how to create a discussion board in sharepoint 2010

Hello Everybody-Hope all are doing well..

This time-I am going to provide some basic details regarding discussion boardsso that it will help the beginners to explore as well as learn the discussion board details. In case of any queries/questions regarding the mentioned information then please let me know. I would be more than happy to help you as well as resolves your issues, thank you

How  to create a new discussion board

1)      Open SharePoint Foundation 2010

2)      Select Site Actions

3)      More Options

4)      Select Discussion Board

5)      Enter a Name for the discussion board and choose More Options button. 

6)      Enter a Description for the discussion board

7)      Select Yes to display the discussion board on the Quick Launch

8)      Click Create

9)      This creates the discussion board with some default columns

How to view default columns:

1)      Select List Tools > List > List Settings from the toolbar. Discussion Board Settings page is displayed

2)      Scroll down to view the columns (please refer the following screenshot)

How to Create Columns in discussion board:

 Click Create Column link:

Create the following additional columns (1) Priority  (2) Status and (3) Section Impacted

Create a Priority column as follows to track items based on priority. For example, you would like to track High priority items separately and ensure that adequate resources are available for a quicker resolution. There should be guidelines available on how the items are to be classified as Low, Medium, or High and it should be communicated to the reviewers. 

How to create a Priority column:

• Enter Priority in the Column name field
• Select Choice for 'The type of information in this column is' field
• Optionally enter a Description. The description will be displayed when a feedback item is created
• Select No for 'Require that this column contains information' and Enforce unique values fields
• Enter Medium, Low, High (each choice on a separate line) in the 'Type each choice on a separate line' text box
• Select Drop-Down Menu as the value for 'Display choices using'
• Select No for Allow 'Fill-in' choices. This prevents the user from creating additional Priority values
• Select 'Choice' radio button for Default value field and enter Medium as the value. For all new items created, the Priority will default to Medium
• Accept the default values (selected) for Add to all content types and Add to default view
• Click OK to create the Priority column

How to create status column

·         Enter Status in the Column name field

• Select Choice for 'The type of information in this column is' field
• Optionally enter a Description. The description will be displayed when a feedback item is created
• Select No for 'Require that this column contains information' and Enforce unique values fields
• Enter Open, Closed (each choice on a separate line) in the 'Type each choice on a separate line' text box
• Select Drop-Down Menu as the value for 'Display choices using'
• Select No for Allow 'Fill-in' choices. This prevents the user from creating additional Priority values
• Select 'Choice' radio button for Default value field and enter Open as the value. For all new items created, the Status will default to Open
• Accept the default values (selected) for Add to all content types and Add to default view
• Click OK to create the Status column

How to Create Section Impacted Column

·         Enter Section Impacted in the Column name field

·         Select Choice for 'The type of information in this column is' field

·         Optionally enter a Description. The description will be displayed when a feedback item is created

·         Select Yes for 'Require that this column contains information' and 'No' for Enforce unique values field

·         Enter Configuration, Details (each choice on a separate line) in the 'Type each choice on a separate line' text box

·         Select Drop-Down Menu as the value for 'Display choices using'

·         Select No for Allow 'Fill-in' choices. This prevents the user from creating additional Priority values

·         Select 'Choice' radio button for Default value field and leave the default value blank. For all new items created, the Section Impacted field has to be selected

·         Accept the default values (selected) for Add to all content types and Add to default view

·         Click OK to create the Section Impacted

How to create a discussion Item

1)       Click Add new discussion

2)       Enter the Subject of the discussion or feedback. Be descriptive and keep it short

3)       Enter the details of the discussion or feedback raised in the Body field

4)       Change the default Priority value if required

5)       Accept the default Status value

6)       Select the appropriate value for Section Impacted

7)       Click Save to add the discussion item

8)       The discussion item is created.

How to Reply to Feedback Item

·         Click the Subject of the discussion item

·         Click Reply

·         Enter reply in the Body field as shown in the screen print

·         Click Save

Hide Columns in Message Content Type

·         Select List Tools > List > List Settings

·         Select Message Content Type

·         Select Priority Column

·         Select Hidden under Column Settings and click OK

·         Similarly, change the value to Hidden for Status and Section Impacted columns

How to Create an Alert

·         Select List Tools > List > Alert Me > Set alert on this list

·         Enter a descriptive Alert Title. If you have setup alerts on several lists, a descriptive title will help you to categorize. For example, having the list or the view name as the Alert Title

·         Enter the Users to be notified

·         Select the Delivery Method

·         Specify the type of changes that you want to be alerted to

·         Determine whether to filter alerts based on specific criteria or be notified of all changes. Filter based on a specific view is useful if you are interested in being alerted only of the categories you are responsible for

·         Determine whether to have the notification sent immediately or a daily summary, or weekly summary

·         Click OK to complete

Export to Excel

·         Open the Team Discussion Board

·         Select Export to Excel

·         Click Open in the File Download window that appears

·         Click Enable in the Microsoft Excel Security Notice dialog to enable data connections

·         This opens Microsoft Excel spreadsheet with the Discussion Board columns.

Data Connections

·         Select Data > Connections to view the Workbook Connections

·         Select Data > Refresh All to sync data between the Workbook and Discussion Board

Refferences:

1)     http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/ar/sharepoint2010programming/thread/1d95b677-1534-43cc-8a6d-a9fcb9985e7f

2)      Setting up Team discussion boards

3)      Programmatically Reading SharePoint 2010 Discussion Boards