Setting up a Forum

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You're getting started with your UserVoice account, and need to get your forum set up. We'll walk you through the basic settings, so you can get started.

Create or Edit a Forum

By default, you will have a General forum on your account. To add a forum, or edit an existing one:

1. Click the icon in the bottom left corner
2. Click “General Settings"
3. Click “Ideas"
4. Scroll down and click “Forums"

To add a new forum, click "Add forum" or click "Edit" to make changes to an existing forum.

Forum Options

• Forum Name: This is the name of your forum
  
  
• Categories: Categories allow voters to segment ideas by product or app setting. You can require voters to select a category when they create an idea.

Additional Forum Options on Discovery Pro and Premium

• Prompt and Field Placeholder: The prompt is the question you want voters to answer when creating ideas, for example... "How can we make UserVoice better?". The placeholder text will be displayed in the box where they will enter their idea. 

• Welcome Message: This will show at the top of the forum, It's a great place to explain the purpose of your forum, give any additional details to voters, and even call out specific ideas you want to highlight.

• Set the Language:  By default, the forum language will be set to English. The Forum language is used if we can't detect the user's language from their browser and they haven't set one for their profile. Learn more about language settings here. 

• Privacy Settings: You have the option to make your forum private. This document walks through your options. Once private, you will have an opportunity to edit the "Access Denied" message.

• Forum State : Forums are set to "Open" by default, and allow voters to create ideas, vote, and comment. If you set the Forum to "Closed," voters will still be able to view ideas and comment, but will not able to support an idea, create a new one, or leave an importance rating.
  
  
• Importance Scale : Gauge your users' interest by asking, "How important is this idea to you?" for each idea. This scale can be turned on or off per Forum. Learn more about the importance rating here. 

Add Ideas to your Forum

A great way to get the conversation started on a new forum is to seed the forum with ideas. We recommend creating ideas around features you are already planning or considering...

• Click the Ideas icon (lightbulb) on the left
• Click "All open suggestions"
• Click the forum filter and select the forum you just added
• Click the "More" button in the top right corner
• Click "Add suggestion" from the drop-down menu

This helps voters as they arrive on your forum feel comfortable creating their own ideas.

Delete a Forum

1. Click the icon in the bottom left corner
2. Click “General Settings"
3. Click “Ideas"
4. Scroll down and click “Forums"
5. Click edit on the forum you want to delete
6. Click delete (lower-left corner)

Note that all ideas, feedback, and comments will be deleted along with the forum.

Set a Default Forum

1. Click the icon in the bottom left corner
2. Click “General Settings"
3. Click “Ideas"
4. Scroll down to "Default Forum"
5. Click edit and select the forum you would like as your default

Common Questions