Merge pull request #5583 from edx/sylvia/docs/SFD_Discussions

Sylvia/docs/sfd discussions

docs/en_us/students/source/change_log.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+############
+Change Log
+############
+       
+*****************
+October 2014
+*****************
+
+.. list-table::
+   :widths: 10 70
+   :header-rows: 1
+
+   * - Date
+     - Change
+   * - 10/24/14
+     - Added :ref:`Course Discussions` section
+
+.. _Preface: http://edx.readthedocs.org/projects/edx-partner-course-staff/en/latest/

docs/en_us/students/source/index.rst

@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ edX Guide for Students
    :numbered:
    :maxdepth: 2
 
+   change_log
    SFD_certificates
    SFD_mathformatting
-   SFD_ORA
+   SFD_ORA
+   sfd_discussions/index

docs/en_us/students/source/sfd_discussions/add_post.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,231 @@
+
+.. _Add or Edit a Contribution:
+
+#########################################################
+Add, Edit, or Delete a Post, Response, or Comment
+#########################################################
+
+You can add, edit, or delete contributions to discussions from inside the course
+or from the **Discussion** page.
+
+* :ref:`Add a Post`
+* :ref:`Add Response`
+* :ref:`Edit or Delete`
+
+************************************
+Add a Post, Response, or Comment
+************************************
+
+.. _Add a Post:
+
+==============
+Add a Post
+==============
+
+When you add a post to the course discussions, you'll determine the post type
+and the post topic, and then you'll add the post either directly inside the
+course unit or on the **Discussion** page.
+
+.. _Determine Post Type:
+
+Determine the Post Type: Discussion or Question
+**************************************************
+
+To make sure that other students and the course team can find and respond to
+your post, determine the type for your post: either question or discussion.
+
+* A *question* post raises an issue so that the discussion staff and community can
+  provide answers.
+
+* A *discussion* post starts a conversation by sharing thoughts and
+  reflections, and inviting community participation.
+
+If you have any difficulty deciding which type of post you want to add, think
+about whether you want to get concrete information (a question) or start an
+open-ended conversation (a discussion).
+
+.. note:: You can change the post type from discussion to question or vice versa at any time after you add your post. For more information, see :ref:`Edit or Delete`.
+
+.. _Determine Post Topic:
+
+Determine the Post Topic
+*************************
+
+Every post in the course discussions has an associated topic. The course team
+creates the list of discussion topics for each course, and you'll choose a topic
+from the list when you create your post. Before you add a post, you should look
+through the list of topics in the course discussions so that you can decide
+which topic is the most appropriate for your post. For more information, see
+:ref:`Explore Posts`.
+
+After you've decided on a post type and topic, you can add your post on the
+**Discussion** page or in the body of the course.
+
+Add a Post on the Discussion Page
+************************************
+
+You can add a post for course-wide or content-specific discussion
+topics on the **Discussion** page.
+
+#. Click the **Discussion** page.
+
+#. In the upper-right corner, click **New Post**.
+
+#. Click **Question** or **Discussion** to select the type of post that you want
+   to create.
+
+#. Select the most appropriate discussion topic for your post.
+
+  .. image:: /Images/Discussion_course_wide_post.png
+    :width: 300 
+    :alt: Selecting the topic for a new post on the Discussion page 
+
+5. In the **Title** box, supply a short, descriptive title. The title is the
+   part of your post that others see when they are browsing on the
+   **Discussion** page or scrolling through one of the content-specific topics.
+
+#. Enter the complete text of your post. To format the text or add links or
+   images, click the buttons above the text field.
+
+
+In a few courses, you can add posts, responses, and comments anonymously. If
+this is the case, you'll see a **Post Anonymously** check box under the field
+where you enter your text. When you post anonymously, discussion staff can see your
+username, but other students cannot.
+
+Add a Post in a Course Unit
+************************************
+
+If you come to a discussion as you work through the units in your course, or if
+you know where in the course a particular discussion originates, you can add a
+post for that discussion right from the unit in your course. This only applies
+to content-specific discussions.
+
+#. Click **Courseware**.
+
+#. Open the unit in the course that includes the discussion topic that you want
+   to add to.
+
+#. Click **Show Discussion** to read what others have already contributed to the
+   conversation.
+
+   You can scroll through the posts that have already been added: the title and
+   the first sentence or two of each post appear. To read an entire post, view
+   the responses to it, and see any comments, click **Expand discussion**.
+  
+4. Click **New Post** to add a post.
+
+   .. image:: /Images/Discussion_content_specific_post.png
+     :width: 500
+     :alt: Adding a post about specific course content
+
+5. Click **Question** or **Discussion** to select the type of post you want to
+   create.
+
+#. In the **Title** field, enter a short, descriptive identifier for your post.
+   The title is the part of your post that others see when they are browsing on
+   the **Discussion** page or scrolling through one of the content-specific
+   topics.
+
+#. Enter the complete text of your post. Click the buttons above the text field
+   to see options for formatting the text and for adding links or images.
+
+In a few courses, you can add posts, responses, and comments anonymously. If
+this is the case, you'll see a **Post Anonymously** check box under the field
+where you enter your text. When you post anonymously, discussion staff can see your
+username, but other students cannot.
+
+.. _Add Response:
+
+==============================
+Add a Response or Comment
+==============================
+
+
+To participate in an ongoing discussion, you reply to the initial post by
+adding a response, or expand on a particular response by adding a comment.
+
+The same options for formatting the text and for adding links or images are
+available for responses and comments as for posts.
+
+Add a Response or Comment on the Discussion Page
+**************************************************
+
+You can add a response or comment to course-wide or content-specific discussion
+topics on the **Discussion** page.
+
+#. On the **Discussion** page, find the post that you want to contribute to. To
+   help you decide where to add your thoughts, review the current responses and
+   their comments.
+
+   For more information about finding posts by searching, sorting, or using
+   filters, see :ref:`Explore Posts`.
+
+#. Add a response or comment.
+
+ - To add a response to the post, click **Add A Response**. When your response
+   is complete, click **Submit**.
+
+  .. image:: /Images/Discussion_add_response.png
+    :width: 500
+    :alt: The **Add A Response** button located between a post and its 
+          responses 
+
+ - To add a comment to a response, click inside the **Add a comment** field below
+   the response. When your comment is complete, click **Submit**.  
+
+Add a Response or Comment in a Course Unit
+*******************************************
+
+You can add a response or comment to a content-specific discussion
+topic inside the course.
+
+#. In the unit that contains the discussion topic where you want to make
+   your contribution, click **Show Discussion**. 
+
+#. Scroll to the post that you want to contribute to. To help you decide
+   where to add your thoughts, review the current responses and their comments.
+
+#. Under the text of the post, click **Expand discussion**.
+   
+  .. image:: /Images/Discussion_expand.png
+    :width: 500
+    :alt: The **Expand discussion** link under a post
+
+4. Add a response or comment.
+
+ - To add a response to the post, click **Add A Response**. When your response
+   is complete, click **Submit**.
+
+ - To add a comment to a response, click inside the **Add a comment** field below
+   the response. When your comment is complete, click **Submit**.
+
+.. _Edit or Delete:
+
+*******************************************
+Edit or Delete a Post, Response, or Comment
+******************************************* 
+
+You can edit or delete your own posts, responses, or comments at any time. You
+cannot edit or delete contributions from other students.
+
+#. Locate the contribution that you want to edit or delete, either in the body
+   of the course or on the **Discussion** page.
+
+#. In the upper-right corner of the contribution, click the "More" icon (...). A
+   menu opens.
+
+   .. image:: /Images/Disc_EditDelete.png
+    :width: 500
+    :alt: Response with the "More" menu expanded, showing Edit, Delete, and Report options
+
+#. Edit or delete the contribution.
