Discussions Overview
This article lists every setting of the two web parts of Discussions — Discussions and Discussions Activity — with its values, default and effect, in the order of the property pane. Use it as a lookup; the walk-through for a first setup is KB10391. How to Add and Configure the Discussions Web Part, and the display settings are discussed with recommendations in KB10422. Views, Paging, Search and Counters: Display Settings of the Discussions Web Part.
To open the property pane, edit the page, select the web part and click the pencil (Edit web part). Both panes have three groups: Board, Appearance and About. Settings belong to the web part instance on the page; the board itself (its name, mode, categories and approval rule) is stored in the Discussions Boards list, is shared by every web part that shows it and is changed by moderators in the Board settings panel. The version described is 26.10.3.
The Discussions web part
The Not Configured screen
A web part without a selected board shows Not Configured in place of the content with the text The web part needs a board to show. Create a new board on this site or pick an existing one. and a Board choice:
| Choice | Fields | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| New board | Board name (required, up to 255 characters), Mode, Categories (one per line), Require approval of new posts (Yes / No, default No), Create board | Creates the five site lists if the site does not have them yet, adds a board item and connects the web part to it. Creating the lists requires the Manage Lists permission; without it the web part shows You do not have permission to create lists on this site. Ask the site owner to set up the board. |
| Existing board | Board drop-down, Use board | Connects the web part to a board that already exists on the site. Offered and preselected when the site has boards. |
The Mode drop-down has three values: Discussions and questions (the default), Discussions only and Questions and answers only. The form is explained in KB10392. Creating Your First Board: Modes, Categories and Approval.
Readers who open a published page with an unconfigured web part see Not Configured and The web part still needs to be configured. Please open the page in edit mode and provide the necessary information.
Board
| Setting | Values | Default | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Board | The boards of the site, by title | The board chosen on the Not Configured screen | Switches the web part to another board of the same site. The list is loaded when the pane opens; the drop-down is disabled until a board has been selected on the Not Configured screen. |
| Open List | Link | — | Opens the Discussions Topics list in a new tab. The same action is available as the Open List button in the toolbar of the web part in edit mode. |
The identifiers of the five lists and of the board are stored in the web part properties when the board is selected. If the lists are later found to be incomplete (a board configured before the subscriptions list and the assets library existed), the web part creates the missing lists and columns automatically as soon as a user with Manage Lists opens the page; Create board and Use board also bring the lists up to date, so columns added by later versions appear without a manual step.
Appearance
| Setting | Values | Default | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Default view | Recent / Unanswered / Answered / Featured / My topics — Unanswered and Answered are listed only when the selected board is not in the Discussions only mode | Recent | The view tab that is active when the page opens. If the saved value is not available for the board — for example after its mode was changed in Board settings — the list opens on Recent. |
| Topics per page | 5 … 100, step 5 | 20 | How many topics are loaded per request; a Load more button loads the next portion. |
| Show categories | On / Off | On | Shows the category drop-down above the list (when the board has categories) and the category name in each row. |
| Show reply and view counters | On / Off | On | Shows N replies and N views on the right of each row. |
| Show search box | On / Off | On | Shows the Search topics box; the search matches the topic title within the current view and category. |
About
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Product name | Vitextra Discussions, a link to the product page on vitextra.com |
| Version | The installed version of the package; a note There is a new version of this app. Get it now. and a Download link appear when a newer version is available |
| Status | The license status: Trial version (with You have N day(s) remaining on your trial subscription.), Active, Expired or Suspended |
| Tenant | The ID of your Microsoft 365 tenant, needed to assign a license |
Licensing is described in KB10434. Discussions Licensing: Trial, Activation and Plans. The version scheme (YY.M.build) is explained in KB10319. Vitextra Product Versioning: How to Read Version Numbers.
