Help:Structured Discussions/One page

All Structured Discussions documentation on one page.

Installation

Reminder: Structured Discussions were formerly called "Flow". Some tools and processes may have kept the old name.

Wikimedia Foundation wikis

Structured Discussions is only enabled on some Wikimedia wikis. Some of those wikis have it available as a Beta feature for all users. It will not be installed on any more Wikimedia wikis.

Other wikis

You will need to install the StructuredDiscussions extension on your wiki.

Learn more at Extension:StructuredDiscussions

Activation

Sysops on wikis that have Structured Discussions installed have the right to create, move and delete Structured Discussions boards.

To activate flow, go to Special:EnableStructuredDiscussions on your wiki. Type the name of the page on the first form. The second textarea allows you to pre-fill the Board Description.

This performs the following tasks:

archives the talk page in wikitext in a sub-page;
Creates a new Structured Discussions Board replacing the talk page.
creates a link to the archive sub-page on Structured Discussions Board's description (the bar on the right side);

It is not possible to convert a wikitext page content to Structured Discussions. This is due to Structured Discussions's structure (a Board with Topics).

Page moves are done like any other page.

Deletion of a Structured Discussion Board is done like any other page. However, if you want to archive the Board, move it to a sub-page instead.

Deactivation

On some wikis there was previously a Beta feature that allowed users to enable Structured Discussions on their talk page. This Beta feature is no longer supported, but users who once had it enabled can deactivate it.

If they do, "Flow talk page manager" does the following tasks:

unarchives their former wikitext talk page
archives the Structured Discussions Board on a sub-page. This archived page is at the following address: User talk:USERNAME/Structured_Discussions_Archive_1 .

To deactivate a Structured Discussions Board on any other page, move the page to an archive sub-page, then re-create a wikitext discussion page under the original title.

A maintenance script exists that copies the content of a Structured Discussions board to a wikitext page.

If you need any assistance when deactivating your page, please contact us.

Probably in 2024, all Structured Discussions pages will be deactivated and converted.

Rename, delete, restore

If you want to rename, delete or restore a Structured Discussions board, please see the Administration page.

Known problems (and how to solve them)

Some problems may occur when people use Structured Discussions. This page lists these problems.

Structured Discussions is not working for you

There is two possible known cases.

Browser compatibility

Structured Discussions is following MediaWiki's software compatibility. If your browser is not on the list of the "Grade A" browsers, Structured Discussions may not work for you. In any case, having an up-to-date browser is highly recommended for safety reasons.

It is possible to use Structured Discussions without JavaScript or on a text-only browser.

If you still have a problem, it may come from your account settings.

Account settings compatibility

Check compatibility

If your browser is up-to-date, you may have a problem with gadgets or personal scripts you use.

To check on that problem, at your choice:

if you are on a Wikimedia wiki, test if you can use Structured Discussions on an other wiki with your global account. Check on the list of wikis where Structured Discussions is available and try Structured Discussions there. That option will not be relevant if you are using global scripts (written on your global.js).
create a new account for test purposes. Don't activate any extra gadgets or add scripts to that account. Try then to use Structured Discussions.
clear your cache and the try to post a message on a Structured Discussions board
check for broken scripts

Find and solve the problem

You can identify which gadget or script is not compatible by locating it. When you have found the problematic script or gadget, please contact script/gadget's author, your local script/gadget project or the administrators.

If you still have a problem, unselect all gadgets and clear all scripts from your account, save the changes, clear your cache. Then re-enable all gadgets and scripts.

If then you still have a problem, please contact the Growth team.

It is not possible to use Search to find Structured Discussions topics and contents

Special:Search page does not includes Structured Discussions topics.

Manage topics

Filter topics

Location of the filtering menu on a Chinese wiki.

On top of a Board is an option to filter topics.

"Newest topics" will show you topics stored by when they have been created.
"Recently active topics" will show you topics as they have been updated, most recent first. Resolve a topic updates it.

