Forum Topic
One forum topic, with its replies nested three levels deep.
This is a background feature. Members reach it by tapping a topic rather than by navigating to it.
Before you start
Section titled “Before you start”| Plugin | ForumWP |
| Also uses | ForumWP Pro, optional — see What ForumWP Pro adds |
| Endpoint group | Forums, and Forums Pro when Pro is active |
| Plan | Every plan |
Add it to your app
Section titled “Add it to your app”It is added for you. Placing any forum feature puts the topic screen on the Background tab, because every one of them opens topics and none of them would work without it.
Open its settings from the preview to give it a title of its own, or to change how replies are sorted.
Settings
Section titled “Settings”| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Title, Description | Shown at the top | Empty |
| Replies sorted | Oldest, Newest, or Top | Oldest |
| Action text size | Save, React, Follow, Reply and the counts, on the topic and its replies | Empty — as drawn now |
| Action icon size | The icons on that same row | Empty — as drawn now |
| Open author profiles in | Which Profile feature a tap on the author’s photo or name opens — on the topic and every reply, however the topic was opened — or Don’t link. Lists every placed Profile, plus Member Profile (BuddyPress) | The first Profile placed |
| Appearance | Title and body typography | Inherits app tokens |
How a topic row is proportioned is set once for every forum screen, under Appearance — not here, because the same row is drawn by five screens and should not drift between them.
The two action sizes are the exception, and they size this screen only. Forum Feed’s cards have sizes of their own under Forum Feed, and other lists keep theirs from Appearance, so if you set these the topic screen can look different from the list that opened it. Leave a box empty to keep what the screen already draws — the topic’s own row and a reply’s row are not the same size today, and an empty box leaves each one as it is.
Five ways in
Section titled “Five ways in”- Tapping a topic in the Forum Feed.
- Tapping a topic inside a forum in Forums.
- Tapping a topic in My Forum Activity.
- Tapping a row in Forum Moderation.
- Tapping a forum notification.
What your members see
Section titled “What your members see”The topic in full, then its replies. Replying to a reply nests it; at the third level the control targets the parent instead, so the thread stays three deep and the new reply lands where the site can render it.
Reply, view and like counts and vote scores past a thousand are shortened — 2,100 reads 2.1k, 1,250,000 reads 1.2M — and round down, so a count never shows higher than it really is.
A member who may edit their own post gets Edit in the topic’s menu, and on their own replies. A topic opens the composer; a reply is edited where it sits.
Delete removes a post from the forum by moving it to the trash, and asks first. That is ForumWP’s own model: a post is only ever purged once it is already in the trash, so Delete permanently appears on trashed posts, in the moderation queue, and nowhere else. If a delete is refused, the app now says why rather than appearing to do nothing.
The composer’s Preview breaks lines where you press Enter, exactly as the posted reply will.
Tapping Reply on any row brings the reply box up to the top of the screen, grows it and puts the cursor in it — on a long thread the box is otherwise far below whatever is being answered. Where your site has ForumWP Pro’s photos module and ForumWP’s Raw HTML setting, an Add photo button sits under the box, on a new reply and on one being edited. Attached images show as thumbnails under that button, each with a small × to remove it.
The box carries the same formatting controls as the rest of the app — bold, italic, a link, and bulleted or numbered lists — and a Preview panel appears beneath it as soon as there is something to show, rendering the reply exactly as it will read once posted, photographs included.
Replies, and editing a reply, suggest members to @mention and #hashtags; an administrator can mention @everyone. See Mentions and hashtags.
What ForumWP Pro adds
Section titled “What ForumWP Pro adds”Each of these appears only when the matching Pro module is switched on at your site. A core-only install gets the same screen without them, rather than a broken one.
| Module | What appears |
|---|---|
| Votes | The score and arrows beside the topic and each reply |
| Likes | A heart on the topic and on every reply |
| Bookmarks | Save on the topic |
| Subscriptions | Follow on the topic |
| Solved | The solved badge, and Mark as solved in the menu |
| Private replies | The private marker, and Make private in the menu |
| Post moderation | Pending replies, and Approve for a moderator |
When it does not work
Section titled “When it does not work”| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Tapping a topic does nothing | The topic screen was removed from Background | Put it back |
| The topic is empty | The Forums group is off | Enable it |
| Replies never load | Same group, same fix | Enable Forums |
| No Edit on a member’s own post | Your site runs a plugin older than 2.26.0 | Update Memberside |
| Edit is missing on someone else’s post | They are not yours to edit | Working as intended |
| No arrows, heart or bell | The matching Pro module is off | Switch it on in ForumWP |
| Save, the heart or Follow says it could not be saved | Its endpoint is off, or its Pro module is | Enable the Forums Pro group in Memberside → REST API, and the module in ForumWP |
| One of them works but undoing it does not | Each direction is a separate endpoint | Enable both in Memberside → REST API |
| No Add photo button | The Pro photos module is off, or ForumWP’s Raw HTML setting is | Turn both on in ForumWP → Settings |
| Replying does nothing | The member is signed out, or the topic is locked | Check both |
| No Delete, Edit or Report on any post, and Save or the heart reads off after a refresh | The site runs Memberside older than 2.28.1, which read every forum list as a signed-out visitor | Update Memberside |
| Tapping an author does nothing | No Profile feature is placed, or the setting is Don’t link | Place a Profile feature, or pick one in the setting |
| Edit Settings on an author’s profile opens a different Profile’s settings | With several Profile features placed, the button targets the first | Open the chosen Profile’s settings from its own tab |
| Delete permanently is missing on a post | ForumWP only purges a post that is already in the trash | Use Delete first; permanent deletion is then offered in the moderation queue |
| Delete says it could not be done | The site’s endpoint is switched off, or the role cannot remove that post | Check Forums in Memberside → REST API, and the role’s ForumWP capabilities |