Discussion Forums

Discussion forums are a space to communicate with others, similar to a message board. The forum is visible to users who have access to the Project.

Creating a New Message Thread

The Discussion tab can be found in the Project navigation tabs on the Project main page. Anyone with Project access may view discussion threads contained in the Project, create new threads, or reply to existing threads.

To create a new thread, click the New Thread button at the top of the Discussion tab.

This opens a New Thread dialog box in which you can edit text, insert pictures, code, TeX, Widgets, or Markdown script. As with Wiki editing, a Formatting Guide is available for Markdown, TeX and code block examples.

Tip: You may tag people by including an '@' symbol followed by their username. Tagging users in discussion threads will send them a notification of the thread, so it can be used to invite others into the discussion. Tagged users will only receive a notification if they were tagged in the initial thread creation. Tagging users after starting a thread will not send a notification.

Managing Notifications

You may subscribe to a Discussion forum for a particular Project by clicking the Follow button on the main discussion page. Once you’ve subscribed to a forum, you will receive an email to your Synapse-registered email address whenever a new thread is created. You can use the Unfollow button at any time to discontinue this subscription.

To receive email notifications for replies to individual threads, click the eye icon that is visible from within the thread of interest. If you reply to a thread, you begin following the thread automatically.

Moderating a Discussion Forum

Deleting and Restoring Threads

Users have moderator privileges for discussion forums in all projects to which they have administrator privileges. Moderators may delete threads and individual replies from all users using the trash can icon next to the original post.

In case of accidental deletion, moderators may also undelete threads to restore them. To view deleted threads, click on Discussion Tools and Show Deleted Threads to see a list of threads that are currently in the trash can. Once you’ve found the thread you’d like to restore, click into that thread and use the Discussion Tools Menu to select Restore Thread.

Pinning Threads

Moderators may emphasize important threads by selecting the pin icon to bring the post to the top of the forum. The thread will remain at the top of the list even after newer threads are posted. Moderators may also unpin threads.

Need More Help?

Try posting a question to our Forum.

Let us know what was unclear or what has not been covered. Reader feedback is key to making the documentation better, so please let us know or open an issue in our Github repository (Sage-Bionetworks/synapseDocs).