How to create a forum?

• Who can create a forum

• Where to create forums

• How to create a forum

• Editing a forum

• How to create a sub-forum

• Removing a sub-forum’s parent

Devs & Admins can create forums.

You can create a forum from the “Forums” page in the back office. Find the feature in the back office and select “Forums” from the Universe dropdown.

The Universe dropdown is highlighted in dark blue.
The “Forums” page link is highlighted in light yellow.

You will find a blue “Add Forum” button at the top-right of the “Forums” page. Click the “Add Forum” button to create a new forum. An edit window will appear on the left. Type a title and description into the labeled fields. 

There isn’t much space for the forum description on the front end. A clear and concise title and description will make the forums easier to browse. A good rule of thumb is to keep the description around fifty characters.

On the “Forums” page, a lot of info fits in a small space. 

A description is not required, but is recommended. Forum descriptions help community members find the discussions they want to participate in!

Note: It’s worth taking a moment to think about how you’d like to organize your forums. The easier it is for a community member to find what they are looking for, the quicker they can participate!

The “Visibility Settings” box as it appears when creating a forum is pictured here.
All options in the above image are toggled off.

Next, choose the visibility settings. You can find the “Visibility Settings” box in the bottom half of the edit window. If you aren’t able to see any options, click the arrow to the right of the text “Visibility Settings.”

• Position: You can use the “Position” field to organize how your forums appear on the page. The lower the number, the closer the forum will be to the top of the page. This field also orders how sub-forums are nested under a parent.

• Restriction level: The “Restriction level” dropdown lets you choose who can view the forum. Select the lowest permission level you want to be able to see the forum. The forum will be visible to the selected level and all higher Restriction Levels.

• Lock this forum: Locking the forum allows you to control who can post, while leaving old threads visible. Most users will not be able to reply. You can learn more about locking a forum here.

• Disable the feature: Disabling a forum allows you to remove a forum from view without deleting the forum. When the “Disable the feature” toggle is on (set to the right), this forum will be invisible to all users except Devs and Admins. The forum will still be accessible in the back office, but crossed out in red to highlight that it is disabled.

• Enable cross game: The “Enable cross game” toggle allows a forum to be shared across Universes. If the toggle is on, this forum will appear on the “Forums” page for all of a Studio Hub’s Universes.

Lastly, click the blue “Save” button – and you’re done!

If you think of a clearer description, or want to update the visibility settings, you can edit a created forum from the back office.

Return to the relevant Universe’s “Forums” page. At the bottom of the header are two tabs: “Dashboard” and “All Forums.” Click on the “All Forums” tab.

You will see a list of all forums. Select the forum you want to edit by clicking on its row in the list. This will open edit options on the left. A list of all forums will be on the right.

Note: If you need to edit multiple forums, you can navigate to another forum using the list on the right of the edit options.

Make any desired changes in the edit options. You can update any element of a forum, including the title and restriction level.

Once you’ve made your changes, click the “Save” button below the “Visibility Settings” box. Remember to save before navigating to another forum or returning the dashboard! If you forget to click “Save,” your changes will not be applied.

If you want to create a sub-forum, follow the process above. Then use the dropdown labeled “Parent” located above “Visibility Settings” to assign a parent forum. A forum or sub-forum can be assigned as parent. In the dropdown list, available sub-forums can be identified by the presence of a slash (/). The parent will be to the left of the slash, and the sub-forum will be to the right. You can nest multiple forums. The exact structure is up to you! But keep in mind that if you nest sub-forums too deep, it will make your forums less easy to navigate. 

Note: We recommend keeping your forums shallower than three, for example: Main Forum > Sub-forum > Sub-sub-forum.

The top-level forum is highlighted in dark blue. The child forum is highlighted in light yellow.
Both forums are parent forums of the new forum.

If things change and you need to restructure your forums, you might want to remove a sub-forum from its parent. Luckily, it's an easy fix!

Head to the relevant Universe’s “All Forums” page, and click on a forum title. This will open edit options. 

Above the “Visibility Settings” box on the left, you’ll see the “Parent” dropdown. Open the dropdown and select “None.”

Then, click the “Save” button beneath the visibility settings. The sub-forum’s parent will be removed.

The sub-forum will no longer be a sub-forum! You can now find it at the top-level of the front-end “Forums” page.