"The forum module lets you create threaded discussion boards, called forums,
on your site. This is similar to a message board system.
Forums are very useful because they allow community members to discuss
topics with one another, and the discussions are archived for future
reference.Topics, or threaded discussions, are posted to a forum. Each topic is comprised of an initial post and replies, or comments. Forum topics can have their own URLs.
Multiple forums are often set up for different areas of discussion.
Forums can also be placed inside other forums for a discussion area
that is a subset of the parent forum, in which case they are often
called child boards or forums.Containers can also be created to hold a group of forums.
However, topics cannot be posted to containers, unlike a parent forums.
Both containers and forums can be placed inside other containers and
forums. By planning the structure of your containers and forums well,
you make it easier for users to find a discussion area of interest to
them.'
How to view/post to a forum:
This is the first page that you will see upon clicking on the 'forums' tab at the top of any node.live page:
When you click on a Forum you will be directed to a page that shows all of the topics in that forum. From here you can either click on a topic to view the discussion thread, or post a new topic:
If you choose to view a topic, this is what a standard page will look like:
Here you can both comment on a topic and reply to other users' comments. If you choose to creat your own topic you will be directed to the 'submit forum topic' form, which is very similar in its contents to submit blog form: