Starting a Discussion Topic

A new Discussion Topic can be started from within the Discussions tab of a Study by selecting Add Topic. You'll first be asked to define a Subject and an initial Description for the Topic space. The Topic's Subject is what will appear on the main Discussions page and will be used by participants to identify the general theme of the conversation. The Description will be used to explain the aim of the Topic in detail and can also include attached photos, videos or files.

If Discussion Categories have been enabled, a category will need to be selected during setup as well.

Basic Settings

Some basic Topic Settings are available during Topic creation by a Study administrator:

• Follow this topic to be notified of new posts can be selected so you receive notifications for all new replies and comments in the Topic (please note that a popular Discussion Topic could have dozens of notifications)
• Announce topic in the Summary tab stream can be selected so that there will be an announcement that appears to participants for when they are reviewing things in the Summary page's Stream 
• Feature this topic in the topic list can be selected to star the Topic which will help prioritize it by pinning it to the top of the Topics list

Similar to an Activity's setup, you'll need to control who has access to the Topic and the level of socialization. In terms of Topic Visibility, you can select from the following options:

Topic visibility for Participants:

• All participants so that all study participants can potentially add to the Topic
• Only select segments so that only select groups of participants can access the Topic for a more focused discussion

Topic visibility for Clients:

• All clients so that all client observers can view the Topic and it's responses
• Only select clients so that only selected clients can view the Topic and it's responses
• Hidden from clients so that the topic will be hidden from all client observers

Topic Reply Sharing

In terms of Topic Reply Sharing, you can select from the following:

• Public: All replies are visible immediately so that participants can read through any posts that have been made and contribute as they'd like
• Uninfluenced: Replies are hidden from participants until they reply so that participants are mandated to post a reply to the Topic before they get to see others’ posts and interact with them
• Private: No sharing of replies among participants so that participants can make posts to your Topic that are not seen by the other participants