Discussions

The Discussions module in the UNA app enables users to post forum messages, comment, rate, and promote them based on their permissions.

General

By default, the standard Discussion functionality operates as follows:

• Users can post new forum messages, which then become available for search, commenting, and rating by other UNA users.
• If the Notifications app is installed, the user's friends and followers will be promptly notified of this activity.

Blocks

Browse Labels

• Displays parent and child labels.
• Clicking on a label opens the corresponding channel page, showing discussions created under that label.
• Note: The Labels field must be enabled in the New Discussion form.

Comments Search Form

• Allows users to search comments by author, text, and audience parameters.

Comments Search Results

• Displays the list of comments found based on the search parameters.

Discussions Categories

• Shows a list of categories with the number of posts under each.
• Clicking on a category filters the forum posts to display only those within that category.

Discussions Categories (Multi)

• Similar to the Discussions Categories block but works with the Categories field.
• Note: The Categories field must be enabled in the New Discussion form.

Discussions List

• Displays discussions sorted by creation time or the last comment in the thread.

Discussions With Recent Posts (Gallery/Grid/Showcase View)

• Displays discussions with recent posts in different view modes (Gallery, Grid, or Showcase).
• Sorting is the same as in the Discussions List block.

Favorite List

• Shows posts marked as "favorited" by the currently logged-in user.

Favorites of Author

• Displays the favorites of a specific user, similar to the Favorite List block but for a particular profile.

Featured Discussions (Gallery/Grid/Showcase View)

• Displays discussions that have been featured by an admin or moderator.

Manage All / Manage Own

• Blocks with a management panel for discussions.
• Admins/moderators can activate/deactivate, search, edit, and delete discussions.
• The Manage Own variant only shows discussions created by the logged-in user and excludes owner information in the item rows.

New Discussion

• A block with a form to create a new discussion.

New Discussions (Gallery/Grid/Showcase View)

• Displays discussions sorted in descending order by creation time.

Partaken

• Shows discussions created by the logged-in user or discussions where they have left comments.

Popular Discussions (Gallery/Grid/Showcase View)

• Displays discussions sorted in descending order by the number of views.

Popular Hashtags

• Displays a list of popular hashtags.

Search Form

• A block with a search form configured in the Forms app.
• By default, it includes the main fields of the discussion data.

Search Results

• Displays a list of discussions that match the search parameters.

Top Discussions (Gallery/Grid/Showcase View)

• Displays discussions ranked in descending order by vote actions (likes, reactions, or scores).

View Modes

• Gallery and Showcase view blocks display the discussion list with header thumbnails made from discussion covers (if uploaded).
• Grid View mode is a plain discussion list.

Permissions

• Create new discussion: Allows users to post a new discussion.
• Delete discussion: Permits users to delete any forum post.
• View discussion: Allows users to view the discussion page.
• Set discussion's cover: Enables users to change the discussion's cover image.
• Edit any discussion: Allows users to modify the text of discussions created by others.
• Delete any discussion: Permits users to delete any discussion.
• Pin any discussion: Allows users to pin discussions to the top of lists.
• Lock any discussion: Permits users to close comments in a discussion.
• Hide any discussion: Allows users to remove a discussion from lists without deleting it.
• Mark as answered: Permits users to mark a discussion with the "Unresolved" status as "Solved."

Forms and Fields

The main form for Discussions is named "Form" and uses four displays: New, Edit, Delete, and View. The New display is used for adding discussions and includes 14 active fields by default:

Default Fields

• Topic: The title of the discussion.
• Category: A list of categories, editable via Studio.
• Text Discussions: The main text content of the forum post.
• Attachments: Combines all possible attachment fields:
  • Link: A field for entering a URL.
  • Images: An image uploader.
  • Videos: A video uploader.
  • Files: A file uploader.
  • Note: Disabling the Attachment field hides all included upload fields.
• Polls: A field for adding multiple questions for voting.
• Header Image: An image placed in the header of the discussion post, used as a thumbnail in lists.
• Visibility: Filters which users can see the forum post.
• Content Filter: Sets age restrictions for the content.
• Resolvable: Indicates whether the issue mentioned in the discussion has been resolved.
• Submit: A button to save changes.

Disabled Fields (Default)

Six fields are disabled by default, but three are service fields and do not need activation:

• Added: Records the time the discussion was created.
• Changed: Records the time of the last changes made to the discussion.
• Delete confirmation: A checkbox to confirm the deletion of the discussion (used in its own form).

Other Optional Fields

• Categories: A field to select a category from a list.
• Post as anonymous: Hides the username of the discussion's author.
• Labels: Connects to the label system.