Edit a topic/a message

Editing, like many other actions is accessible through the three-dots menu.

Autoconfirmed users can edit any message, to fix problems or look at the wikitext.

When a message is edited, a new entry is added to the History page. The username of the last editor who changes the message is displayed below the message itself, on the timestamp. To see the differences between the edits, click on the timestamp.

When you edit a message, all basic editing applies.

The title itself can also be edited. In the ... menu next to the topic's title, select "Edit title".

The topic title only allows wikitext markup allowed by the edit summary.^[1]

Summarize a topic

Summarizing a topic will help people to understand what happened in the Topic. It can be done anytime: during the conversation to summarize what happened, or at the end after a decision is made. Summarizing the topic will be suggested when you mark a topic as resolved.

You can put links or templates in the Summary (like {{See also }} or {{Tracked }}). All basic editing applies.

Logged-in users can summarize a Topic.

Resolve a topic

Resolving a topic hides all answers for that topic, and a check mark is added to the Topic title. Summarizing the topic will be suggested when you mark a topic as resolved. You can expand a resolved Topic by clicking on the Title or on the Summary. You can re-open a Topic anytime, by clicking on the Topic's menu (three dots icon). You need to reopen a topic to do any administrative actions (hide, delete, suppress).

A resolved topic is identified by a grey font color on the table of contents.

Logged-in users can resolve a topic.

Customization

If you want to only have a start-a-new-topic page, with nothing else around, use action=new-topic.

Notifications

You can receive many information about Structured Discussions with the Notifications.

Notifications received

Structured Discussions action several notifications.

Actions with notifications

Highlight new messages

If you click on a notification for a new message, a blue highlighting will be displayed on the side of all new messages for the given Topic.

Highlight mentions or thanks

If you click on a notification for a mention or a thank on a Structured Discussions board, the message where the mention is has a green highlighting.

Actions from notifications

You can unwatch a topic from notifications. Click on the ... and then on "Stop watching activity".

Watchlist

You can turn off Structured Discussions notifications on your notifications preferences. Your watchlist will be still updated with a new line for every subject on a talk page you watch or a new line when someone answers a Topic you watch.

Watch a topic

To watch a specific subject, click on the star on the top of the Topic, near of the title. It turns blue. If it is already blue, you already were watching this topic.

While watching, you will get a notification for every edit to this Topic, and a new line in your watch list.

When you create a Topic, you are auto-subscribed to this Topic.

Watch a Talk page

To watch a whole page, click on the star on the top of the page, near of the search field. It turns blue. If it is already blue, you already were watching this page.

While watching, you get a notification for every new subject posted on this talk page. You will also get a watch list entry.

Permalinks

Permalinks allow users to create a link to a Topic, or to quote precise elements from a Topic.

Board permalink

Like other pages on your wiki, a Board's permalink is the URL displayed on the browser's navigation bar, or, for internal links, the page title. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User talk:Example and [[User talk:Example]] are both permalinks to the whole board.

Topic permalink

A Topics namespace is Topic:

If you are on a Board, the Topic's permalink can be found by clicking on the three-dots icon, on the right side. If you are on the Topic itself, then the Topic's permalink is the URL displayed on the browser's navigation bar, or by clicking on the three-dots icon.

Topic links are formatted with a random sequence of characters, their universally unique identifier (UUID). This link does not currently have a hierarchical relationship between the Board and the Topic. Example: Topic:Sojhhtquzbhj3d7q

The UUID enables a Topic's title to be changed, e.g. to make it clearer, without needing to worry about breaking any incoming links. It is also needed by some future features, where a Topic may be displayed on multiple boards, or multiple wikis. A URL using the title was not possible to create, because many topics have similar titles: "Hello", "Thank you", "I need your help", etc. We are studying a way to have more human-readable URLs, which will still include the unique ID.

Post permalink

A Post's permalink is reachable by clicking on the three-dots icon, on the right side of the message itself.

