On the soundhouse.org.au web site, the Forum Creation module can only be administered by sma2web2 members. Whilst anyone may contribute a Forum topic to a previously created forum, the initial creation of a forum is not available to Authenticated users or Anonymous users.

The Forum Creation module allows sma2web2 members to administer and create forum containers and topics.

• Containers help organize forums by grouping related or similar forums. For example, a container named "Food" may hold two forums named "Fruit" and "Vegetables", respectively.
• A forum holds related or similar forum topics (a forum topic is the initial post to a threaded discussion). For example, a forum named "Fruit" may contain forum topics titled "Apples" and "Bananas", respectively.

To use the Forum Creation option:

• You must be logged in as a sma2web2 member.
• Once logged in you should be able to see your user menu in the left sidebar. Click on Create content and note that there is summary information about each of the content types that you can create.
• Select Forum Creation - this will take you to the introductory page of the Forum Administration section of the soundhouse.org.au web site. Take a moment to familiarise yourself with this section and read through the Terms in Forums information. If there are any Containers or Forums already made they will also be listed at the bottom of this section. Please avoid altering the structure of other sma2web2 members' Forums or Containers.

The forum module lets you create threaded discussion forums with functionality similar to other message board systems. Forums are useful because they allow community members to discuss topics with one another while ensuring those conversations are archived for later reference. The forum topic menu item (under Create content on the Navigation menu) creates the initial post of a new threaded discussion, or thread.

A threaded discussion occurs as people leave comments on a forum topic (or on other comments within that topic). A forum topic is contained within a forum, which may hold many similar or related forum topics. Forums are (optionally) nested within a container, which may hold many similar or related forums. Both containers and forums may be nested within other containers and forums, and provide structure for your message board. By carefully planning this structure, you make it easier for users to find and comment on a specific forum topic.

When administering a forum, note that:

• a forum topic (and all of its comments) may be moved between forums by selecting a different forum while editing a forum topic.
• when moving a forum topic between forums, the Leave shadow copy option creates a link in the original forum pointing to the new location.
• selecting Read only under Comment settings while editing a forum topic will lock (prevent new comments) on the thread.
• selecting Disabled under Comment settings while editing a forum topic will hide all existing comments on the thread, and prevent new ones.