Bb Tip #130: Lock Discussion Threads

If you setup a discussion forum with date and time restrictions, once the scheduled available time has passed the forum becomes unavailable and disappears from the student's view. If you would like students to be able to read posts once the date restriction has past but not be able to submit new posts, you can "lock" the discussion thread to prevent new posts. Students may read the threads but not make any additions or modifications.

Follow these steps to do it.

To lock discussion board threads, you should:

1. Open the Forum in the Discussion Board.
2. Select the threads you want to lock (you can select all threads by checking the box to the left of “Date” in the header).
3. Click the [Thread Actions] menu button and choose [Lock] from the list. Verify the status under the discussion board shows "Locked".
4. Once you have successfully locked the thread, remember to go back and edit the forum to remove the date and time restrictions so that the students can see the threads.

Want more information?

Step-by-step instructions are available [PDF].
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