Post links are formatted with a Topic's permalink and an anchor to the Post itself.

Example: Topic:Sojhhtquzbhj3d7q#flow-post-sojhhtr5w6j2go86

In order to highlight a particular topic, some elements may be added by Flow to the URL you will have in your browser address bar. Copying this URL will still work.

Tip: If you include another Post's permalink in your own comment, then any user who clicks on that link will see the post highlighted by a green bar.

Administration

All groups of user rights mentioned on this document are the ones defined on MediaWiki.org.

However, configuration varies by wiki, so consult Special:ListGroupRights on the wiki you're interested in.

Concerning posts and topics

Posts and topics can be moderated in three different ways: hide, delete and suppress.

Some users can also edit or rename a Topic or a board, or mark a topic as resolved.

The following sections mention "posts", but everything also applies to topics.

It is not possible to carry out these actions when a topic has been "Marked as resolved". You have to reopen it first.

Edit

You can edit your own posts. Autoconfirmed users can edit Structured Discussions posts by other users.

Hide

By default, any user can hide a post; it uses the flow-hide right.

A hidden post is replaced by a warning message. You can read the hidden post by clicking on the history link on the warning message. You will then access to the history page, where the message is struck through.

Anyone can unhide a post on the history page. If a post is unhidden, it becomes visible by anyone.

Mark as resolved

By default, any logged in user can mark a topic as resolved, or reopen it (making it no longer resolved).

This prevents further posts to the topic.

This uses the flow-lock right.

Delete

By default, users in the sysop group can delete posts. When it is done, the post is deleted. Sysops can restore the post on the History page. This uses the flow-delete right.

Hidden topics that haven't been replied can be successfully deleted using Special:Nuke page.

Suppress

By default, users in the oversight and suppress groups can suppress posts.

When it is done, the post is oversighted. Oversighters can restore the post on the History page.

This uses the flow-suppress right.

Rename

Renaming a topic will only change the topic title. It will not move the page from the board.

Concerning boards

Rename

A user can rename a board if they have the right to create a Structured Discussions board at the destination name.

For example, if the destination is a Structured Discussions namespace, any user can move the board to there.

If a user has the "Create Structured Discussions boards in any location" (flow-create-board) right, they can create a page working on Structured Discussions in any location; that means they can move a Structured Discussions board to any location.

By default, flow-bot has this right.

However, wikis can give it to additional users.

Delete and restore

Deleting a board requires the same privileges as deleting any page. When you delete a board, all topics linked to this board are inaccessible to all users, except sysops (like any deleted page). When you restore a board, all topics are visible again.

Protection and blocking

Like all pages on a wiki, it is possible to semi-protect or protect a Structured Discussions board. Blocks are also handled normally. If you block a user without selecting the "Editing their own talk page" option, that user will still be able to create new topics on their personal talk page.

Move and redirect

Structured Discussions board can be moved in the same way as any other page, by visiting Special:MovePage.

It is not possible at the moment to create a redirection from a Structured Discussions board.

However, you can work around this issue. Assume you want to redirect Talk:Source to Talk:Destination.

If Talk:Source exists, move it to an archive page Talk:Source/Archive (or a suitable archive location).
Create the redirect in a wikitext namespace, as normal, e.g. at User:MyUsername/Redirect:
#REDIRECT [[Talk:Destination]]
Move User:MyUsername/Redirect to Talk:Source.

You can also use Special:ChangeContentModel to forcibly create a wikitext page in a Structured Discussions-default namespace, and then redirect it.

Categorization

You can add categories:

for a Board, in the board description,
for a Topic, in the Summary.

Categories will work like on any other page. They will be displayed at the bottom of the Description sidebar.

Preloading contents

It is possible to preload some contents with Structured Discussions. You can create a link with some parameters, and these parameters will preload the Title and the text fields.

