Configure Open edX Discussions - Legacy#
Note
This is the legacy way to create a discussion component (for installations running the Palm or earlier releases; the new method was released in Quince, December 2023). View the latest way to create a discussion component in Configure Open edX Discussions.
You can add discussion components to a unit to pose questions about other components, such as videos or text, in the unit. A discussion component gives learners a chance to respond to and interact with each other about a specific subject.
Discussion topics that you create by adding discussion components in your course are known as content-specific discussion topics.
For more information about discussions, see these topics.
Create a Discussion Component#
Note
The recommendation is to add a Text component before each discussion component to introduce the topic you want learners to discuss. The discussion component itself does not contain any text and can be easy for learners to overlook.
Under Add New Component, select Discussion.
Warning
You should always use these steps to create a discussion component. Do not create discussion components by using the Duplicate button in Studio. Duplicated discussion components result in discussion topics containing the same conversations, even if users post in different discussions.
In the discussion component that appears, select Edit.
Follow the guidelines in the editor to fill in the Category, the Display Name, and the Subcategory fields.
Note
Each Category/Subcategory pair for the discussion topics in your course must be unique.
The value in the Display Name field identifies the discussion in the course content. The default display name for new discussion components is “Discussion”. Changing the default to a unique, descriptive display name can help you and your learners identify different topics quickly and accurately. If you delete the default display name and do not enter your own identifying name, the platform supplies “discussion” for you.
The values in the Category (1) and Subcategory (2) fields are visible to learners in the list of discussion topics on the Discussion page.
Select Save.
Note
On the Discussion page, you cannot see category and subcategory names of discussion components you created until after the course has started and the unit is released. For more details about when discussion topics are visible, see Understanding When Learners Can See Discussion Topics.
See also
About Course Discussions (concept)
Best Practices for Configuring Course Discussions (concept)
Configure Open edX Discussions (how-to)
Best Practices for Moderating Course Discussions (concept)
Assign Discussion Moderation Roles (how-to)
Moderate Discussions (how-to)
Toggle Anonymous Discussion Posts (how-to)
A Learner’s View of the Discussion (reference)
About Divided Discussions (concept)
Guide to Managing Divided Discussions (reference)
Set Up Divided Discussions (how-to)
Maintenance chart
Review Date |
Working Group Reviewer |
Release |
Test situation |
03/17/2025 |
Leira (Curricu.me) |
Sumac |
Fail (openedx/docs.openedx.org#907) |