---
title: "Starting a Topic: Discussions and Questions"
description: "How to start a new topic on a Vitextra Discussions board in SharePoint Online or Microsoft Teams: the New topic form with title, type, category, rich text body and attachments; the difference between a discussion and a question; what happens after you click Post, including automatic following and boards that require moderator approval, and how to edit or delete your topic afterwards."
url: https://vitextra.com/en/support/kb/10398
language: en
published: 2026-11-01
modified: 2026-11-01
products:
  - "Discussions"
author: "Lidija Reising"
tags: ["new topic SharePoint discussion board", "start a discussion", "ask a question forum web part", "topic type Discussion Question", "topic category", "post awaiting approval", "edit topic", "delete topic", "Vitextra Discussions new topic"]
---

# Starting a Topic: Discussions and Questions

How to start a new topic on a Vitextra Discussions board in SharePoint Online or Microsoft Teams: the New topic form with title, type, category, rich text body and attachments; the difference between a discussion and a question; what happens after you click Post, including automatic following and boards that require moderator approval, and how to edit or delete your topic afterwards.

## Before you start

A **topic** is the starting message of a thread on a **Discussions** board: a discussion you want to open or a question you want answered. To start one you need the **Add items** permission on the SharePoint site that hosts the board — members with the Contribute or Edit permission level have it. Visitors with read-only access can read the board but do not see the **New topic** button; if that is your case, ask the site owner.

Before posting a question, take a moment to search the board: the **Search topics** box and the **Answered** view often show that somebody has already asked the same thing (see [KB10397. Discussions: A Quick Guide for End Users](https://vitextra.com/en/support/kb/10397)).

## Opening the New topic form

Click **New topic** in the command bar above the topic list. The list is replaced by the **New topic** form; the cursor is already in the title field. **Cancel** closes the form and returns you to the list without saving anything.

![The New topic form](https://static.vitextra.com/articles/10398/new-topic-form-en.png)
*The New topic form*

## Filling in the form

| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| **Topic title** | Required, up to 255 characters. This is what colleagues see in the list and what the board's search looks at, so make it specific: *VPN drops every 30 minutes on Windows 11* works better than *VPN problem*. If you leave it empty, the form shows *This field is required* when you click **Post**. |
| **Type** | Shown only on boards that allow both discussions and questions. Choose **Discussion** or **Question** (see the next section). |
| **Category** | Shown only when the board has categories. Pick the one that fits, or leave **No category**. Readers can filter the list by category, so a correct category helps the right people find your topic. |
| Text | The editor with the placeholder *Describe the topic or question*. It is optional, but a topic without text is rarely useful. |
| Attachments | Click **Attach file** to pick one or more files; each appears as a chip that you can remove before posting. |

The text editor is the same one used for replies. Its toolbar offers bold, italic, underline and strikethrough, bulleted and numbered lists, a quote block, a code block, links, images and a **Clear formatting** button. Paste or drop an image into the text to add it inline (up to 10 MB per image), and type `@` followed by a name to mention a colleague. These features are described in [KB10401. Formatting Posts: The Rich Text Editor, Images and Code Blocks](https://vitextra.com/en/support/kb/10401), [KB10402. Attaching Files to Topics and Replies](https://vitextra.com/en/support/kb/10402) and [KB10403. Using @Mentions in Discussions](https://vitextra.com/en/support/kb/10403).

## Discussion or question?

The type decides how the board treats the thread:

| | **Discussion** | **Question** |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | An open conversation: an announcement to comment on, an idea, a request for opinions. | A problem that needs one answer. |
| Icon in the list | Speech bubble | Question mark, which turns into a check mark once an answer is accepted |
| Badges | None by default | **Question** until an answer is accepted, then **Answered** |
| Best answer | Not available | The author or a moderator can mark one reply as the **Accepted answer**; it is pinned to the top of the thread. |
| Views | **Recent**, **Featured**, **My topics** | Also listed in **Unanswered** until an answer is accepted, and in **Answered** afterwards |

Which types are available depends on the board's mode, set by the site owner:

- **Discussions only** — every topic is a discussion; the **Type** field is hidden.
- **Questions and answers only** — every topic is a question; the field is hidden.
- **Discussions and questions** — you choose. The field is preset to **Discussion**, so remember to switch it to **Question** when you expect an answer; otherwise your topic will not appear in the **Unanswered** view and nobody will be able to mark the best answer.

