Introduction
Forums are online discussion areas where participants can have discussions on topics of common interest. Forum posts are visible to everyone in the program unless the forum is restricted by role. Chronus includes two default forums that can be utilized if desired - one for mentors and one for mentees. Additional forums can be created as needed.
The Forums feature must be enabled by your Chronus representative. If you would like to enable Forums for your program, please reach out to your dedicated Customer Success contact to discuss the feature and ensure it would work well with your program's purpose and design.
Accessing Forums
Once this feature is enabled for your program, you can view your default Forums and create new ones.
Navigation: Manage > Enrollment > Forums
Forum Actions:
View number of members, conversations and posts
Click onto the members, conversations and posts buttons to view details
Filter Forums by role
Click 'New Forum' button to add another forum
Edit or delete forum from the forum dropdown
Creating a New Forum
Click the 'New Forum' button on the upper right
Enter the name of the Forum
Available For - Check the relevant role box or boxes; Mentor, Mentee or both
Provide a description for the Forum.
Click “Create” to complete the new forum set-up.
On the main Forums listing page, you'll find all of your forums. Use each forum's dropdown icon to:
Delete, then 'Confirm'
Edit, then 'Save'
End User Experience
End users access Forums from Community on the main navigation bar. The Community area contains 3 features: Forums, Advice and Events. Selecting Forums will bring the user to the listing page of forums they have access to. Once they click on a forum, they can view by topic:
Last post
Number of posts
Number of views
New forum members will be able to view all past forum posts.
They can also take the following actions:
Click 'Join Forum'
Click on a topic to open it and add comments
Add new topic:
Click 'New Topic' on the top right hand side of a forum
Enter the topic title
Enter message
Click 'Create' on the bottom right
In terms of functionality, Discussion Boards and Forums are identical in how conversations, replies, and comments work. The difference is that Forums are accessed from the main navigation bar and Discussion Boards are accessed within the Connection Plan.
Forum Post Notifications
Whenever a user posts to a forum, members of the forum will be notified via email depending on their selections for 'Notifications' on their profile, in the 'Program updates and activities' area.