JForum 2.4 Release Notes
Features & Enhancements
1. "Import from Site" support for JForum Discussion & Private
Messages
JForum now supports import from site. Instructors can
transfer categories, forums, and topics that are flagged as 'tasks' from
term-to-term with the
Import from Site feature (under Site Info).
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Import from Site
Business rules
- Categories and forum organization is
transferred
- If forums and categories with the same
titles exist, the imported ones are merged with them.
- Task topics with attachments are
transferred
- No replies or other topic types (i.e.
normal, sticky, etc.) are transferred
- Forum types (Normal, Read only, Reply
only, Deny Access) are respected
- Group forums are transferred as 'Normal'
as new groups will be set up in new sites
- No dates (lock at or make visible at)
are retained upon transfer. New dates are set in new sites.
- Imported task topics are posted with the
name of the importer.
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2.
Moderator Options
Instructors can now check topics to lock, unlock, delete, move, or mark as read
from the top-level forum topic page, without going to a separate "Open moderator options
screen."
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3. Forum Types and Access
Privileges
JForum 2.4 now supports three forum
types: Normal, Reply only, and Read only (equivalent to locked). When adding OR
editing a forum, instructors can specify a forum type:
- Normal (default) - all site
participants can post and reply in normal forums.
- Reply-Only - members of this forum
type can only reply to posts. They cannot post new topics. This is ideal
in forums where lead facilitators initiate formal discussion prompts.
- Read-Only (locked) - members of this
forum type can read but not post topics and messages. This is ideal when a discussion has
ended and the instructor wishes to lock further postings. Additionally, this
forum type may be used for setting up a forum where instructors and Teaching
Assistants post information and resources for students for viewing /
reading only.
Additionally, instructors may set access
privileges for forums:
The default access setting for new
forums is "All Site Participants," meaning that all registered students
and guests will have access to forums with this permission.
If instructors set a forum to "Deny Access,"
it will not be visible to students. This feature allows instructors to hide
forums from the students' view / list while they are still preparing them. Additionally, it
allows instructors to archive forums and/or hide them from the students' view
for one reason or another.
Allow Access to Selected Groups enables
instructors to assign one or more sections (rosters) or one or more groups of
students to a forum.
Users can recognize the different forum types
in the Discussion Home by their unique
icons. The following legend is included at the bottom of JForum's Discussion
Home page:
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Business rules
- The
Quick reply, post reply, and quote with reply buttons are not
be available in locked (read-only) forums for students. Instructors,
however, have the ability to post/reply in locked forums.
- Instructors can edit locked forums and topics,
they can post topics in reply-only forums, etc. Instructors and
administrators are all powerful, so-to-speak, and can moderate forums
openly.
- Read-Only and "Lock at specific date" forums overlap. If a forum
is set to Read Only (locked) upon creation, no lock at date is shown, as the action (locked) takes
place instantly.
- NEW BEHAVIOR:
"Make visible at x date" forums (Locked) are not visible to students until
the open date is reached, but they are visible to instructors. They are
marked with a red 'Deny Access' icon.
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4. Setting up Groups in Sites
To create groups in your site, complete the
following steps:
a. Go to "Site Info"
b. Click on "Manage Groups"
c. Click on "New"
d. Include a title for your group and a description.
e. Select members of the site member list and add to group.
If you change your
mind, you may select members of group list and remove them. To select more than
one person to move to a group, hold the CTRL key down to highlight more members.
Click on Add to group.
f. Click Update to save your changes
Below is a visual representation of the key
steps:
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Business Rules on
Groups
- Students cannot see forums that
they are not members of.
- Instructors can see all group (and
other) forums. They need not be added to groups.
- A student can be a member of
more than one group.
- When assigning students to groups, you
may mix students across sections. This is a powerful feature
for creating collaborative group projects across diverse student
populations and types of classes (online, hybrid, traditional, etc.).
- Students can only be part of one section (this is controlled by
your Admissions). Sections are typically pre-loaded in your sites by IT
staff.
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5. Establishing Groups for
Various Functions
a. Group forums for collaboration
- You can break your course into groups for
projects or focused discussion on topics.
- First, establish your groups under Site Info
>> Manage Groups.
- Create a forum per group/project (under Disc
& PM >> Manage >> Forums).
- (Optional) List the group/student names in
the "Description" field of each forum to help students 'see' where they
belong, or choose an A - P, R - S, etc. model for breaking students into
groups.
- Once the group projects or private group
discussions are over, you can 'edit' the forums and make them "Read Only"
(locked) AND set their access to "All Site Participants." This way, students
can VIEW but not alter the posts, yet learn from other teams. Or, you may edit
the forums and make them "normal," opening them up to the whole class for
further discussion, comments, or review.
b. Keeping forums organized by section
Suppose an ENGLISH instructor has two sections, 2908 and 2300, merged into one
course site. The rosters for both sections are loaded into the site by
Admissions & Records. However, the instructor may want to keep discussion
private for each section, or the dialogue manageable. To achieve that, you may assign forums to specific
sections. Sections are the same as groups with more metadata (from A&R).
When creating forums, if you have more than one section loaded into your site,
you will see the section numbers/id's under "Allow Access to Selected Groups." This way, you can
specify that a forum be ACCESSIBLE to a specific section only. See
examples in the following screen shot.
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Organizing your forums for different
sections
If you teach more than one section in a course
site, and the enrollment is large, to keep the dialogue manageable and separate,
create one category (and forums) per section.
- Category 1 title: Section 2908
- Class Discussions (set access to 2908)
- Journal Sharing (set access to 2908)
- Category 2 title: Section 2300
- Class Discussions (set access to 2300)
- Journal Sharing (set access to 2300)
- Category 3 title: Main
- Questions (set access to all site
participants)
- Student Lounge (set access to all
site participants)
Notice that the last category is set to allow
access to 'all site participants'. The instructor wants students from ALL
sections to post general questions in one forum so that she doesn't have to
answer them again and again for each section. A common Student Lounge is
also set up.
c. Setting up forums for specific roles
You can create groups and forums to keep
communication private, but easily accessible, amongst a specific group of users
in your site (it could be a mix of instructors, TA's, students).
For example, you could create a group called
"Instructional Team" in which you add all the TA's. Instructors need not be
added. They have access to all. Then, you can create a forum that is accessible
just to the Instructional Team to share privately how to handle things in the
class.
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Other
Fixes
- Added link to Gateway URL in the Private Message notification email and in the
new topic notification email message, allowing users to get to the system quickly.
- Changed button in private messages. Instead of
Post Topic the button for posting new Private Messages is now New PM.
More
relevant.
- If users link
to external image URLs for their avatars that are large, the software will
resize them automatically to 130 X 130, eliminating issues where large images
made the topic page too wide, introducing horizontal scroll bars. Image
uploads are resized automatically as well.
- Added locked icon before navigation bar at forum level for locked topics/forums.
This is visible only for student roles who cannot post in locked topics/forums.
However, as instructors can post/reply/edit in locked topics/forums, they don't
see a locked icon.
- Removed karma column from Member Listing.
Deprecated feature. Not applicable.
- Attachments with [ ] in filename no longer throw exceptions upon export.
- Guest accounts (email addresses) that have no first/last name are
displayed as Guest.
- Separated first and last name with 'comma' in Member Listing and PM drop-down
menu.
- Sometimes users were listed twice in Member
Listing. This is now fixed.
- Attachments were mysteriously replaced (same
filename). This should now be fixed.
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