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Discussion Board in SharePoint 2013


There are some improvements in Discussion Board in SharePoint 2013.
When you create a new thread, the first thing you notice is the field "Question". With this field, you are categorizing whether the thread is for a normal discussion or should it be treated as a question.

If a thread is selected as "Question", and when users respond to the question, the person who asked the question can mark one of the answers as "Best Reply".

As shown above, there are two replies to this question. The first reply is chosen as "Best Reply". Observe that, the best reply is also displayed just below the question. What I observed is only one reply can be chosen as "Best Reply".
Another feature which increases the user experience is the way one can provide Reply. When you open the discussion thread, user get an option to reply on the same screen as shown below.

Featured Discussion – Discussion Thread can be marked as "Featured". It is like flagging certain discussion threads.

 
Views in Discussion Board
With the above features explained, also comes with them are some views.
In AllItems.aspx page, you get to choose the following views:
Recent – Lasted modified discussions
My Discussions – Logged in user's discussions
Unanswered questions – Questions which are not answered yet
Discussions with best replies – Questions which have got answer
Featured – The thread which are marked as "Featured".
Management – This view as I understand provides a summary view of the threads as shown below. Against each thread, it also displays number of replies and if it is a featured discussion.

Also notice the new ribbon section called "Moderation". Basically, this can be used to Mark/Unmark thread(s).
Who can get access to "Moderation" tab? These controls were not available for user from Member group. Owner could able to get access to these controls. Which specific permission, if any, is required for moderation is not known at this moment.
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Comments

  1. UnknownSeptember 22, 2013 at 8:55 PM

    is it possible to know if an item in the discussion board has been marked as a question or not?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SureshNovember 11, 2013 at 6:58 PM

      Veny, sorry for the delayed response. Discussion List has a column Question, which is of type Yes/No. This column value should be of your use (though I've not checked practically).

      Delete

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