+
+ - To edit the contribution, click **Edit**, make the changes that you want in
+   the text editor that opens, and then click **Update Response**. For posts,
+   you can change the post topic and the post type as well as the text of the
+   post.
+
+ - To delete the contribution, click **Delete**, and then click **OK** in the
+   pop-up confirmation box.
+

docs/en_us/students/source/sfd_discussions/anatomy.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,161 @@
+
+.. _Anatomy of edX Course Discussions:
+
+#######################################
+Anatomy of edX Course Discussions 
+#######################################
+
+********************************************************************
+Basic Elements: Posts, Responses, and Comments
+********************************************************************
+
+Discussions are made up of *posts*, *responses*, and *comments*. Together,
+posts, responses, and comments are known as *contributions*, and a post together
+with its responses and comments is an *exchange*.
+
+* *Posts* initiate a conversation by asking a question or making a statement for
+  students to consider.
+
+* *Responses* reply directly to the post.
+
+* *Comments*, in turn, reply to specific responses.
+
+The following conversation shows each of these contributions:
+
+::
+
+  Post: "Please introduce yourself."
+    - Response: "My name is Lee and I teach secondary school maths in Canberra,
+      Australia."
+    - Response: "Hello everyone, I am Sumei from Hong Kong, China."
+      - Comment: "Hi Sumei, I am taking this course in Hong Kong too. Maybe we
+        should make a study group!"
+      - Comment: "I'd like to join the Hong Kong study group too, I think it
+        will help me keep up with the homework."
+    - Response: "Hi from Johannesburg! I am taking the course to prepare for my
+      matric exams."
+
+You can see posts, comments, and responses, as well as other information about 
+the course discussions and individual posts, on the **Discussion** page.
+
+**********************************
+The Discussion Page
+**********************************
+
+When you go to the **Discussion** page in your course, you'll see a page that
+looks like the following image. You can click the image to enlarge it.
+
+.. image:: /Images/DiscussionHomeCallouts.png
+   :width: 800 
+   :alt: Discussion home page with a topics pane on the left side and "How to use edX discussions" pane on the right
+
+=============
+List of Posts
+=============
+
+The list of posts in the left pane lists titles and information for all the
+individual posts in the course. The list of posts also has filters that you can
+use to sort discussions by topic, status, and activity.
+
+The list of posts includes the following elements.
+
+1. The drop-down Discussion list. When you click this list, you can
+   see all of the topics in the course discussions, or you can view only the posts that you're currently following. For more information about discussion topics, see :ref:`Discussion Topics`. For more information about following posts, see :ref:`Follow Posts`.
+
+2. The status filter. You can filter discussions that you haven't read or that
+   contain unanswered questions. For more information, see :ref:`Answer
+   Questions`.
+
+3. Specific identifiers. If an instructor has pinned a post, if you're
+   following a post, or if the person who created the post is a community TA,
+   moderator, or administrator, you'll see a colored identifier with this
+   information.
+
+4. The title of the post. The title lets you know what the post is about.
+
+5. The post type. A post can be a question or a discussion. For more
+   information, see :ref:`Determine Post Type`.
+
+6. A "correct answer" status indicator. The green check mark indicates that one
+   of the responses to the post correctly answers the question that the post
+   asks.
+
+7. The post search box. You can search all posts, responses, and comments for
+   individual words or phrases. For more information, see :ref:`Search Discussions`.
+
+8. The activity sorting control. You can sort discussions by recent activity,
+   most activity, or most votes. For more information, see :ref:`Keep Up with
+   New Activity`.
+
+9. Status indicators. These indicators show whether you've read a post and the
+   responses and comments for that post. For more information, see :ref:`Keep Up
+   with New Activity`.
+
+===========
+Right Pane
+===========
+
+When you click the **Discussion** tab, the right pane opens to a home page that
+lists ways that you can interact with posts. Each of these interactions is
+covered later in this topic. For more information, see the following sections:
+
+* :ref:`Explore Posts`
+* :ref:`Follow Posts`
+* :ref:`Provide Feedback`
+
+On the home page, you can also specify that you want to receive an email message
+each day that summarizes discussion activity for the posts you are following. To
+receive this daily digest, select the **Receive updates** check box.
