eDirectory - Support Center

The Community Forum plugin offers an invaluable opportunity for users of your site to engage in meaningful communication and discussion on various topics. Whether it's sharing insights, seeking advice, or sparking lively debates, the forum provides a platform for users to interact and connect with one another.

Configuring the Forum

Follow the steps below to ensure that the Forum functionality works seamlessly on your site:

1. Customizing Forum Pages: Within Content → Page Editor section, you have the flexibility to customize the Community Forum pages to suit your preferences. Just like other system pages, you can tailor the forum pages to meet your specific needs and preferences.

2. Widget Configuration: Ensure that the Forum Home page and Forum Details page are properly configured with the necessary widgets. 

• Forum Home page: Make sure that the Horizontal Topic Bar widget is added to the Forum Home page. This widget allows users to suggest new discussions, fostering user engagement and participation.
  
   

Notice: It’s important to notice that the Horizontal Topic Bar widget is available to every page of your site under Design → Page editor section, which allows the administrator to suggest a new discussion anywhere.


When clicking to edit any page on the site, you can click to add a widget, and you should find the Horizontal Topic Bar widget

• Forum Detail Page: Make sure that the Forum Detail widget is added to the Forum Detail page. This widget allows the display of a specific page for topic discussions area, where users can interact with each other and discuss the topics. 
  

3. Creating Forum Categories: The Forum Module necessitates the creation of categories to enable users to select topics of interest. To create Forum Categories, navigate to Content →   Forum →   Categories, and click on "Add category". By setting up categories in advance, you ensure that your forum is well-organized and user-friendly from the outset.

Notice: While topics cannot be directly added to the forum from the site manager area, categories for forum topics must be created by the site manager, as demonstrated above. It's important to note that users do not have the ability to create categories themselves; they can only utilize the categories that the site manager creates. 
Administrators possess the authority to manage forum content by editing or removing discussions and answers as needed. However, please note that creating a new topic directly from the Site Manager is not possible; users must log in to create and initiate new discussions. Please, check the next steps for reference.

4. Accessing the Forum: to access the forum, users simply need to visit the designated URL: yourdomain.com/forum. From here, logged-in users can actively participate by posting responses and sharing their perspectives on ongoing discussions. In order to add a new topic, the user needs to click on "Sign in to start".  

5. Signing in: upon clicking on the "Sign in to start", the user can either sign directly if they already have an account, or they can create an account under the "Register" option. 

6. Adding a new topic: upon signing in, the user will see a field for them to type a topic title, and as soon as they start typing, the category and the text field for them to type the topic in more detail will be displayed. As soon as they finish typing, they can click on "Send".

7. Topic created: after hitting "Send" in the previous step, the topic is successfully created, and other users can access it to type their ideas and/or opinions.

8. User Interaction: logged-in users have the ability to respond to open discussions and share their insights on various topics.

9. Sponsor dashboard: users can edit their own comments and discussions by accessing their profile within the system, providing them with greater control over their contributions.

Note: The Community Forum is a plugin sold separately, if your site does not have the Community Forum section, check this link for more details: Community Forum/Q&A Plugin or contact your dedicated sales representative. 

The Community Forum plugin empowers users to engage in vibrant discussions and foster a sense of community within your site. By following these instructions, you can effectively leverage this powerful tool to facilitate meaningful interactions and enhance user engagement.