.. _Working with Discussion Components:

###################################
Working with Discussion Components
###################################

*******************
Overview
*******************

You can add a Discussion component to a unit, to pose a question related to the
Unit and give students a chance to respond and interact.

See the following topics:

* :ref:`Create a Discussion Component`
* :ref:`A Students View of the Discussion`


Before you add a Discussion component, it is generally a good idea to add an
HTML component that introduces the topic to be discussed. The Discussion
component itself does not contain any text and may be easy for students to
overlook.

Also see the following chapters:

* :ref:`Discussions`
* :ref:`Guidance for Discussion Moderators`

.. _Create a Discussion Component:

*****************************
Create a Discussion Component 
*****************************

To create a new Discussion component in an existing unit, ensure the unit is
Private. For more information, see :ref:`Public and
Private Units`.

#. Under **Add New Component**, click **Discussion**.

#. In the Discussion component that appears, click **Edit**.
  
   .. image:: ../Images/Disc_Create_Edit.png
    :alt: Image of the discussion component with the Edit button circled

#. When the Discussion component editor opens, follow the guidelines in the editor to fill in the **Category**, **Display Name**, and **Subcategory** fields.
   
   .. image:: ../Images/DiscussionComponentEditor.png
    :alt: Image of the discussion component editor
  
#. Click **Save**.

.. warning:: You should always use these steps to create a discussion component. If you create a discussion component by using the **Duplicate** button in Studio, both discussion components will contain the same conversations, even if users post in different discussions.

Discussion *categories* are immediately visible on the **Discussion** tab for your course when you create them, even if the unit that contains the Discussion component is set to Private. However, an individual Discussion component is not visible until the unit is published and release dates for the section and subsection have passed. See :ref:`Publishing Your Course` for more information.

Additionally, you cannot see posts, responses, or comments in a Discussion component when you are working in Studio. To see the discussion, go to the unit that contains the Discussion component in Studio, and then click **Preview** or **View Live** under **Unit Settings**.

.. _A Students View of the Discussion:

**********************************
A Student's View of the Discussion 
**********************************

For students, the display name for the Discussion component appears in the course ribbon at the top
of the page:

.. image:: ../Images/DiscussionComponent_LMS_Ribbon.png
 :alt: Image of a unit from a student's point of view with the component list
     showing a discussion component

The Discussion space appears under other components in the unit. It doesn't have
a label in the body of the unit. Instead, students see "Show discussion" or
"Hide discussion" on the left, and a blue **New Post** button on the right.

In the following example, the Discussion component follows Video and HTML
components:

.. image:: ../Images/DiscussionComponent_LMS.png
  :alt: Image of a video component followed by a discussion component

In the **Discussion** tab at the top of the page, students can find the category
and subcategory of the discussion in the left pane.

.. image:: ../Images/DiscussionComponent_Forum.png
 :alt: Image of the discussion page from a student's point of view


