Looking for the most seamless Discussion experience

Mike.B.559

I am looking for the most seamless way to link to/open discussion forums in a course. This video shows me exploring different workflows. You may find it useful:

https://mediaspace.carleton.ca/media/Adding%2Ba%2BDiscussion%2BForum%2Bthe%2Bway%2BI%2Bwant%2Bit%2Bto%2Bappear/1_pcerohoa

The video also identifies some hiccups in the platform that developers may want to resolve. These include:

• Redundant inclusion of titles on Forum page

• Font becomes "undefined" and resized when selecting "Render in iFrame"
• Different iFrame dimension behaviour when including as a Forum as compared to as a Topic. Note (see below) the confined nature of an embedded Topic in comparison to an embedded Forum:

Stefanie.B.518

Hi @Mike.B.559
That's some pretty fancy custom widget building you're putting together!
I know what you mean about trying to get the sizing just right when you're working on a custom widget- I often go through a lot of trial and error when I'm making something special for a course too.

I provided this video and your feedback and suggestions for how we could reduce some of that duplication in titles to the dev team that works on Discussions- very grateful to you for the detailed thoughts here!

While there isn't an alternate widget or approach they would recommend for this use case, I do think I might have something you could try.

It is possible to use HTML Template Pages to create interaction/ or just static style (and size) to a custom widget you want to place on a course homepage.

In this example from the University of Suffolk, they create a custom widget that includes an accordion interaction on the page which is kind of neat.

I wonder if that would allow you more flexibility to customize the appearance, and work toward a more seamless discussion experience.

Mike.B.559

Thanks Stefanie. I'll check it out.