Commands on the web part
These are not property pane settings but depend on the user's permissions and the page mode:
| Command | Shown when | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| New topic | The user can add items to the lists (Contribute or Edit) | Opens the new-topic form |
| Follow / Following | The user can add items and the subscriptions list exists | Subscribes to the board with a frequency (Immediately, Daily digest, Weekly digest) |
| Moderation | The user has Manage Lists | Opens the moderation queue |
| Board settings | The user has Manage Lists | Opens the Board settings panel with Board name, Description, Mode, Categories (one per line) and Require approval of new posts; Save writes the changes to the board item |
| Import classic board | The user has Manage Lists and the page is in edit mode | Opens the classic Discussion Board importer |
| Open List (toolbar of the web part) | Edit mode, a board is configured | Opens the Discussions Topics list in a new tab |
| Edit (topic view) | The author of the topic while it is not locked, or a moderator | Edits the title, the category (when the board has categories) and the body of the topic in place; Save / Cancel |
| Delete (topic view) | The author of the topic or a moderator | Deletes the topic with all its replies and their inline images after a confirmation prompt |
Permissions are detailed in KB10408. Permissions in Discussions: Who Can Read, Post and Moderate.
The Discussions Activity web part
The Discussions Activity web part shows the latest topics of the site's boards with a link to each topic. It needs no configuration beyond the page it links to; it finds the lists of the site by itself.
Board
| Setting | Values | Default | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Board | All boards / one board of the site | All boards | Limits the feed to one board or shows every board of the site together |
| Board page URL | Text | Empty | The address of the page that hosts the Discussions web part (site-relative or absolute). Each topic becomes a link to that page with ?topic=ID. With an empty value the titles are shown as plain text. |
Appearance
| Setting | Values | Default | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum items | 1 … 50, step 1 | 5 | How many topics are shown, newest activity first |
| Show board name | On / Off | On | Shows the board title in the metadata line of each topic, before the author |
About
The same group as in the Discussions web part — product link, Version, Status, Tenant — for the same package.
Behaviour that is not a setting
- Only approved topics are listed; pending and rejected items never appear in the feed.
- The default title is Recent discussions; it can be replaced or cleared on the web part in edit mode.
- When the site has no Discussions lists, or the selected board has no topics, the web part hides itself completely on the published page (in edit mode it shows The web part needs a board to show... or No topics yet. Start the first one. instead).
- Each row shows the type icon, the title, the Answered badge where applicable, the board name, the author, the relative time of the last activity and the reply count.
The scenarios for this web part are described in KB10415. Showing Recent Discussions on Any Page with the Discussions Activity Web Part.
Settings outside the property pane
| Where | Setting | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| On the web part, in edit mode | Web Part Title | The heading above the content; empty by default for Discussions, Recent discussions for Discussions Activity |
| Section settings of the page | Background, full width | Both web parts follow the section's theme variant; Discussions also supports full-width sections. See KB10424. Theming: How Discussions Follows Your Site Theme and Fonts |
| Board settings panel (the Board settings command, moderators) or the board item in the Discussions Boards list | Board name, Description, Mode, Categories (one per line), Require approval of new posts | The board name shown in the Board drop-downs, its description, mode and category list, and whether posts of members wait for approval. Changed in the panel; the list form remains an alternative. See KB10423. Organizing Topics with Categories |
| List permissions of the five lists | Permission levels | Who can read, post (Add Items) and moderate (Manage Lists); see KB10408. Permissions in Discussions: Who Can Read, Post and Moderate |
| Page URL | ?topic=ID | Opens the topic with that ID directly; see KB10407. Sharing a Link to a Topic in Discussions (Deep Links) |
❗ Important
The board selected in the Board group is remembered by its ID. If the board item is deleted from the Discussions Boards list, the web part shows The selected board was not found. Open the page in edit mode and pick another one. Restore the item from the recycle bin or select another board; see KB10429. Troubleshooting Discussions: Not Configured, Board Not Found and Permission Errors.
Hosts and defaults from the package
| Property | Discussions | Discussions Activity |
|---|---|---|
| Supported hosts | SharePoint page, SharePoint full-page app, Teams channel tab, Teams personal app | SharePoint page, Teams channel tab |
| Theme variants (section backgrounds) | Yes | Yes |
| Full-width sections | Yes | No |
| Classic pages | Not available | Not available |
| Web part gallery group | Communication and collaboration | Communication and collaboration |
| Defaults set by the package | Topics per page 20, Default view Recent, all three toggles on | Maximum items 5, Board: All boards, Show board name on |
📝 Note
The package requests no API permissions, so nothing has to be approved on the API access page of the SharePoint admin center; the approval procedure in KB10360. How to Approve Microsoft Graph API Permissions for Vitextra Solutions in the SharePoint Admin Center does not apply. Installation is described in KB10035. How to Install a Vitextra Product in SharePoint Online.