📝 **Note**  
**Edit** on a posted topic lets you change its title, category and text, but not its type. If you picked the wrong one, ask a moderator — they can correct the **Type** column of the topic in the *Discussions Topics* list.

## Posting the topic

Click **Post**. The board creates the topic, uploads the attached files one by one and opens the new topic for you. From this moment:

- the topic appears in the **Recent** view (and in **Unanswered** if it is a question) with the state **Open**;
- the page address contains the topic number (`?topic=ID`), so you can copy it from the browser and share it;
- you are **subscribed** to your own topic with the **Immediately** frequency, so a notification about new replies can reach you once your site owner has set up the notification flow — see [KB10404. Following Boards and Topics: Subscriptions and Digest Frequency](https://vitextra.com/en/support/kb/10404);
- people you mentioned are recorded with the topic for the same notification flow.

If one of the attachments fails to upload (for example, a blocked file type), the topic itself is still created; the board shows the error and you can attach the file again from the opened topic with **Attach file**. The topic, its attachments and the images in its text are all stored on the SharePoint site that hosts the board — see [KB10363. Where Vitextra Products Store Your Data: Privacy, Data Residency and GDPR](https://vitextra.com/en/support/kb/10363).

![A freshly posted question, automatically followed by its author](https://static.vitextra.com/articles/10398/posted-topic-en.png)
*A freshly posted question, automatically followed by its author*

## When the board requires approval

A site owner can switch on **Require approval of new posts** for a board. On such a board a topic posted by a member does not go live at once:

1. The topic opens with the **Awaiting approval** badge and the message *Thank you. Your post will be visible after a moderator approves it.*
2. Only you and the moderators can see it; other members do not find it in any view, and the reply editor is not shown to members until the topic is approved — only moderators can reply to a topic that is still waiting.
3. A moderator approves or rejects it in the **Moderation** queue. An approved topic becomes visible to everyone; a rejected topic stays visible only to you, marked **Rejected** in the list, and a moderator can still approve it later from the **Rejected topics** section of the queue.

Topics posted by moderators themselves are approved immediately. How moderators process the queue is described in [KB10409. Moderating a Board: Approval Queue, Rejecting and Dismissing Reports](https://vitextra.com/en/support/kb/10409); the visibility rules are summarised in [KB10430. Why a Post Is Not Visible: Approval, Rejection and Visibility Rules](https://vitextra.com/en/support/kb/10430).

![A topic waiting for moderator approval](https://static.vitextra.com/articles/10398/awaiting-approval-en.png)
*A topic waiting for moderator approval*

## After posting: editing and deleting your topic

As the author you can change your topic after posting: open it and click **Edit** under the text. The title, the **Category** (on boards that have categories) and the text open for editing in place, in the same editor as the form; click **Save** to apply the changes or **Cancel** to keep the original. Mentions you add or remove are updated together with the text. **Edit** is hidden while a moderator has locked the topic; moderators can edit any topic at any time. Attachments are managed outside the editor: **Attach file** under the text adds files and the cross next to a file name removes them.

![Editing a posted topic](https://static.vitextra.com/articles/10398/edit-topic-en.png)
*Editing a posted topic*

**Delete** under the text removes the topic together with all its replies and the images inserted in their text; the board first asks *Delete this topic together with all its replies? This cannot be undone.* Moderators see **Delete** on every topic.

❗ **Important**  
Deleting a topic removes the whole thread, including replies written by other people. The deleted items go to the site recycle bin, from where a site owner can restore them; the board itself has no undo.

Moderators can **pin** your topic to the top of the list, **feature** it, **lock** it when the conversation is over, and in Q&A topics they can mark the best answer on your behalf. You can like your own topic, follow or unfollow it, and — if it is a question — mark the reply that solved it with **Mark as answer** (see [KB10400. Marking the Best Answer in Q&A Topics](https://vitextra.com/en/support/kb/10400)).

💡 **Tip**  
Boards are often organised by category, and the first topics set the tone. If your board is new, read [KB10392. Creating Your First Board: Modes, Categories and Approval](https://vitextra.com/en/support/kb/10392) to see which mode and categories the owner can configure, and [KB10423. Organizing Topics with Categories](https://vitextra.com/en/support/kb/10423) for how categories are used.