Forum boards elevate and organize the Forum by grouping posts by topic, timeframe, member type, etc. Boards encourage community growth in niche interest areas and provide a solution for easier navigation and access to space-restricted Forum discussions and engagement.
You control the access and visibility of boards and posts within from the Forum dashboard.
Forum Boards were introduced in April 2024. All posts made before April 18, 2024 have been automatically added to a 'General' forum board. This 'General' board can be customized with branding and verbiage in the dashboard, and posts from within can now be moved to another board by admins in the dashboard or Forum moderators on the front end.
Access & Visibility of Boards
Each post must be assigned to a board and boards (and all posts within) can be accessible to visitors, only signed-in members, or only to selected spaces.
Boards are displayed at the top of the Forum and members can read posts in each Board by selecting the board cover, or the board tag on the post.
Web Access Settings
You can set the access and visibility settings in the forum board dashboard. This controls who can see the board and all posts within.
Public Boards
Boards that are marked Public are visible to visitors to the community and all members who are signed in.
Gated Boards [Skippable Gate or Enforced Gate]
Boards that are gated (either by skippable gate or enforced gate) are visible to visitors to the community and all members who are signed in. Visitors cannot engage with the posts within that gated boards (upvote or like, comment, or read all comments) unless they sign in.
Assign the access restrictions of boards in the dashboard.
'All Members' Boards
Boards that are restricted to 'All Members' are only visible to members who are signed in and not to visitors.
Assign the access restrictions of boards in the dashboard.
Space Restricted Boards
Individual posts cannot be restricted to spaces, but boards can be. If a board is restricted to a space, only those members in the space can see the Board cover and any posts within that Board.
Assign the access restrictions of boards in the dashboard.
Moderator-only Boards
Boards can be restricted so only Forum Moderators can post to that board. This limits who can post to that board, but any member can comment on the posts within.
Restrict posts to moderators only in the Forum Board Dashboard Settings:
Selecting & Assigning a Board
Members posting on the Forum select which board their post is assigned to at the base of their post creation. Only boards that they have access to will appear as selection options, and they cannot create new boards.
If a member posts to a moderator-only board, they will receive an error message and will have to select a new board
Changing a Post's Board Assignment
Forum moderators and admins can now move or change the board assignment by the author from the post or in the dashboard.
Forum (front end)
From the post list page, or within the post, Forum moderators will select the three-dot menu icon in the upper right and select 'Change board'.
Dashboard (back end)
From the Posts & Comments menu item, admins will select the box in line with the post or posts, and select the 'Change board' button at the top of the list
Settings & Customization
Dashboard Admins can add and customize the Forum Boards in the dashboard to match branding and language and set their access levels and visibility.
Learn more about Forum Settings and Data here.