+
+.. image:: ../Images/Disc_ReceiveUpdates.png
+  :width: 400
+  :alt: The right pane with the Receive Updates check box circled
+
+After you click the title of a post, the right pane shows the original post,
+responses to the post, and comments on responses. The page is formatted to help
+distinguish between posts, responses, and comments:
+
+* The post and its title appear at the top of the page.
+* Responses appear indented and with a white background below the original post.
+* Comments on a response appear with a gray background below the response. The
+  font size for comments is smaller than the font size for responses.
+
+These elements appear in the image below. You can click the image to enlarge it.
+
+.. image:: ../Images/Disc_PostsEtc.png
+   :width: 600
+   :alt: Discussion page with a specific post selected in the left pane and the
+       post, responses, and comments in the right pane
+
+
+Additionally, in the upper-right corner of every post, response, and comment, you can see several option icons. The icons that you see depend on the type of contribution. (For more information, see :ref:`Provide Feedback`.)
+
+.. image:: ../Images/Disc_OptionIcons.png
+  :width: 450
+  :alt: A single post with the option icons on the right circled
+
+The icons that you see may include the following:
+
+* A plus sign (+), together with the number of votes the post has received.
+  Click this icon to vote for the post or response. For more information, see
+  :ref:`Vote for Posts or Responses`.
+* A star (posts only). Click this icon if you want to follow the post. For more
+  information, see :ref:`Follow Posts`. 
+* A check mark (responses only). For questions, the student who posted the
+  question, or discussion staff, can use this icon to indicate that the response is
+  correct. For more information, see :ref:`Answer Questions`.
+* An ellipsis, or "more", icon (...). When you click this icon, you may see several additional options:
+
+  * **Edit**. This option is only visible if you are the author of the post,
+    response, or comment. You can change the text of your contribution, or, for
+    posts, you can change the type of post. For more information, see :ref:`Edit or Delete`.
+  * **Delete**. This option is only visible if you are the author of the post,
+    response, or comment. For more information, see :ref:`Edit or Delete`.
+  * **Report**. You can use this option to report an inappropriate post,
+    response, or comment. For more information, see :ref:`Report Discussion
+    Misuse`.
+
+
+
+
+

docs/en_us/students/source/sfd_discussions/discussions.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+.. _Course Discussions:
+
+####################
+Course Discussions
+####################
+
+Course discussions give you the opportunity to start conversations with other
+students, ask questions that other students or course staff can answer, and
+participate in the course community. If you have not previously participated in
+an online discussion forum, see the introductory :ref:`Anatomy of edX Course
+Discussions` section.
+
+This chapter also describes features of edX discussions that can make your
+participation more effective:
+
+* :ref:`Explore Posts`
+
+* :ref:`Add or Edit a Contribution`
+
+* :ref:`Keep Up with New Activity`
+
+* :ref:`Provide Feedback`
+

docs/en_us/students/source/sfd_discussions/explore_posts.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,169 @@
+
+.. _Explore Posts:
+
+#########################
+Explore Posts
+#########################
+
+Finding out whether someone else has already asked the same question or
+initiated a conversation about the subject that interests you, and then
+reading and contributing to that exchange instead of starting a new one, helps
+make the time that everyone spends with the course discussions more productive.
+You can search for something specific, or you can browse through the posts in a
+single discussion topic.
+
+.. _Search Discussions:
+
+******************************
+Search the Discussions
+******************************
+
+To search for text, click **All Discussions** and enter a phrase, a word, or part of
+a word in the **Search all posts** field above the list of posts. When you
+press Enter, the search tries to find:
+
+* A match or close match to your text in any post, response, or comment. The
+  display updates to show a list of the posts that have a match at any level of
+  interaction.
