A forum thread is 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 feeling of community
- Provides specialized types of threads (discussion and Q&A)
- Provides metrics (likes for discussion; this also helped me; I also have this question; suggested answer, and verified answer for Q&A)
Feeling of community
A forum is based on the community archetype. In discussion threads, one member posts an assertion, and other members respond to it. In Q&A threads, a member poses a question, and then works with other group members who 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." Discussion and Q&A forums work differently, but they are both founded upon engagement.
Different types of threads
Telligent Community has two fundamentally different thread types - discussion and Q&A. Many forums are devoted to one or the other type, and Community forums can be as well (in the forum setup). Discussion is devoted to assertion or opinion exchange, while Q&A is devoted to getting questions answered.
Community can also host forums that allow both kinds of threads.
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