Generally speaking, a forum thread represents a conversation. The thread starter indicates the beginning of the conversation, and the replies are responses to the thread starter.
In Telligent Community, a forum thread:
- Provides an increased the sense of community
- Provides specialized types of threads (discussion and Q&A)
- Provides metrics (likes for discussion; this also helped me & and I also have this question, suggested answer & verified answer for Q&A)
Feeling of community
A forum thread is based on the community archetype. In discussion, one member posts an assertion, and other members respond to it. In Q&A, a member poses a question to other group members, and then they work together to answer the question. Participants can indicate the relevance of the question to them by clicking "I have this question too" or "This answer also helped me."
Different types of threads
Telligent Community has two types of threads - discussion and Q&A. Many forums are devoted to one or the other type, and Community can be as well (in the forum setup). While they serve different basic purposes, both of them serve the function of engaging community members with each other.
Metrics
I have this question too, This helped me .
There are higher ranking participants based on their responses
A discussion forum allows votes up/take away vote
suggested answer/verified answer for Q&A