--- title: "Discussions: A Quick Guide for End Users" description: "One-page guide for employees using the Vitextra Discussions board in SharePoint Online or Microsoft Teams: the topic list and its views (Recent, Unanswered, Answered, Featured, My topics), filtering by category and search, opening a topic, starting a new topic, replying, liking, following a board or a topic, and what your SharePoint permissions let you do." url: https://vitextra.com/en/support/kb/10397 language: en published: 2026-11-01 modified: 2026-11-01 products: - "Discussions" author: "Lidija Reising" tags: ["Discussions user guide", "SharePoint discussion board how to use", "forum web part end users", "topic list views", "Unanswered Answered Featured My topics", "reply to a topic SharePoint", "like a post", "follow a topic", "Vitextra Discussions"] --- # Discussions: A Quick Guide for End Users One-page guide for employees using the Vitextra Discussions board in SharePoint Online or Microsoft Teams: the topic list and its views (Recent, Unanswered, Answered, Featured, My topics), filtering by category and search, opening a topic, starting a new topic, replying, liking, following a board or a topic, and what your SharePoint permissions let you do. ## What you see on the board **Discussions** is a discussion board and Q&A forum that lives on a SharePoint page or in a Microsoft Teams tab. A board is a list of **topics**; each topic has a thread of **replies**. You open the board like any other page of your intranet, and everything you post is stored in lists of that same SharePoint site, protected by the site's permissions — nothing leaves your Microsoft 365 tenant (see [KB10363. Where Vitextra Products Store Your Data: Privacy, Data Residency and GDPR](https://vitextra.com/en/support/kb/10363)). The board opens on the **topic list**. Every row shows the topic title, a short excerpt of its text, the author, when it was last active and, if the page owner enabled them, the category and the **replies** and **views** counters. Topics that a moderator pinned stay at the top; all others are ordered by their last activity, newest first. An icon at the left tells the type of the topic at a glance: a speech bubble for a discussion, a question mark for an open question and a check mark for a question with an accepted answer. ![The topic list of a Discussions board](https://static.vitextra.com/articles/10397/topic-list-en.png) *The topic list of a Discussions board* Small badges next to a title explain its state: | Badge | Meaning | |---|---| | **Pinned** | A moderator keeps the topic at the top of the list. | | **Featured** | The topic is highlighted by a moderator and appears in the **Featured** view. | | **Question** | A question that has no accepted answer yet. | | **Answered** | A question whose author or a moderator marked the best answer. | | **Locked** | The topic is closed for new replies. | | **Awaiting approval** | Your topic is waiting for a moderator (shown only to you and to moderators). | A paperclip icon means that the topic has attachments. ## Views: Recent, Unanswered, Answered, Featured and My topics The tabs above the list switch between the **views** of the board: - **Recent** — every topic, ordered by last activity. - **Unanswered** — questions that have no accepted answer yet. This is the place to look when you want to help. - **Answered** — topics with an accepted answer; useful as a ready knowledge base. - **Featured** — topics a moderator has highlighted. - **My topics** — the topics you started. The page owner decides which view opens first. On a board that is set up for discussions only, the **Unanswered** and **Answered** tabs are not shown, because such a board has no questions to answer. Long boards load in pages. When more topics exist than fit on one page, a **Load more** button appears under the list and fetches the next page without leaving the view. ## Filtering by category and searching If the board has categories, a dropdown next to the view tabs lets you narrow the list to one category; **All categories** brings the full list back. The **Search topics** box searches the **titles** of topics: type a word or a phrase and press Enter, and clear the box to return to the unfiltered list. Views, the category filter and the search work together, so you can, for example, list only unanswered questions in the *IT support* category whose title contains *VPN*. When no topic matches the current filter or search, the board says *Nothing found.*; an empty board with no topics at all shows *No topics yet. Start the first one.* 📝 **Note** Search looks only at topic titles, not at the text of topics or replies. Give your topics descriptive titles so that colleagues can find them later. ## Opening and reading a topic Click a topic to open it. The topic page shows the author, when the topic was posted (hover over the time to see the exact date), its category and the number of views, then the text, attachments and the thread of replies below it. The **Back to topics** button returns you to the list. ![An opened topic with its replies](https://static.vitextra.com/articles/10397/topic-view-en.png) *An opened topic with its replies* While a topic is open, the page address contains the topic number (`?topic=ID`). Copy the address from the browser and send it to a colleague: the link opens the board with that topic already open. In Microsoft Teams the same link opens the board tab. A link to a topic that is still awaiting approval or was rejected works only for its author and for moderators; anybody else sees the message *This topic is not available. It may be awaiting approval or may have been removed.