News forum once deleted cannot be re-created?

News forum once deleted cannot be re-created?

by Joseph Rézeau -
Number of replies: 16
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Hi all!

I'm using Moodle 1.5. and Topics format for my courses homepage.

When a new course is created by admin, a News Forum is automatically created in the top section of the topics i.e. the section with no number (section zero).

I accidentally deleted the New Forum in one of my courses and cannot get it back! If I try to create a new forum, I am only given 3 choices of forum types:

  • A single simple discussion (single)
  • Each person posts one discussion (eachuser?)
  • Standard forum for general use (general)

How on earth can I re-create the missing News forum and have it displayed in section zero of my topics?thoughtful

Any help appreciated,

Joseph

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In reply to Joseph Rézeau

Re: News forum once deleted cannot be re-created?

by Helen Foster -
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Hi Joseph,

To re-create your missing news forum, please do the opposite of what is advised in the I want to delete the News Forum, but Moodle keeps re-creating it FAQ wink i.e. in your course settings, set the news items to show to a value greater than zero. A news forum will then be automatically created when you refresh the course page. smile
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In reply to Helen Foster

Re: News forum once deleted cannot be re-created?

by Joseph Rézeau -
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Hi Helen,

Thanks for your help.

However, the problem was not that my course settings were at News items to show:zero; they were actually at 5 (default?).

To recreate a news forum and have it appear in section zero of the topics, I finally found out that (if News items to show is greater than 0, of course), one must:

  • have the Latest News block enabled;

  • add a new topic to it.

And then, the News forum is automatically restored where it should be. After that, you can delete the Latest News block if you don't want it displayed.

This is mostly counter-intuitive and far from self-evident. Probably meant to be like that in Moodle, so we have the pleasure of helping one another on this forum.wink

Joseph

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In reply to Joseph Rézeau

Re: News forum once deleted cannot be re-created?

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
Thanks Joseph, I didn't know those extra points.
"Probably meant to be like that in Moodle, so we have the pleasure of helping one another on this forum."
Yes, you're right - it's social constructionism! smile
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In reply to Helen Foster

Re: News forum once deleted cannot be re-created?

by Kent Calero -
Guys, I understand this is a very old post but I am having issues recreating the news forum after it's been deleted. Any ideas what has changed in the newer versions of moodle to cause this?
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In reply to Kent Calero

Re: News forum once deleted cannot be re-created?

by Itamar Tzadok -
I don't know what you have already tried but the news forum should be recreated if you add the latest news block to the course page. smile
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In reply to Itamar Tzadok

Re: News forum once deleted cannot be re-created?

by Glenys Hanson -
Hi Kent,

Once you've created the Latest News block, click on Add a new topic, write a message and post it. It's only when the message is sent that a new News Forum appears on the main page of the course in Section 0.

Cheers,
Glenys
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In reply to Glenys Hanson

Re: News forum once deleted cannot be re-created?

by Itamar Tzadok -
You don't really need to add a new topic for the news forum to reappear, but you do need to reload the page after you add the latest news block. smile
Average of ratings: Useful (1)
In reply to Itamar Tzadok

Re: News forum once deleted cannot be re-created?

by Vicki Walter -
HI guys. I've tried everything suggested here to get the news forum back... actually it is site news on the front page... when I add the latest news block, it doesn't allow me to add news items to it (I get just the title bar with the assign roles, hide/show, move, and delete buttons. Any ideas?
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In reply to Vicki Walter

Re: News forum once deleted cannot be re-created?

by Itamar Tzadok -
It has been suggested that setting the number of news items to more than 0 (or changing to some other number) may work. smile
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In reply to Itamar Tzadok

Re: News forum once deleted cannot be re-created?

by Vicki Walter -

Thanks for the quick response.

I have tried what you suggested. I also tried adding the Latest News block as suggested within this forum, but it appears to be nonfunctioning as well (am unable to add news to it - all I get is the title bar). It has no affect on getting the site news forum to regenerate on the page.

I have even tried adding a course backup that contains a news forum to try to get it to work. I am able to get the news forum added to the front page, but still no luck on getting the front page settings to recognize the forum as the site news to show in the center column (non-logged in users get an error as the page loads (no module id). I did rename the news forum to site news thinking that it might be helpful. The news forums and latest news blocks work fine within my courses, just not on the front page.

I am usually able to figure these types of things out, but I guess there is something wrong with the front page itself or within the installation or base code that is causing it. I am not a code person (I'm just learning to modify themes) so I don't want to mess with any of that stuff. I will probably need to wait for my district tech guy (who is awesome with php and the like) to try to figure it out.

Thanks for trying to help though.

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In reply to Vicki Walter

Re: News forum once deleted cannot be re-created?

by Dinah Cragg -
I'm having the same problem, with a news forum in a course, not site. I foolishly deleted the news forum, and now cannot get it back. I have changed the number of news postings displayed from 5 to 0 and back again, and I have removed and re-added the Latest News block, to no avail. There is no link for creating a topic or posting under Latest News, just the heading. Any further suggestions will be much appreciated!
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In reply to Dinah Cragg

Re: News forum once deleted cannot be re-created?

by Allison Soo -

I am having exactly the same problem as Dinah.

Changing the 'news items to show' from 0 to greater no and vice verse, added and removed Latest News block. No luck at all to re-create the News Forum.

Similiar problem happened once before and get resolved by the method above but not this time.

Any other possible way out there for me to try. Many Thanks.

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In reply to Allison Soo

Re: News forum once deleted cannot be re-created?

by Stephanie Allen -

Hi - when I added a post the New Forum did actually appear, it was just in the last topic of the course rather than in topic 0 - I moved it up, and changed the settings from show to hide and it is now visable for students. Phew!

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In reply to Vicki Walter

Re: News forum once deleted cannot be re-created?

by haytham fathey -

It has been suggested that setting the number of news items to more than 0 (or changing to some other number) may work

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In reply to Joseph Rézeau

Re: News forum once deleted cannot be re-created?

by Steven Grindle -

In Moodle v2.2, I left "News items to show" at the default value of 5 and enabled the "Latest News" block and the News Forum (which I love by the way) reappeared without having to add a topic.

To recreate a news forum and have it appear in section zero of the topics, I finally found out that (if News items to show is greater than 0, of course), one must:

  • have the Latest News block enabled;

  • add a new topic to it."

Average of ratings: Useful (1)
In reply to Joseph Rézeau

Re: News forum once deleted cannot be re-created?

by Kim Dhority -

Thanks for the help on this!!  I have just muddled my way through after I deleted my news forum. Now I have it back!!  Worked great!!

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