Participate in SOLE Discussions

Access your course discussions

Select Discussions from within Communication in the left navigation menu. If your instructor chooses, Discussion may also appear in within Content. You can create a new discussion or participate in any existing discussions.

• Create a new discussion: Clicking the Add Discussion icon. The Discussion must be given a Subject title and a Message. Upload an associated file if necessary. Use the pencil and trashcan icons to edit or delete a discussion you have created.

• Participate in an existing discussion: If your instructor has already created Discussions in which you are meant to participate, click View Discussion. Graded discussions will be labeled as graded in the title and will include the Due Date. The instructor’s message, such as topic, instructions, or other notes will be displayed at the top of the page.

View discussion posts

By default, posts are expanded on the page. You can collapse and expand all posts using the Collapse Posts button or expand individual replies and their comments using the Expand Post button.

• See only new posts: The Show Only New button can be used to review replies and comments that have been made since the last time you viewed the discussion board. Click the Show All button to return to view all posts. This button is only available if there are posts that have not been viewed at least once.

• Subscribe to a post: You can click the Subscribe button on the post to subscribe to receive notifications on new replies and comments for the discussion.

• Search through posts: Once there are multiple replies and comments within a discussion you can use the search bar at top of Discussion to locate specific posts. You can search by keywords or names to locate content.

• View all your posts and comments: View the number of replies and comments you have made below the Discussion search bar. Follow the links to visit your posts.

• Favorite a post: Each reply will have the option of being favorited. To do so you can click the yellow star below the post. The number of favorites a post has will be labeled in yellow as well. This is visible to all users that have access to the discussion.

• Bookmark your place in a discussion: Discussions can become rather long once multiple replies and comments have been made. Click the blue bookmark icon on a post in order to mark your place in the discussion. Next time you return to the discussion you will return to the bookmarked post and any new posts will be displayed underneath while any previous posts will remain above the bookmark.

• Upvote/downvote a post: Each post is labeled with both a green up arrow and a red down arrow. Clicking the green arrow will “upvote” the post and clicking the red arrow will “downvote” the post. Use this to express your overall thought on a post within the discussion.

Reply or comment in a discussion

Reply to the main discussion

Click the green Reply button to post to the discussion. The text box will open with the text editor for you to enter your reply. You can also use the paperclip icon to upload a document. Click the Cancel button to cancel your reply.

Your reply will post below the main discussion topic and your name and photo (if available) will display next to your post along with the date/time of the post.

Some discussions allow for more than one post and some only allow for a single post. Those that do not allow multiple submissions will no longer display the green Reply button once your first submission has been made. If you are unsure whether or not a Discussion allows for more than one Reply post confer with your instructor.

Comment on another user’s post

Click Comment on the bottom right of another user’s post. Click the Cancel button to cancel your comment.

Comments will be displayed in parenthesis below the reply. For example a Reply with two comments and one new comment will be labeled as (2 comments, 1 new).

Format and attachment options

While you can add text and format it using the HTML toolbar, you can also embed a video into your reply by clicking the YouTube button on the HTML toolbar. Paste the copied code from YouTube OR the video’s URL into the appropriate field. You may also choose a start time for the video. When you are finished click OK to save. The video will now be embedded into the discussion reply.

When uploading a photo, for PC users, the attachment feature will upload it as a downloadable file. A photo can be copied and pasted directly into the text box in order to display the photo in-line with text. However, this process is a bit different for Mac users because they cannot copy and paste the photo. Instead, the attachment feature should be used to post photos in-line with text. 

Tag other users in your comments

Use Callouts to mention another user within your comment. Type the @ symbol, begin typing their name, and then chose their name from the pop-up list that appears. This will tag the user within your comment and alert them to your mention according to their notification settings.

If another user mentions you using a Callout you will be notified according to your notification settings for Discussions. The number of New Mentions will also be listed on the Discussions homepage as part of the Discussion board's information. Click to view the discussion to review your mentions. 

Delete or edit your replies and comments

You may be able to delete or edit your Replies and Comments if these features are enabled by your instructor.

To edit your reply/comment you can click the pencil icon to open it and edit the content. Doing so will label the post as edited and it will display the date and time of the last edit as well.

To delete your comment click the trashcan icon.