability' settings (as per assignments, quizzes, etc.) is that the dates do no show up in the calendar, upcoming events block, and so on.
For my institution, this is serious because we don't want the calendar to show due dates/deadlines/closing dates of some activities but not others, since students rely on it.
In addition to an opening date and a closing date for a forum, we would also like a date by which a student's first post must be made (thus allowing other students to discuss it before the forum closes).
Does anyone else have this problem? Can anyone help?