* and the **Back to topics** button. Attachments are shown as small chips under the text; click a chip to download the file. Replies are shown as a tree: a reply to a reply is indented under the message it answers, and there is no limit to the depth. Within one level the oldest reply comes first. In a question topic the accepted answer is placed at the top of the thread and carries the **Accepted answer** badge. ## Starting a topic Click **New topic** in the command bar above the list. Enter a **Topic title** (required), pick the type (**Discussion** or **Question**) when the board allows both, choose a **Category** if the board has any, write the text in the editor, attach files if needed and click **Post**. The new topic opens immediately and you are automatically subscribed to it. As the author you can later **Edit** your topic — its title, category and text — as long as it is not locked, and **Delete** it together with all its replies; the board asks for confirmation before deleting. The form and the differences between discussions and questions are described in [KB10398. Starting a Topic: Discussions and Questions](https://vitextra.com/en/support/kb/10398). ## Replying and liking To answer the topic itself, write in the editor at the bottom of the thread and click **Post**. To answer a specific message, click **Reply** under it: an inline editor labelled *Reply to [name]* opens and your reply is nested under that message. The editor supports formatting, links, images, code blocks, attachments and @mentions. You can **Edit** your own replies at any time and **Delete** them as long as nobody has replied to them; the board asks you to confirm the deletion. The details are in [KB10399. Replying in Threads: Reply, Edit and Delete](https://vitextra.com/en/support/kb/10399). **Like** marks a topic or a reply you found useful; the number of likes is shown next to the button, and clicking again removes your like. If you asked a question and one of the replies solved it, mark it with **Mark as answer** — see [KB10400. Marking the Best Answer in Q&A Topics](https://vitextra.com/en/support/kb/10400). If you see a post that breaks the rules, click **Report** to flag it to the moderators; a post can be reported once per person. ❗ **Important** On a board where a site owner enabled approval of new posts, your topics and replies are shown with the **Awaiting approval** badge and the message *Thank you. Your post will be visible after a moderator approves it.* Until a moderator approves them, only you and the moderators can see them. ## Following a board or topic The **Follow** button appears in the command bar of the board and at the top of every topic. One click subscribes you with the **Immediately** frequency; the arrow next to the button opens a menu where you choose **Immediately**, **Daily digest** or **Weekly digest**, or **Unfollow**. While you are subscribed the button reads **Following** with the chosen frequency. Following a board covers new topics on that board; following a topic covers new replies in it. You follow the topics you start automatically. ![The Follow menu with digest frequencies](https://static.vitextra.com/articles/10397/follow-menu-en.png) *The Follow menu with digest frequencies* 💡 **Tip** The board records your subscription; the e-mail itself is sent by a Power Automate flow that your site owner sets up. If you follow a topic but receive no mail, ask the owner whether the flow is in place. See [KB10404. Following Boards and Topics: Subscriptions and Digest Frequency](https://vitextra.com/en/support/kb/10404). ## What you can do depends on your permissions Discussions does not have its own user accounts or roles: it uses the permissions you already have on the SharePoint site. | You have | You can | |---|---| | **Read** on the site (visitor) | Browse the views, filter and search, open topics, download attachments, follow deep links. The **Like**, **Reply** and **Follow** buttons are not available. | | **Add items** (member with Contribute or Edit) | Everything above, plus start topics, reply, like, follow, report posts, edit and delete your own topics and replies (a reply only while it has no replies), and attach files. | | **Manage Lists** (site owner, moderator) | Everything above, plus approve, reject, pin, feature and lock topics, edit and delete other people's topics and replies, open the **Moderation** queue and change the board's settings in the **Board settings** panel. | Guests invited to the site take part with the same rules. If a button described in this article is missing for you, your permission level on the site is the reason — see [KB10408. Permissions in Discussions: Who Can Read, Post and Moderate](https://vitextra.com/en/support/kb/10408).