webCafé Help & Support

<p>How can I manage (or clean up) the Discussions area of a <STRONG>web</STRONG><EM>Café</EM> room?</p><p><P><FONT size=2>The following procedures require full editing access to all discussion topics; normally this is something that only a teaching team member or room coordinator would have.<BR></FONT> <UL> <LI><FONT size=2><EM>Creating a new topic</EM>: Go into the Discussion area, then click the <SPAN style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #cccccc">start a new topic</SPAN> button.  In the <EM>Title</EM> box, type the name for this topic.  If there is any additional information you want users to see before they post in the topic, enter it in the <EM>First comment </EM>box.  If you want to include a place for files and folders on this topic's page, check the <EM>Include box for attachments</EM> checkbox.  Finally, to complete the topic creation, press <STRONG>OK</STRONG>.<BR><BR></FONT></LI> <LI><FONT size=2><EM>Locking or unlocking topic creation</EM>:  Look in the left-side navigation map for the Discussions icon -- this is shown with the <IMG src="https://supportcenteronline.com/dmfiles/632/658/webCafé%20Library/My%20Images/SmDisc0.gif"> icon, and it will have the existing topics appearing indented beneath it.  Right-click that icon, then choose <STRONG>Access Control</STRONG> from the pop-up menu.  The <EM>Discussions Access Control</EM> screen will appear, and you'll see a checkbox next to "Read-only (not editable)":</FONT></LI> <UL> <LI><FONT size=2>Uncheck that checkbox to unlock topic creation so that you can add topics for additional lectures, dates or subjects;</FONT></LI> <LI><FONT size=2>Check that checkbox to lock topic creation.</FONT></LI> <LI><FONT size=2>After making a change, press <STRONG>OK</STRONG> to save the change and exit the <EM>Discussions Access Control</EM> screen.<BR><BR></FONT></LI></UL> <LI><FONT size=2><EM>Opening topics for posting:</EM> After you set "Read-only" on the Discussions as a whole, every topic will initially itself be locked, and it will not be possible to create new topics.  To open selected topics so that members can post comments, start by going to any Discussions topic.  Then go to the left-side navigation map and left-click the <IMG src="https://supportcenteronline.com/dmfiles/632/658/webCafé%20Library/My%20Images/SmDisc0.gif"> icon for the Discussions area.  This will take you to the topic management screen, where you can:</FONT></LI> <UL> <LI><FONT size=2>Check the checkbox for topics you wish to reopen;</FONT></LI> <LI><FONT size=2>Click the <SPAN style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #cccccc">access</SPAN> toolbar button beneath the topics, which will take you to an <EM>Access Control</EM> screen;</FONT></LI> <LI><FONT size=2>Uncheck "Read-only" and press <STRONG>OK</STRONG>.<BR><BR></FONT></LI></UL> <LI><FONT size=2><EM>Replying to a comment:</EM> To reply to a comment, look for the <IMG src="https://supportcenteronline.com/dmfiles/632/658/webCafé%20Library/webCafe%20Guide%20Images/Other%20webCafe%20Features/addicon.gif"> button next to the comment-- that is the reply button.  A pop-up window will appear in which you can give your reply a headline (smaller box) and type its full text (larger box).  After you complete your posting, press <STRONG>OK</STRONG>; your reply will appear indented below the original comment.<BR><BR></FONT></FONT></LI> <LI><FONT size=2><EM>Deleting a comment</EM>: Click the <IMG src="https://supportcenteronline.com/dmfiles/632/658/webCafé%20Library/webCafe%20Guide%20Images/Other%20webCafe%20Features/deleteicon.gif"> delete button (a red "x") shown next to the reply button.  You'll be asked to confirm the deletion; press <STRONG>OK</STRONG> to confirm.<BR><BR></FONT></FONT></LI> <LI><FONT size=2><EM>Reposting a comment in a more applicable topic</EM>: While there is no move comment feature in <STRONG>web</STRONG><EM>Café</EM>, you can use your mouse to highlight a comment, then type Ctrl-C (or right-click on the highlighted block and click <EM>Copy </EM>from the pop-up menu) to copy its text to your computer's clipboard.  Now go to the correct topic in which you wish this comment to appear, and do the following:</FONT></FONT></LI> <UL> <LI><FONT size=2>Click <STRONG>add a comment</STRONG>; </FONT></LI> <LI><FONT size=2>in the comment window, type the word "From" followed by the name of the participant who originally posted the comment in the headline (smaller) box, then click once in the full text (larger) box and type Ctrl-V to paste from your clipboard (or right-click in the full text box and choose <EM>Paste</EM>).  Reformat the pasted text as needed, then press <STRONG>OK</STRONG>.</FONT></LI> <LI><FONT size=2>Finally, return to the original comment in the incorrect location and delete it using the <IMG src="https://supportcenteronline.com/dmfiles/632/658/webCafé%20Library/webCafe%20Guide%20Images/Other%20webCafe%20Features/deleteicon.gif"> (red "X") button.<BR><BR></FONT></LI></UL> <LI><FONT size=2><EM>Archiving old discussions: </EM>Start by creating a new discussion area for old topics.  This can be done by clicking any folder's <STRONG>create</STRONG> button, then choosing to create a Discussion. Next:</FONT> <UL> <LI><FONT size=2>Give this new Discussions area a title; call it <EM>Archived Discussions</EM> or something similar that participants will understand as the place for old topics; uncheck "Create the first topic now", and press <STRONG>OK</STRONG>.</FONT></LI> <LI><FONT size=2>Now go into the preexisting "overcrowded" Discussion.  You'll be taken to a topic.  Look in the left-side navigation map and click the overall Discussion -- this is usually shown with the <IMG src="https://supportcenteronline.com/dmfiles/632/658/webCafé%20Library/My%20Images/SmDisc0.gif"> icon, and it will have the topics appearing indented below it.</FONT></LI> <LI><FONT size=2>Clicking that will take you to the topic management area for the Discussion.  Sort these by date and check off the topics that are older than you would like, then click the <STRONG>cut</STRONG> button on the topic management area's bottom toolbar.</FONT></LI> <LI><FONT size=2>Now, in the map, right-click on your new <EM>Archived Discussions</EM> icon and choose <STRONG>Paste</STRONG> from the pop-up menu.  The selected older topics will be moved out of the main discussion area and into this archive area.<BR></FONT></LI></UL></LI></UL></p><h3>Alternate Questions/Keywords</h3><p>clutter overcrowded</p><br><br><br><br><a target='_new' href='http://www.parature.com' style='font-family:Verdana;font-size:10px;color:999999;'>Help Desk and Customer Support Software by Parature</a>