Overview

Note: This feature is only available in NetResults Tracker Enterprise Edition.

The Discussions feature is a means of allowing users to discuss various topics pertaining to a record. This allows users to collaborate without having to coordinate a meeting for everyone to contribute to the discussion. For example, a record may be assigned to a particular developer, but several developers are needed to provide input for an enhancement's design or the resolution of a bug. These discussions can continue in parallel to the record's progression through the workflow.

Discussions are also useful for integrating a new user into a project. The user can review the information present in the discussion to become familiar with the project's progress to date.

A discussion can be started for any record. The user initiating the discussion can invite other users or user groups to participate in the discussion. Within the discussion for each record, multiple threads can be started to discuss multiple topics. Users can post and reply to messages within a particular thread. Users can also choose to receive email messages to notify them about a new discussion or new posts to a discussion.

Enabling Discussions

Performing the following steps will allow you to enable the Discussions feature in your workgroup:

1. Enter the Discussions key in the License Manager
   You must enter a license key into the License Manager in order to use the Discussions feature.

2. Enable Discussions in the General Preferences section
   1. Login to the workgroup as Admin
   2. Click on the Admin icon in the top button bar
   3. Click on the General Preferences link
   4. In the "General Options" section, set Enable Discussion to "Yes"
   5. Click OK to save this change

3. Configure SMTP Mail Server for use with Discussions
   An SMTP mail server is only required if you wish to generate notification messages related to the discussions (for inviting users to a new discussion or notifying users when a new post has been made to the discussion). This can be configured in the Email Configuration section.

4. Ensure an email address is entered for the users that will receive discussion notification messages
   A valid email address is only needed if you want a user to receive notification messages for discussions. Email addresses are entered in a user's profile in the User Accounts section (if the Tracker Administrator has the appropriate privileges to edit user profile information) or in the User Management System.

After enabling the Discussions feature using the steps above, configure the user group privileges and default settings for Discussions as described below.

Discussions User Group Privileges

User group privileges related to the Discussions feature can be set in the User Group Privileges page of the User Accounts section. Discussion privileges will only be displayed in the Privileges page if Discussions have been enabled using the steps in the section above.

Default User Preferences for Discussions

Default user preferences can be set for the Discussions feature. These settings will be used when a new user is added to Tracker and can be configured in the User Preferences page of the Admin section.

The default user preferences will determine the initial settings for these preferences. Each user can change their own settings in the Preferences page.