Discussion forums

Create discussion boards, post topics, reply to threads, and moderate forum content within a Redmine project.

Redmine’s forums (discussion boards) provide threaded discussions for each project. Boards are containers for topics; each topic is a thread of messages.

Boards

Each board is a category of discussion (for example, General, Support, Announcements).

Topics

Topics are individual threads within a board. Each topic has a subject, content, and a list of replies.

Enabling forums

1. Go to Project → Settings → Modules.
2. Check Forums.
3. Click Save.

A Forums link appears in the project sidebar.

Creating a board

Boards are created by project administrators.

1. Go to project settings

   Open Project → Settings → Forums.

2. Add a new board

   Click New board and enter a Name and optional Description.

3. Save

   Click Create. The board appears in the forums list.

Boards are displayed in the order they were positioned. You can drag to reorder them in the settings.

Posting a new topic

1. Open the board

   Click Forums in the project sidebar and select the board you want to post in.

2. Create a topic

   Click New topic.

3. Fill in the topic fields

   • Subject — a clear, descriptive title (maximum 255 characters)
   • Content — the body of your message
4. Attach files (optional)

   Attach screenshots or other files using the attachment field.

5. Post

   Click Create. The topic appears in the board and members who watch the board receive a notification.

Replying to a topic

1. Open the topic

   Click the topic title to open the thread.

2. Write a reply

   Scroll to the Reply form at the bottom and enter your Content.

3. Quote (optional)

   Click Quote on any existing message to automatically insert its content into your reply, formatted as a quotation.

4. Post

   Click Submit. Your reply is appended to the thread.

You cannot reply to a locked topic. The reply form is hidden on locked threads.

Sticky and locked topics

Users with the Edit messages permission can mark topics with special flags:

Flag	Effect
Sticky	The topic appears at the top of the board list regardless of activity date.
Locked	No new replies can be posted. Existing content remains visible.

To toggle these flags, edit the topic and check or uncheck Sticky or Locked.

Moderation

Editing messages

Users with the edit_messages permission can edit any message. Users with edit_own_messages can edit only their own posts.

Deleting messages

Users with the delete_messages permission can delete any message. Users with delete_own_messages can delete only their own posts. Deleting a topic removes all its replies.

Managing boards

Users with the manage_boards permission can create, edit, reorder, and delete boards from Project → Settings → Forums.

Watching forums and topics

• Watch a topic — Click Watch on a topic to receive notifications when new replies are posted.
• Watch a board — Click Watch on the board listing to receive notifications for all new topics and replies.

The topic author is automatically added as a watcher when they create the thread.

Notifications

Email notifications for forum activity are sent when the Message posted event is enabled in Administration → Settings → Email notifications. Members who are watching the topic or the board receive the notification.

Permissions

Action	Permission required
View forum messages	view_messages
Post new topics and replies	add_messages
Edit own messages	edit_own_messages
Edit any message	edit_messages
Delete own messages	delete_own_messages
Delete any message	delete_messages
Manage boards	manage_boards