Organizing People and Work with Microsoft SharePoint 2010

Enhancing Communication with the Discussion List

A discussion list provides the ability to track an initial request or comment, as well as all the replies to that post. This type of tracking is referred to as a threaded conversation or a discussion.

You can use multiple discussion lists to support the features of a typical forum, or you can customize a discussion list with a category column to track all discussions related to a specific topic.

Discussion lists can also be connected to Outlook and used to archive e-mail. The contents of e-mail messages are converted to posts, and messages that share the same subject line are automatically added as replies to the original post.

Create a Discussion List

1. Click More Options on the Site Actions menu.

   

2. In the Create dialog box, do either of the following:

   • Click List and/or Collaboration in the Filter By list.

   • Type Discussion Board in the search box, and click the search icon.

3. Click Discussion Board.

4. Type a name for your list.

5. Click Create.

   

Start a Discussion Thread

1. Select your discussion list in the Quick Launch bar.

2. Click Add New Discussion.

   

3. Type a title and a body for the discussion item.

4. Use the Editing Tools tab to apply styles or insert objects into the body of your post.

5. Click Save.

   

Reply to a Discussion Thread

1. Click the Subject link.

   

2. Click Reply.

   

3. Add your comments to the body of the item.

4. Click Save.