This information applies only to the Original experience.

System Discussion Boards

About system discussion boards

In Blackboard Learn, you can create system discussion boards that are used institution-wide. These discussion boards are not course or organization specific, but are used for general campus events and information. If allowed, all users at the institution can access system discussion boards.

By default, system discussion boards appear on the Community tab, but an administrator can add the Institution Discussion Boards module to any tab.

Unlike a course, which has one overall discussion board, administrators can create multiple system discussion boards. Each discussion board may include multiple forums. For example, one discussion board can be created for Transportation, which includes forums on Public Transportation and Ride Sharing. Another discussion board can be created for Roommate Searches, with forums devoted to on-campus or off-campus housing.

Create system discussion boards

  1. On the Administrator Panel in the Communities section, select Discussion Boards.
  2. Select Create Discussion Board.
  3. Type a name.
  4. Select Submit.

Edit and delete system discussion boards

  1. On the Administrator Panel in the Communities section, select Discussion Boards.
  2. Select Open in a discussion board's menu to read and post messages, or select Edit to make changes.
  3. To remove a system discussion board, select it from the list and select Delete.

Forum users

Each forum in a system discussion board may be made available to some or all users at an institution. Administrators control user access through the Manage Forum Users page. This page lists only those users who are not participants in the forum such as users with the roles of manager, moderator, reader or blocked. This is different from a course discussion board, which lists all users in the class, regardless of forum role.

On the Manage Forum Users page, select Add Users to make the forum available to the users you choose.

Change roles

  1. On the Community tab in the Institution Discussion Boards module, select a discussion board title.
  2. On the Discussion Board page, open a forum's menu and select Manage.
  3. On the Manage Forum Users page, access the Forum Role drop-down list and make a selection.
  4. Select Go.
  5. Open a user's menu and select a new forum role. The user's role changes in the Forum Role column.
  6. View a list of all users with that role by selecting the forum role from the Forum Role list and selecting Go.

After you change a user's role to Participant, the user does not appear on the Manage Forum User page.