Queue Manager - DISCUS Administration Instructions

Queue Manager

DISCUS Administration Instructions

All features in this section are available in the professional version of this discussion board software only.

The Queue Manager allows you to approve or reject postings submitted to the message queue by visitors to your board. In order to be able to use the Queue Manager, you need to have set up one or more of your topics to use the message queue using the Access Manager.

When one or more messages is in your message queue, the link to "Queue Manager" on the Main Menu of the administration program is replaced by a bold link indicating the number of messages that are in your message queue. To access your message queue, click on this link (or, if the Main Menu does not indicate any messages in your queue but you suspect that messages may have been added to your queue since you last refreshed the Main Menu screen, click the "Queue Manager" link).

The Queue Manager is a two-framed interface. The upper frame displays the posts (if any) that are in your message queue, along with the options to approve, refuse, or view those posts. Generally, you will want to view a post prior to approving or refusing it. The thumbs-up icon () is used to approve a post, which instantly posts the message to the discussion for which it was intended and, if applicable, sends e-mail notification to all who have enabled it. Approved messages are removed from your queue upon posting. The thumbs-down icon () deletes the message from your queue without posting it to the page. For a refused post, no e-mail notifications are sent. The view icon () brings up the message in the lower frame for viewing and/or editing at your discretion.

When you choose to view a message, the message is displayed in the lower frame much as it would look on the page upon being posted (with the color scheme, page title, and navigation bar).

A form is provided to edit the message as you see fit (enter any changes into the "Revise Message" box and click "Refresh Preview" as necessary). To save your changes, click the "Save Changes" button. Saving your changes does not necessarily approve the post (the post is not approved until you click the approve icon).

A queued message, whether edited or in original formed, can be approved using the approved icon, or refused using the refuse icon, from the lower frame. The function of these icons is exactly equal to the function of the icons in the table in the upper frame, and are provided as a convenient mechanism by which to approve posts as you read them.