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About the Discussion Chat

The discussion chat is an optional feature in discussions which offers a convenient place for all participants to talk about the discussion. It’s a good place for:

• Planning the discussion with your group, such as when you are considering adding new branches and are unsure where they would be best located.
• Considering structural changes to your discussion, which can sometimes be necessary as a discussion develops.
• Coordinating workload, such as which sections of the discussion individual users would prefer to work on.
• Sharing useful resources that you think may benefit others collaborating in the discussion.
• Asking questions about the assignment and goal of the discussion.
• General chat — sharing interesting links related to the topic, talking about interesting aspects of the topic, or thanking others for their efforts!

Enabling/Disabling the Discussion Chat

The discussion chat is disabled by default. To enable the discussion chat, or disable it after enabling it:

1. Click the Settings icon in a discussion.
2. Navigate to the ‘Discussion Options’ section and check/uncheck the ‘Enable discussion chat’ option as desired.
3. Click Save.

Using the Discussion Chat

The discussion chat can be opened and closed by clicking the Chat icon at the top-right of a discussion, located to the left of your profile avatar.

Sending Messages

Note:

You must have the Writer role or higher to send messages in the chat. The discussion chat can be seen by all participants in a discussion.

To send a message:

1. Type your message in the text box located at the bottom of the chat window. 
2. Press Enter on your keyboard or click the Send Message icon to send the message.

As with commenting on claims, you can drag a claim into the text box to link to it in your message, or mention another participant by typing @ followed by their username.

Editing or Deleting Messages

Note:

You must have the Writer role or higher to edit or delete your own messages, or the Admin role to delete another user’s messages.

If you want to edit or delete a chat message after sending it: 

1. Click the Menu icon to the bottom-right of your message. 
2. Either edit the chat message by clicking the Edit icon, or delete it by clicking the Delete icon. 

Viewing Online Participants

The chat can show you which participants are currently viewing a discussion. Near the top of the chat window, the avatars of all users currently active in the discussion is displayed — click this to open the Online Participants window where usernames will appear next to their avatars.