Categories and Discussions

Categories and Discussions

Categories

Understanding Categories

Categories are the top-level organizational structure of your forum. They group related discussions together and help users find content easily.

Best Practices:

• Keep category count manageable (5-15 categories)
• Use clear, descriptive names
• Add helpful descriptions
• Organize hierarchically when needed

Creating Categories

Access: Admin Panel > Discussions > Categories

1. Click "New Category"
2. Fill in details:
   • Name - Category display name (e.g., "General Discussion")
   • Slug - URL-friendly identifier (auto-generated from name)
   • Description - Category description (supports Markdown)
   • Parent Category - For subcategories (optional)
   • Icon - Category icon (Font Awesome class)
   • Color - Category color (hex code)
   • Order - Display order (lower numbers appear first)
3. Set permissions:
   • View - Who can view this category
   • Post - Who can create discussions
   • Reply - Who can reply to discussions
4. Click "Create Category"

Category Structure Example

General
├── Announcements (subcategory)
├── Introductions (subcategory)
└── Off-Topic (subcategory)

Support
├── Installation Help
├── Configuration
└── Troubleshooting

Development
├── Feature Requests
├── Bug Reports
└── Code Sharing

Editing Categories

1. Find category in list
2. Click "Edit"
3. Modify settings
4. Click "Save"

Deleting Categories

1. Click "Delete" on category
2. Choose action:
   • Delete All Content - Remove category and all content
   • Move Discussions - Move discussions to another category
3. Confirm deletion

Category Permissions

Set category-specific permissions:

• View Category - Who can see the category
• Create Discussions - Who can start discussions
• Reply to Discussions - Who can post replies
• Moderate - Who can moderate this category

Discussions

Creating Discussions

As a User:

1. Navigate to a category
2. Click "New Discussion"
3. Fill in:
   • Title - Clear, descriptive title
   • Content - Discussion content (Markdown supported)
   • Tags - Relevant tags (optional)
   • Attachments - Upload files (if enabled)
4. Click "Create Discussion"

Best Practices for Titles:

• Be specific and descriptive
• Use proper capitalization
• Avoid all caps or excessive punctuation
• Search before posting to avoid duplicates

Discussion Features

Pinning Discussions

Pin important discussions to the top:

1. Open discussion
2. Click "Pin" (admin/moderator only)
3. Discussion appears at top of category

Locking Discussions

Lock discussions to prevent new replies:

1. Open discussion
2. Click "Lock" (admin/moderator only)
3. Users can view but not reply

Moving Discussions

Move discussions between categories:

1. Open discussion
2. Click "Move" (admin/moderator only)
3. Select target category
4. Confirm move

Deleting Discussions

1. Open discussion
2. Click "Delete" (admin/moderator only)
3. Confirm deletion

Discussion Sorting

Users can sort discussions by:

• Latest - Most recently active
• Oldest - Oldest first
• Most Replies - Highest reply count
• Most Views - Highest view count
• Title - Alphabetical

Discussion Filtering

Filter discussions by:

• Tags - Filter by specific tags
• Author - Filter by discussion creator
• Date Range - Filter by creation date
• Status - Pinned, locked, normal

Posts

Creating Posts

Posts are replies within discussions:

1. Open a discussion
2. Scroll to reply box
3. Write your reply (Markdown supported)
4. Add attachments if needed
5. Click "Post Reply"

Post Features

Editing Posts

• Own Posts - Users can edit their own posts (if enabled)
• Time Limit - Edit window may be limited (e.g., 15 minutes)

Deleting Posts

• Own Posts - Users can delete their own posts (if enabled)
• Moderator Delete - Moderators can delete any post
• Soft Delete - Posts may be soft-deleted (hidden but recoverable)

Post Reactions

Users can react to any post using emoji buttons displayed below the content. Click a reaction to toggle it; click it again to remove it. Hovering a reaction shows the count and who reacted.

Available reaction types (name, emoji, colour, display order) are configured by administrators at Admin Panel > Discussions > Reactions.

Post Mentions

Mention users in posts:

• Use @username syntax
• Mentioned users receive notifications
• Mentions are clickable links

Draft Auto-save

While composing a discussion or a reply, Flatboard automatically saves a draft every few seconds. A discrete "Draft saved at HH:MM" indicator appears below the editor.

If you leave the page and return before submitting, a dialog offers to restore the saved draft (title, content, category, and tags are all restored). Declining the prompt deletes the draft. The draft is also deleted automatically when the form is submitted successfully.

Discussion Subscriptions

A bell button is displayed on every discussion page. Clicking it subscribes you to the discussion — you will receive a notification whenever a new reply is posted.

• Click Subscribe (bell icon) to follow a discussion
• Click Unsubscribe to stop receiving notifications
• Your subscriptions are listed in your profile under Subscriptions

To subscribe automatically to every discussion you create, enable Auto-subscribe to new discussions in Profile > Settings > Notifications.

Post Moderation

Moderators can:

• Edit Posts - Modify content
• Delete Posts - Remove posts
• Split Posts - Move to new discussion
• Merge Posts - Combine multiple posts
• Warn User - Send warning about post

Tags

Using Tags

Tags help organize and find content:

1. When creating a discussion, add tags
2. Separate multiple tags with commas
3. Use existing tags or create new ones
4. Tags are clickable for filtering

Tag Management

Access: Admin Panel > Discussions > Tags

• View all tags
• Edit tag names
• Merge duplicate tags
• Delete unused tags

Tag Best Practices

• Use consistent naming
• Keep tag count reasonable (3-5 per discussion)
• Use descriptive, specific tags
• Review and clean up tags regularly

Search and Discovery

Search Functionality

Users can search for:

• Discussions by title
• Posts by content
• Users by username
• Tags

Search Options:

• Search in specific categories
• Filter by date range
• Filter by author
• Advanced search operators

Discovery Features

• Recent Discussions - Latest activity
• Popular Discussions - Most viewed/replied
• Trending Tags - Popular tags
• User Activity - Recent posts by users

Moderation Tools

Reports

Handle user reports:

1. Access reports in admin panel
2. Review reported content
3. Take appropriate action:
   • Dismiss invalid reports
   • Warn users
   • Delete content
   • Ban users

Bulk Actions

Perform actions on multiple items:

• Bulk delete discussions
• Bulk move discussions
• Bulk lock/unlock
• Bulk pin/unpin

Best Practices

Category Organization

• Logical Structure - Organize by topic or purpose
• Clear Names - Use descriptive category names
• Helpful Descriptions - Explain category purpose
• Reasonable Count - Don't create too many categories

Discussion Management

• Clear Titles - Descriptive discussion titles
• Proper Categorization - Place in correct category
• Use Tags - Tag appropriately
• Moderate Actively - Handle reports and issues

Content Quality

• Encourage Quality - Guide users to post well
• Set Guidelines - Create posting guidelines
• Moderate Fairly - Consistent moderation
• Engage Community - Participate in discussions

Troubleshooting

Discussion Not Appearing

Check:

1. Category permissions
2. User permissions
3. Discussion is not deleted
4. Cache issues

Can't Create Discussion

Check:

1. User has create permission
2. Category allows new discussions
3. Rate limiting not blocking
4. User is not banned

Search Not Working

Solution:

1. Clear search cache
2. Rebuild search index
3. Check search permissions
4. Verify search configuration

Resources

• Admin Panel Guide - Administration interface
• Users and Groups - User management
• Security Guide - Security and permissions
• Troubleshooting - Common issues

Last updated: March 28, 2026