Windchill Fundamentals > Collaborating with Others > Discussions
  
Discussions
A Windchill discussion is similar to an online forum or message board, allowing team members to record an ongoing exchange of ideas in a secure space while referencing specific objects within Windchill. Discussions can also prove particularly useful for teams that include members from various sites or locations, allowing those members to engage in conversations outside of email and conference calls.
Discussions are available at two levels: context and object. For information about the actions and information available at each level, see Discussion Tables.
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The discussion icon appears in the Folder Contents table next to objects with active discussions. Click this icon to view discussion threads associated with that object.
A discussion consists of topics and comments:
Topics—A topic is essentially a heading for a specific forum thread, allowing you to organize comments based on subject matter. Each discussion can have multiple topics, and any team member can create a new topic. Click a topic name to open a new page where you can view and create comments associated with that topic.
Comments—A comment is a message posted under the selected topic or in reply to a previous comment. Comments can include attachments to local files, URL links, and links to Windchill objects.
You can view and contribute to discussions from the Discussions and the My Discussions tables.
In addition to creating topics and posting comments, the following actions are available to users (depending on their individual access and permissions):
Add or remove yourself as a participant in a discussion topic. Participants can view and respond to new comments from the My Discussions table.
Subscribe to a discussion, topic, or a comment. Subscribers are notified through email when a new topic or comment is posted.
Save a draft of a comment that you can modify and post to the discussion at a later date.
Close or delete your discussion topics or comments. You can delete any comments you have posted. Users with appropriate permissions can also close and delete topics or other users’ comments.