1. To reply to a discussion question, start by selecting the appropriate question from the Topic Name column. 
   
2. The question will appear at the top of the page. Once you have read the question and are ready to respond, select Reply to Discussion.
   
3. Enter your response in the text box provided. Formatting options are limited to bolding, italicizing, and adding numeric or bulleted lists. If you’d like to attach a file such as an image or document to your response, you can do so by clicking the paper clip icon at the bottom of the textbox and then selecting your document. For a list of supported file types, please see the Invalid File Type Error in LMS article. Once you are ready to post your reply, click Post.
   

   

   NOTE Halo | Learn has an auto-save feature. If you start a reply but don’t finish it, the information you entered will remain available until you return to that discussion question.
4. Your response will appear in the space below. Your response will be highlighted yellow and a star will be visible next to your name. This is intended to make it easier to differentiate your post from your classmates' posts when navigating through them. Responses are ordered by when the post was made, with the most recent post located at the top. If you would like to edit your response after posting it, select the three dots in the upper right corner of the response window. See the “Editing a Post” menu below for more information on this topic. 
   

   

All posts within a specific discussion question forum can be expanded or collapsed using the Posts Navigation window on the left side, or by expanding posts beneath the Discussion Description. Responses in the Post Navigation section are indented to help you identify which student and post you are responding to. Responses can also be expanded / collapsed individually using the downward facing icon to the left of any post. 

1. To reply to a classmate’s post, select the Reply button from the bottom right corner of their response. 
   

   

2. Enter your response in the text box provided. If you’d like to attach a document to your response, you can do so by clicking the paper clip icon at the bottom of the textbox, and then selecting your document. Once you are ready to post your reply, click Post.
   

   

   NOTE Halo | Learn has an auto-save feature. If you start a reply but don’t finish it, the information you entered will remain available until you return to that discussion question. 
3. Your response will appear below your classmate’s post, and will be indented slightly.
   

   

If you notice a mistake immediately after posting your reply, you may be able to edit it. However, you will not be able to edit your post if:

• Your post has been graded by the instructor
• Your post has been marked as substantive for participation
• A student or instructor has replied to your post
• The post was made over 24 hours prior
  
  

1. To edit a post, start by clicking the three horizontal dots to the right of the post. Then select Edit. If your post isn’t easily visible, we recommend hiding the Discussion Question description by clicking the Hide Description button. This will display more room in the responses section below. Alternatively, you can locate your post using the Post Navigation menu on the left side of the forum. 
   

   

2. Make any corrections necessary, and then select Update.
   

   

3. The time stamp at the top of the post will change to the time you made the edit. Your instructor will only be able to see the time of your edit, not the time you initially made the post.
   

   

If you post a response to the wrong discussion question, or simply want to start over and delete your post, you may be able to do so.  However, you will not be able to delete your post if:

• Your post has been graded by the instructor
• Your post has been marked as substantive for participation
• A student or instructor has replied to your post
• The post was made over 24 hours prior
  
  

1. To delete a post, start by clicking the three horizontal dots to the right of the post. Then select Delete. Alternatively, you can locate your post using the Post Navigation menu on the left side of the forum.
   

   

2. A notification will appear to confirm that the post should be deleted. If you’re sure that you want to delete the post, click Delete.
   

   

   NOTE Your post cannot be recovered once it is deleted.

Some courses may require a certain amount of substantive discussion post replies per week. Instructors can mark replies as substantive or not substantive in the discussion forums. This mark will appear under the reply text and will show as green (substantive) or gray (not substantive).

When there are unread posts in the discussion forums, Halo will provide you with a notification icon next to the Discussion Forums tab in the navigation menu.

Upon accessing a forum with unread posts, you can locate the unread post by using the filtering options in the Post Navigation menu. Check the box next to the appropriate filter option and then select Apply Filters.

Marking a post as read will remove the notification for the post. To mark a post as read, click the Unread button in the top right-hand corner of the post. The button will change to a grey Read button. You can select it again to change it back to Unread status.

When creating a post, you can adjust the text formatting to be bold or italics, create a hyperlink, add a numbered or bulleted list, add emojis, or attach a file using the toolbar at the top of the post textbox. Any images can be attached as a file but cannot be put directly into the post textbox.

If you receive any errors, such as the “Error---An error has occurred” error, when trying to post a reply, check to see if your post has any emojis or hyperlinks. While these elements don't always cause issues, depending on how they are formatted, they could result in an error. If you've copied and pasted an emoji, try removing it. If you've copied and pasted a link into the text box, try inserting it using the hyperlink button instead.

There may be instances where a DQ requires a response which incorporates programming code or similar language; as a result, you may encounter an error when trying to post the response. To fix this, make sure to add /* to the beginning of the code and */ to the end of the code. This will ensure that the code does not interfere with Halo and produces an error message.