WebCT Discussions
Discussions allows you to engage in asynchronous online discussions. Discussions is divided into different topics which allow your instructor to create discussion groups around particular subjects. Topics can be public or private. Everyone in your course can access public topics, while private topics are available only to the set of students and teaching assistants that the instructor chooses.
With the Discussions tool, you can:
When you click on the Discussions icon, you will see a listing of Topics. For each topic, the number of Unread messages in that topic are listed, along with the Total number of messages. The Status column will also note whether the Topic area is locked or unlocked. In a locked topic area, messages can be read, but not posted.
To read or compose a message, first click on the Topic area meant for the assigned discussion.
Compose and Post a Message on Discussions
By default, messages are presented in the order they were posted according to time. This is referred to as the Unthreaded format. In the following example, the Display information tells us that we are looking at "All" the messages in an "Unthreaded" format in the topic "Week 1 Discussion". The Status column of the messages shows that messages 1, 2, and 3 have been opened 
and message 4 has not been opened 
. (If we were to click on the Unread button in the Display row, only message 4 would appear.)
Click on the [Threaded] button results in the following format:
The green triangles pointing to the right signify a thread (a group of messages having the same subject heading). The Status column indicates that there are 0 unread out of 3 total messages with the Subject heading "Assignment" and 1 unread out of 1 total messages with the Subject heading "Other thoughts". If you click on the "preview" button [
] button, you can view all of the messages in the thread on one page.
To expand a thread, click the green triangle so that it points down. (To collapse the thread, click the green triangle again.) Note that in the following listing of messages, the replies are indented.
To compose a new message, click on the [Compose Message] button.
- Check the Topic to make sure you are in the right area.
- Enter a subject in the Subject box. To change the number of viewable lines in the Message text box, from the Height of edit area drop-down list, select a number, and click [Resize]. To allow text to continue horizontally beyond each visible line, select "Don't wrap text".
- In the Message text box, enter your message.
- If you want to attach a file to your message:
- Next to Attachments, click [Browse].
- Your computer's file browser appears. Locate and select the file you want to upload. The path and filename (on a PC) or the filename (on a Mac) of your attachment appears in the Attachments text box.
- Click Attach file. The filename appears as a link, and the file is attached to your message.
- To preview your message before posting it, click on the [Preview] button at the bottom of the "Compose New Message" window. When finished previewing the message, click on [Close]/
- To cancel the message before it has been posted, click on the [Cancel] button.
- To post the message, click on the [Post] button. Each "new" message posted will generate a "new" thread.
*TIP* After posting your message, click on the [Update listing] button. This displays the message you just posted or any other messages that have been posted since you entered the discussion topic area.
To read a Message, click on its Subject heading. The message will list the Subject, its number, the author, and the Date. The content of the message will be in a somewhat smaller and lighter text font.
Example:
Clicking on one of the four buttons at the bottom of the message window will have the following effect:
Brings up the first message of the previous thread
Brings up the previous message in the currently viewed thread
Brings up the next message in the currently viewed thread
Brings up the first message in the next thread
To Reply to a Message
Click on the message to which you want to reply. There are 3 ways to reply to a message:
- [Reply] - When you click on this button, the "Reply to Message:" window appears. The subject of the message you are replying to will be filled in but can be editted. After entering the text of your message in the Message box and clicking on [Post], the message will appear in the same topic area below and indented from the message to which you were replying.
- [Quote] - To include the original message in your reply click on the [Quote] button.
- [Reply Privately] - To reply only to the person who posted the message, click on the [Reply Privately] button. When you reply privately, your reply is sent as a mail message to the person who posted the message, rather than being sent as part of the discussion forum. The recipient of your reply should check their mail messages for your response.
To Search Messages
Click on Discussions and then click on the [Search] button, along with a listing of all the messages. The Search Topics window appears in a new browser window. Select your search parameters:
- From the Search drop-down list, select to search All messages or only Unread messages.
- From the Topic drop-down list, select the topic to search.
- From the Criteria drop-down list, select from the following filters: First name, Last name, User ID, Subject, Message No., Date, or Message (Any of the words in the text of a message).
- From the Comparison drop-down list, select how the information entered in the Value text box will be compared with the search Criteria.
- Contains - Retrieves messages containing the letters or numbers entered in the Value text box.
- Equals - Retrieves messages that match exactly the letters or numbers entered in the Value text box.
- Starts with - In combination with a text filter (Name, Subject, Message) retrieves messages with words that begin with the letter entered in the Value text box.
- Ends with - In combination with a text filter (Name, Subject, Message) retrieves words that end with the letter entered in the Value text box.
- In the Value text box, enter the words or numbers you want to search. If you have selected the Date filter, enter the date in the format mm,dd,yyyy. Include the commas.
Click [Search], and then click [Close]. The Discussion Messages screen appears listing all messages that satisfy your search requirements.
Compile and Download Messages
You can compile Discussion messages into one file and download the file. From the Discussions window, click on the Topic whose messages you want to compile.
Select the messages you want to compile by clicking on the box to the left of the message. If you click on the box to the left of a thread heading, all of the messages in that thread are automatically selected. To select all the messages in a Topic area, select the box to the left of the Subject heading. When you've selected all the messages you want compiled, click on the [Compile] button.
To download your compiled messages, click [Download]. Your browser's file download dialog box appears. Follow the on-screen instructions. When the download is complete, click [Close]. The Discussion Messages screen appears.
Topic Settings
[Topic Settings], a button selection in the Discussions window, allows you to control how messages are displayed on your screen. Selections made in Topic Settings will apply only to your own view of Discussions.
You can choose to:
- display a particular number of threads per page or all the threads at once (the default)
- display a particular number of characters in the subject of a message or display the entire subject
- set the default for composing messages in anonymous topics with an anonymous status.
The default topic settings are shown in the image below.
