How to Create a Message Board

Ploneboard is a user-friendly web bulletin board that allows users to create forums and discussions in our web site. Any user with SUNY RCC e-mail account can create message boards in his/her web folder. The user can create one or more forums for various topics within the message board. The user can also set the State of the message boards and forums to open or private to the public.

1. Sign into our website and go to the location that you want to add the message board.
2. Click on the Add new… menu and choose Message Board
   
3. This will open the Add Message Board panel.  Type in the name of your message board on the Title field, a required field. Enter a brief description of your board on the Description field. Enter the categories you want to be available for your message board on the Categories field. Example would be if I want to use the message board for a class, I would have category for Exam, Assignments, Discussion, etc. Once you are done, click on the Save button.
   
4. You just successfully created a Message Board. You can now set the State of the message board to either Open (default) or Hide. Open message board allows everyone to see the posting on your message board while Hide means that a user need to login with his/her SUNY RCC e-mail account to view the postings on your board.
   
5. To add a forum, click on the Add Forum menu on the View tab.
   
6. This will open the Add Forum panel.  Type in the name of the forum on the Title field, a required field.  Enter a brief description of the forum on the Description field.  Choose the category related to the forum on the Category list. You can also set the Maximum number of attachment per comment and the size of each attachment. Once you are done, click on the Save button.
   
7. You just successfully created a Forum. You can now set the State of the forum to either Require membership to post (default), Make free-for-all, Make moderated or Make private.
   
   1. Require membership to post – All users and anonymous visitors can view the contents but only members with RCC e-mail account can post in the forum.
   2. Make free-for-all – everyone and anyone can read and post in the forum.
   3. Make moderated – everyone can post in the forum but the message is only visible to the public after the designated reviewer publishes the message
   4. Make private – only members with RCC e-mail accounts can post or view contents of the Forum. The forum is not visible to anonymous visitors.
8. To start a conversation. Click on the Start a new Conversation button located at the bottom right of the forum.
   
9. This will open the Add conversation panel.  Type in the title on the Title field, a required field.  Type in your message on the Body text field. Once you are done, click on the Post comment button.
   
10. You have just created a conversation which will show up under the Forum of your Message Board
    
11. Your message board should look like this