How to lock or disable a forum?

• Who can lock a forum?

• Where to lock or restrict a forum

• How to restrict or lock a forum

• How to unlock a forum

• How to disable a forum

• How to reactivate a forum

Devs & Admins can lock or disable forums.

Forums can be locked or disabled from the “Forums” page in the back office, under the “All Forums” tab.

To find the “All Forums” tab, first navigate to the back office. Then select the desired Studio from the “Manage” menu on the left-hand side. This opens a dropdown that lists all of the Studio’s Universes. Click on the desired Universe. If the Forums feature is enabled, you will see “Forums” in the Universe’s dropdown. Click to view the “Forums” page. The “All Forums” tab is located just below the page title and to the right of the “Dashboard” tab. Click on the tab to view “All Forums.”

The “All Forums” tab is highlighted in dark blue.

Once in the “All Forums” tab, you will see a list of all of the Universe’s forums, including cross-universe forums. Click on the name of the forum you want to lock or restrict. This will open an edit window.

Scroll until you see the box labeled “Visibility settings.” You will see a toggle labeled “Lock this forum.” Click the toggle to lock the forum. The toggle will move right and turn blue. Then click the blue “Save” button to confirm the change.

The “Lock this forum” toggle is highlighted in dark blue.
The “Restriction level” dropdown is highlighted in light yellow.

Note: If you can’t see the Visibility options, click on the arrow next to “Visibility settings".

When a forum is locked, Devs and Admins are still able to create new threads and posts, but Members will no longer be able to add to the forum. Keep in mind that Members and the public may still be able to view the forum, depending on the selected Restriction Level.

To update the Restriction level, click the dropdown located right above the “Lock this forum” toggle. Choose the lowest permission level you’d like to be able to view the forum. If you haven’t locked the forum, this Restriction Level and higher will be able to create threads and post in the forum. Don’t forget to click the blue “Save” button to confirm your changes!

If you’d like to read more about setting forum specifications, check out “How to create a forum?”

To unlock a forum, return to the forum’s “Visibility settings,” as described in the previous section. Then just toggle off “Lock this forum” and click “Save.” Users will be able to engage with the forum again. Who can view and post will depend on the forum’s Restriction Level.

In the “All Forums” tab, you will see a list of all the Universe’s forums, including cross-universe forums. Click on the forum you want to disable to open the forum’s edit window.

Scroll until you see the box labeled “Visibility settings.” You will see a toggle labeled “Disable the feature.” Click the toggle to disable the forum. The toggle will move right and turn blue. Then click the blue “Save” button to confirm the change. 

When a forum is disabled, it will not be visible on the front-end Universe page. 

In the back office, the forum will be crossed out in red to show that it is disabled. Devs and Admins will still be able to edit the forum in the back office.

In this screenshot,  the “Tech Support” forum has been disabled.

To reactivate a forum, return to the “Visibility settings” where you were able to disable the forum. Then, toggle off the “Disable this forum” and click the blue “Save” button. The forum will be reactivated and visible on the front end.

The “Disable the feature” toggle is highlighted in dark blue.