+
+* A similar value in any post, response, or comment (if no exact matches are
+  found). A "No results found for {text}. Showing results for {similar}"
+  message appears above the posts that have similar text at any interaction
+  level.
+
+* Any usernames that are an exact match to your text. A "Show posts by
+  {username}" option appears above any posts that have an exact text match at
+  any interaction level. Click the username in the message to read that user's
+  posts, responses, and comments. For more information about viewing
+  contributions from a specific user, see :ref:`View from Participant`.
+
+.. _Discussion Topics:
+
+*********************************************
+View Discussions about a Specific Topic
+*********************************************
+
+Every post in the course discussions has an associated topic. When a participant
+creates a post, the participant selects a topic from a list of topics that the
+course team has provided. You can look through topics in the discussions to find
+one that you're interested in.
+
+Discussion topics for edX courses can be *course-wide* or *content-specific*.
+
+* *Course-wide* discussion topics cover matters that affect the entire course,
+  and may include topics such as "Frequently Asked Questions" and
+  "Troubleshooting".
+
+* *Content-specific* discussion topics cover specific video lectures, reading
+  assignments, homework problems, or other course content. 
+
+=======================================
+View Topics on the Discussion Page
+=======================================
+
+On the **Discussion** page, you can view both course-wide and content-specific
+discussions. Click **All Discussions** in the upper left corner of the left pane
+to see all discussion topics in the course. To see all the discussions in an
+individual topic, click the topic name.
+
+Note that course-wide topics do not have other topics indented below them, while
+content-specific topics are indented under a category name. For content-specific
+topics, you can click either the category name to see all the posts in that
+category, or you can click an individual topic name.
+
+  .. image:: /Images/Disc_TopicList.png
+     :width: 400
+     :alt: Discussion topic list expanded, showing all course discussion topics
+
+=======================================
+View Topics in a Course Unit
+=======================================
+
+Content-specific topics are located in specific units in the course. They typically appear below the content they apply to. 
+
+You can access a content-specific topic by viewing the unit that
+contains the topic. To see the discussion, click **Show Discussion**.
+
+.. image:: /Images/Discussion_content_specific.png
+   :width: 500
+   :alt: A discussion topic that appears below text inside the course, identified
+       by a "Show Discussion" link
+
+You can also use the **Discussion** page to access a discussion in the unit
+where that topic is located. 
+
+#. In the list of topics, click the topic that you want.
+#. Click the name of a post to open the post in the right pane.
+#. In the right pane, click the name of the discussion topic below the text of
+   the post to go to the discussion inside the unit.
+
+.. image:: /Images/Disc_LinkToCourse.png
+    :width: 800
+    :alt: Post on the Discussion page with a link back to the course unit
+
+*****************************************
+View Only Unread or Unanswered Posts
+*****************************************
+
+To limit the posts shown on the **Discussion** page, you can select one of the
+filter options. Above the list of posts, the **Show all** filter is selected by
+default.
+
+* To list only the discussions and questions that you have not yet viewed,
+  select **Unread**.
+
+* To list only question posts that do not yet have any responses marked as
+  answers, select **Unanswered**.
+
+.. image:: /Images/Disc_Unread.png
+ :width: 300
+ :alt: List of unread topics with the "Unread" filter circled
+
+*****************************************
+View Pinned Posts
+*****************************************
+
+Pinned posts appear at the top of the list of posts when you view all
+discussions. Pinned posts can contain important information about the course or
+any part of the course, such as a particular video or problem. The pinned post
+may originate from anyone in the course, including students and staff, but only
+members of course staff can pin posts.
+
+.. image:: /Images/Disc_Pinned.png
+ :width: 300
+ :alt: Short list of posts with the "pinned" identifier circled
+
+.. _View from Participant:
+
+*************************************************
+View Contributions from a Specific Participant
+*************************************************
+
+You can review all the posts, responses, and comments that a specific
+participant has made, both for students and for course staff. To do this, click
+the username that appears at the top of any of the participant's contributions. A page
+opens that shows the following information about the participant. 
+
+* The participant's username.
+
+* The participant's role (for example, student or community TA).
+
+* The number of posts the participant has created (listed in the upper-left corner
+  as the number of discussions started).
+
+* The total number of responses and comments the participant has added to other
+  posts (listed in the upper-left corner as the number of comments).
+
+* A list of all the posts that contain a contribution from the participant,
+  whether the participant created the original post or contributed a response or
+  comment to a different post. The list of posts includes the title of the post
+  and the username of the participant who created the post. To see the comments
+  or responses on any post, click **View Discussion** below the post to open the
+  discussion on the **Discussion** page.
+
+.. image:: /Images/Disc_UserContributions.png
+ :width: 800
+ :alt: Page that lists the posts that a user has added or contributed to
+
+
+

docs/en_us/students/source/sfd_discussions/index.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+.. _Course Discussions Index:
+
+######################################
+Student Guide to Course Discussions
+######################################
+
+.. toctree::
+   :maxdepth: 3
+
+   discussions
+   anatomy
+   explore_posts
+   add_post
+   keep_up
+   provide_feedback

docs/en_us/students/source/sfd_discussions/keep_up.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+
+.. _Keep Up with New Activity:
+
+################################
+Keep Up with New Activity
+################################
+
+.. _Read New or Updated Posts:
+
+****************************
+Read New or Updated Posts
+****************************
+
+The list of posts on the **Discussion** page provides visual cues to help you
+distinguish posts that are new, or that have responses or comments that you have
+not read yet, from exchanges that you have already read completely.
+
+==================
+Sort by Activity
+==================
+
+Color-coded callout images appear when you sort the list of posts **by recent
+activity** or **by most activity**. This is the default view when you open the
+**Discussion** page.
+
+* A **gray callout image on a gray background** indicates that you have read the
+  post and all of its responses and comments.
+
+* A **white callout image on a gray background** indicates that you have read the
+  original post, but the post has new responses or comments that you have not
+  read yet.
+
+* A **blue callout image on a white background** indicates that you have not yet
+  read the post.
+
+.. image:: /Images/Discussion_colorcoding.png 
+  :alt: The list of posts with posts showing differently colored backgrounds 
+        and callout images
+
+The number in each callout image indicates the total number of contributions in
+the exchange (the post and its responses and comments). To see the number of
+contributions that you haven't read yet, move your cursor over the callout
+image.
+
+.. image:: /Images/Discussion_mouseover.png
+ :width: 300
+ :alt: A post with 4 contributions total and a popup that shows only two are 
+       unread
+
+==================
+Sort by Votes
+==================
+
+You can also sort the list of posts by number of votes. To do this, click the
+sorting list in the upper-right corner of the list of posts, and then click **by
+most votes**.
+
+If you sort by most votes, the number of votes that the post has received
+appears in place of the callouts. For more information, see :ref:`Vote for Posts
+or Responses`.
+
+.. image:: /Images/Disc_SortByVotes.png
+  :width: 300
+  :alt: A list of posts sorted by votes, with the number of votes to the right of
+      the post title
+
+
+
+****************************
+Receive Daily Digests
+****************************
+
+You have the option to receive an email message each day that summarizes
+discussion activity for the posts you are following. To receive this daily
+digest, click **Discussion** to go to the discussions home page, and then select
+the **Receive updates** check box in the right pane.
+
+.. image:: /Images/Disc_RecUpdatesBox.png
+  :width: 500
+  :alt: Discussion home page with the Receive Updates check box circled

docs/en_us/students/source/sfd_discussions/provide_feedback.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,133 @@
+
+.. _Provide Feedback:
+
+###############################################
+Provide Feedback on Contributions
+###############################################
+
+As you read the contributions that other students and staff make to discussion
+topics, you can provide feedback without writing a complete response or
+comment. You can:
+
+* :ref:`Vote for posts and responses<Vote for Posts or Responses>` to provide
+  positive feedback.