To do this, you can use these two parameters on a Structured Discussions Board:

topiclist_preloadtitle= - will preload the Title field with the text you add after the =
topiclist_preload= - will preload the text field with a page (usually as subpage) that you call after the = (does not works with simple text)

Examples

Preload "Welcome" on a new topic on Structured Discussions/Sandbox:
https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Structured_Discussions/Sandbox?topiclist_preloadtitle=Welcome
Preload "Add title" on a new topic title and preload the content of a subpage (Structured_Discussions/Sandbox/sub) in the text field:
https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Structured_Discussions/Sandbox?topiclist_preloadtitle=Welcome&topiclist_preload=Structured_Discussions/Sandbox/sub

If there is no content on given page, nothing is preloaded.

Current limitations

It is not possible to preload the Summary.

It is not possible to preload Templates.

It is not possible to preload simple text on the message field: topiclist_preload=Hello will not work.

It is not possible to add preloadparams .

Tips

Do not translate the parameters
Use magic words like canonicalurl or urlencode to be sure your link will work with special characters or spaces on your wiki.

Keyboard shortcuts

This page outlines the various keyboard commands supported by the visual editor mode on Structured Discussions. They are based on VisualEditor shortcuts.

The shortcuts shown below are for PC, and may be different on Mac (usually replacing Ctrl with ⌘ Cmd). You can press Ctrl+/ (⌘ Cmd+/ on Mac) from within Structured Discussions to see the latest available shortcuts on your device.

If you have ideas for new useful commands, or have noticed problems with the existing ones, please let us know on the Feedback Page.

Text styling
`Ctrl`+`B`	Bold
`Ctrl`+`I`	Italic
`Ctrl`+`K`	Link
Type `[[`	Link
`Ctrl`+`⇧ Shift`+`6`	Computer code
`Ctrl`+`⇧ Shift`+`5`	Strikethrough
`Ctrl`+`,`	Subscript
`Ctrl`+`.`	Superscript
`Ctrl`+`U`	Underline
`Ctrl`+`M`	Remove
`Ctrl`+`\`	Remove

Clipboard
`Ctrl`+`C`	Copy
`Ctrl`+`X`	Cut
`Ctrl`+`V`	Paste
`Ctrl`+`⇧ Shift`+`V`	Paste as plain text

Paragraph formatting
`Ctrl`+`0`	Paragraph
`Ctrl`+`7`	Preformatted
`Ctrl`+`8`	Block quote
Type `:`	Block quote
`Ctrl`+`1-6`	Heading (1-6)
Type `==`	Heading 2
`Tab ↹`	Increase indentation
`Ctrl`+`]`	Increase indentation
`⇧ Shift`+`Tab ↹`	Decrease indentation
`Ctrl`+`[`	Decrease indentation
Type `*`+`SPACE`	Bullet list
Type `#`+`SPACE`	Numbered list
Type `1.`+`SPACE`	Numbered list

History
`Ctrl`+`Z`	Undo
`Ctrl`+`⇧ Shift`+`Z`	Redo
`Ctrl`+`Y`	Redo

Other
`Ctrl`+`↵ Enter`	Save changes
`Ctrl`+`F`	Find and replace
`Ctrl`+`G`	Find next
`F3`	Find next
`Ctrl`+`⇧ Shift`+`G`	Find previous
`⇧ Shift`+`F3`	Find previous
`Ctrl`+`⇧ Shift`+`X`	Change directionality
`Ctrl`+`A`	Select all
`Ctrl`+`/`	Keyboard shortcuts
`Ctrl`+`⇧ Shift`+`/`	Keyboard shortcuts

Insert
Type `<!--`	Comment
Type `<hiero`	Hieroglyphs
Type `<math`	Math formula
Type `<chem`	Chemical formula
`Ctrl`+`⇧ Shift`+`K`	Reference
Type `<ref`	Reference
Type `<score`	⧼score-visualeditor-mwscoreinspector-title⧽
Type `<syntax`	Code block
Type `<source`	Code block
Type `{ \|`	Table
Type `{ {`	Template

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