Moderating Discussions
If a topic requires message approval, when messages are posted they are only visible to users with permission to approve messages. To make these messages visible to all users, you must manually approve them. (Messages posted by users with permission to approve messages are automatically approved.) Message approval can be turned on or off from the Properties tab when creating or editing a Forum or Topic.
If a message is not appropriate for the topic and you do not want to approve it, you can do any of the following:
- Leave the message unapproved
- Delete the message
Finding messages that require approval
You can find unapproved messages in the following ways:
- On the main discussions page, the number of unapproved messages is displayed beneath the topic’s name. To see only topics that contain unapproved messages, select “Topics with Unapproved” from the Display drop-down list at the top of the page.
- Inside a topic, if you have the Discussions List turned on, the number of unapproved messages is the second number displayed in parentheses beside each topic. E.g. a topic that read “First Test Questions (5) (3)” would have three unapproved messages.
- In the message list inside a topic, unapproved messages are indicated by the Message Requires Approval icon. To see only messages that require approval, select “Unapproved Only” from the View drop-down list at the top left of the page.
Approving messages
If you are using the Grid Style message list:
- Open the message and click Approve on the action bar.
- Select one or more messages from the message list and click the Approve icon at the top or bottom of the list.
If you are using the Reading Style message list:
- Click the Approve link below the message header.
Unapprove a previously approved message
In the Grid Style message list:
- Open the message and click Unapprove on the action bar.
In the Reading Style message list:
- Click the More actions link below the message header, then click Unapprove on the action bar above the message.