RH_NAS
03-10-2008, 03:40 PM
Sorry if this is a repeat or a request that has been "done to death," but I need some advice about which program to use for our discussion forum. I'm new to this, so I may leave out important information. Feel free to ask me to add more information or tell me what you think I need to know. Here are the specifics:
I work for an alternative High School and we want to create a forum discussion board about each of our students. This board is not for student use, but for teachers to use when discussing student needs and progress.
I’ve used the Freeboards version of phpbb and was pleased with the results, but there were a couple features (like sorting forums alphabetically and applying permissions globally rather than individually) that I couldn’t find but needed. Freeboards was a free service, but I’m willing to pay for a new service if I can find the features I want. Here’s how we envision our discussion board:
Private/Secure
Only certain registered users will have access to student information. Those will be in a group to which messages can be broadcast as needed.
Separate Forum for EACH student name
Teachers will then create topics under each student name. Some topics will be sticky. We want a forum for each student to keep information self-contained. If there is a better organizational structure, I'm open to suggestions.
Sort
Ability to sort actual forums (not just topics within a forum). As we get new students we will create a forum for them. However, I need to insert that forum in the proper place alphabetically. Or, I need to be able to sort the forums as needed.
Global Permissions
In Freeboards phpbb, I spent a lot of time changing permissions individually on each forum and for each user. Sure would be nice to select a group and apply permissions globally. This feature isn’t a deal breaker, but thought I’d ask.
Hosting
We don’t have our own server so we need the whole thing to be hosted by someone else. Once again I anticipate a charge for this service.
Other
Everything else is incidental: polls, other radio-button info, avatars, etc. I’m guessing email notifications are pretty standard for most boards, so we’ll use that too. End-user ease of use and friendly interface will also be great, but we can learn most anything as long as the functionality is there.
Setup
I'm not totally computer illiterate, but it would be nice if the setup/maintenance of this thing was fairly friendly or at least had some good tutorials if the process is complex.
Any suggestions or insight you can give would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.
Robert Hubbard
New America School
9125 E. 7th Place
Denver, CO 80230
303-320-9854
I work for an alternative High School and we want to create a forum discussion board about each of our students. This board is not for student use, but for teachers to use when discussing student needs and progress.
I’ve used the Freeboards version of phpbb and was pleased with the results, but there were a couple features (like sorting forums alphabetically and applying permissions globally rather than individually) that I couldn’t find but needed. Freeboards was a free service, but I’m willing to pay for a new service if I can find the features I want. Here’s how we envision our discussion board:
Private/Secure
Only certain registered users will have access to student information. Those will be in a group to which messages can be broadcast as needed.
Separate Forum for EACH student name
Teachers will then create topics under each student name. Some topics will be sticky. We want a forum for each student to keep information self-contained. If there is a better organizational structure, I'm open to suggestions.
Sort
Ability to sort actual forums (not just topics within a forum). As we get new students we will create a forum for them. However, I need to insert that forum in the proper place alphabetically. Or, I need to be able to sort the forums as needed.
Global Permissions
In Freeboards phpbb, I spent a lot of time changing permissions individually on each forum and for each user. Sure would be nice to select a group and apply permissions globally. This feature isn’t a deal breaker, but thought I’d ask.
Hosting
We don’t have our own server so we need the whole thing to be hosted by someone else. Once again I anticipate a charge for this service.
Other
Everything else is incidental: polls, other radio-button info, avatars, etc. I’m guessing email notifications are pretty standard for most boards, so we’ll use that too. End-user ease of use and friendly interface will also be great, but we can learn most anything as long as the functionality is there.
Setup
I'm not totally computer illiterate, but it would be nice if the setup/maintenance of this thing was fairly friendly or at least had some good tutorials if the process is complex.
Any suggestions or insight you can give would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.
Robert Hubbard
New America School
9125 E. 7th Place
Denver, CO 80230
303-320-9854