Forums were the original social media venues in the beginning stages of the Internet. A forum is organized into topics, and the Bandzoogle ‘Forum’ feature allows your fans to post messages and discussions within these topics to form a community on your website.

This help article includes the following:

  • Adding the ‘Forum’ feature
  • Adding boards to your ‘Forum’ feature
  • Adjusting your ‘Forum’ feature options
  • Managing your ‘Forum’

Adding the ‘Forum’ feature

To add the ‘Forum’ feature to your website, follow these steps:

  1. From the ‘Edit Content’ tab, click ‘Pages’ and open the page on which you’ll be working
  2. Click ‘Add feature’
  3. Select ‘Forum’ and use the placement arrows to set the feature’s location
  4. Click ‘Save’

Note: Only one (1) ‘Forum’ feature can be added to your website.

Adding boards to your ‘Forum’ feature

Discussion on forums is organized by boards and topics. To add boards to your ‘Forum’ feature, follow these steps:

  1. From the ‘Edit Content’ tab, click ‘Pages’ and open the page your ‘Forum’ feature is on
  2. Click on your ‘Forum’ feature to open the feature settings
  3. In your ‘Manage Forum’ settings, click ‘Add new board’
  4. Add the board ‘Title’ and ‘Description’
  5. Click ‘Save’

Adjusting your ‘Forum’ options

The ‘Forum’ feature offers built-in options that allow you to be notified when a comment is posted, or approve comments before they are posted live. Your fans can also create a profile and sign in before posting a comment.

  1. From the ‘Edit Content’ tab, click ‘Pages’ and open the page your ‘Forum’ feature is on
  2. Click on your ‘Forum’ feature to open the feature settings
  3. In your ‘Forum’ feature, click on ‘Options’ in the left settings panel
  4. Apply any of the following options:
    • Send me an email when a comment is posted: When a new comment is posted on your ‘Forum’, you’ll receive a notification at the email address associated with your account
    • Require my approval before display: In your ‘Manage forum’ options, you’ll see options to approve a comment before it is displayed on your website

Managing your ‘Forum’

Within your ‘Forum’ feature, visitors will be able to post comments within topic threads and create threads. In order to post to your forum, visitors will need to first register as a member of your site by clicking “Register” and filling out the Member Registration form.

To manage your forum, follow these steps:

Managing comments:

To edit, delete, or moderate comments on your forum, follow these steps:

  1. From the ‘Edit Content’ tab, click ‘Pages’ and open the page your ‘Forum’ feature is on
  2. Click on your ‘Forum’ feature to open the feature settings
  3. In your ‘Manage Forum’ settings, click ‘All’ to see all comments posted, or ‘Unapproved’ to view comments requiring approval
  4. Choose from the following options:
    • Edit: Click on the ‘pencil icon’ to edit a comment from one of your fans. Click ‘Save’ or ‘Cancel’ to complete.
    • Delete: Click on the ‘x’ at the top right corner of a comment to remove it from your website. Deleted comments cannot be retrieved once they are removed.
    • Approve comment/Delete comment: If you have applied ‘Require my approval before display’ in your ‘Forum’ options, new comments will need to be approved or deleted before they are displayed on your website. A notification will appear in your ‘Manage forum’ options and comments needing moderation will be clearly indicated in the ‘All’ or ‘Unapproved’ view.

Managing topics:

If you would like to change the title of a topic, manage comments within the topic, or delete a topic and all comments within the thread, follow these steps:

  1. From the ‘Edit Content’ tab, click ‘Pages’ and open the page your ‘Forum’ feature is on
  2. Click on your ‘Forum’ feature to open the feature settings
  3. In your ‘Manage Forum’ settings, click on the board the topic is listed under
  4. Click on the topic listed in the board
  5. Choose from the following options:
    • Edit: Click on the ‘edit topic’ to edit the topic with the following options:
      • Topic Title: Change the title of the topic
      • Board: Choose the board the topic will be listed under from the dropdown menu
      • Always on top: ‘Yes’ will pin the topic to the top of the board; ‘No’ will only move the topic in your board when there are new comments
      • Status: ‘Open’ allows new comments; ‘Closed’ means no new comments can be added in the topic.
    • Delete: Click on the ‘x’ at the top right corner of the topic to remove it from your website. Deleted topics cannot be retrieved once they are removed.
  6. Click ‘Save’ whenever editing