+
+* :ref:`Follow posts<Follow Posts>` so that you can check back in on
+  interesting conversations and questions easily.
+
+* :ref:`Answer questions, and mark your questions as answered<Answer
+  Questions>`.
+
+* :ref:`Report a contribution<Report Discussion Misuse>` that is inappropriate
+  to the course staff.
+
+To select a feedback option, you use the icons at the top right of each post,
+response, or comment. When you move your cursor over these icons a label
+appears.
+
+.. image:: /Images/Discussion_options_mouseover.png
+ :width: 300
+ :alt: The icons at top right of a post, shown before the cursor is 
+      placed over each one and with the Vote, Follow, and More labels
+
+When you click the "More" icon, a menu of available options opens. Options vary
+depending on whether the contribution is a post, response, or comment, and on
+whether you are a student or a member of discussion staff.
+
+.. image:: /Images/Discussion_More_menu.png
+ :width: 300
+ :alt: The More icon expanded to show a menu with one option and a menu with 
+       three options
+
+.. _Vote for Posts or Responses:
+
+************************************
+Vote for Posts or Responses
+************************************
+
+If you like a post or one of its responses, you can vote for it. Hover over the plus sign (+) icon for the post or response, and then click **Vote**.
+
+.. image:: /Images/Disc_Vote.png
+ :width: 500
+ :alt: A post with the Vote icon circled
+
+You can sort the list of posts so that the posts with the most votes appear at
+the top: click the drop-down list of sorting options and select **by most
+votes**.
+
+.. image:: /Images/Disc_SortByVotes.png
+ :width: 300
+ :alt: The list of posts with the "by most votes" sorting option and the 
+       number of votes for the post circled
+
+You can see the number of votes that each post has received in the list of posts.
+(Votes for responses are not included in the number.)
+
+.. _Follow Posts:
+
+************************************
+Follow Posts
+************************************
+
+If you find a post particularly interesting and want to return to it in the
+future, you can follow it. To follow a post, hover over the star icon for the
+post, and then click **Follow**.
+
+.. image:: /Images/Discussion_follow.png
+ :width: 500
+ :alt: A post with the Follow icon circled
+
+Each post that you follow appears with a "Following" indicator in the list of
+posts.
+
+To list only the posts that you are following, regardless of the discussion
+topic they apply to, click the drop-down Discussion list and select
+**Posts I'm Following**.
+
+.. image:: /Images/Disc_Following.png
+ :width: 300
+ :alt: The list of posts with the "Posts I'm Following" filter selected. Every
+       post in the list shows the following indicator.
+
+.. _Answer Questions:
+
+********************************************************
+Answer Questions and Mark Questions as Answered 
+********************************************************
+
+Anyone in a course can answer questions. Just add a response with your answer to
+the question post.
+
+You can indicate that a response to your own question post is the correct
+answer. To do this, hover over the check mark icon for the response, and then
+click **Mark as Answer**.
+
+.. image:: /Images/Disc_AnswerQuestion.png
+ :width: 500
+ :alt: A question and a response, with the Mark as Answer icon circled
+
+After at least one response is marked as the answer, a check or tick mark image
+replaces the question mark image for the post in the list of posts.
+
+.. image:: /Images/Disc_AnsweredInList.png
+ :width: 300
+ :alt: The list of posts with images identifying unanswered and answered
+     questions and discussions
+
+.. note:: Discussion staff can mark any response as correct. Students can only mark responses as correct for their own posts.
+
+.. _Report Discussion Misuse:
+
+************************************
+Report Discussion Misuse
+************************************
+
+You can flag any post, response, or comment for a discussion moderator to
+review: view the contribution, click the "More" icon, and then click
+**Report**.
+
+.. image:: /Images/Discussion_reportmisuse.png
+ :width: 500
+ :alt: A post and a response with the "Report" link circled
+
+.. Future: DOC-121 As a course author, I need a template of discussion guidelines to give to students