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Using Connections 7.0
Welcome to the HCL Connections™ documentation site, where you can find information about Connections. Connections is social networking software designed for the workplace. Its features help you to establish dynamic networks that connect you to the people and information you need to achieve your business goals.
Forums
Share information, brainstorm ideas, ask and answer questions, and discuss topics of mutual interest in a forum.
Creating and managing forums
When you are the Forums administrator or a forum owner, you can edit, delete, and lock or unlock a forum. In addition, you can pin forum topics so that they appear first in a forum.

Using Connections 7.0
Welcome to the HCL Connections™ documentation site, where you can find information about Connections. Connections is social networking software designed for the workplace. Its features help you to establish dynamic networks that connect you to the people and information you need to achieve your business goals.
- Accessibility features for Connections
  Accessibility features assist users who have a disability, such as restricted mobility or limited vision, to use information technology content successfully.
- What's new in Connections?
  HCL Connections 7.0 gives collaboration a boost with these new features and enhancements.
- Overview
  HCL Connections™ is a collaborative tool that makes it easy to connect with others and exchange ideas. Start sharing important information, building a network of useful contacts, and following people that interest you.
- Home page
  Use the home page as a command center to scan and manage items that need your attention. You can view your most recent project updates, check in on the people you follow, and review your action items all from one place.
- Profiles
  Use profiles to connect with others, showcase your skills, and find the people you need.
- Activities
  Use activities to keep a team informed, collect and share project resources, or to assign and track tasks.
- Files
  Using the Files app, you can upload, organize, share and collaborate on files easily. Files can be shared, tagged, organized in folders, and accessed from other applications, such as Activities and Communities.
- Communities
  Get together with people who share your interests.
- Blogs
  Use blogs to share your announcements, updates, and opinions with others.
- Forums
  Share information, brainstorm ideas, ask and answer questions, and discuss topics of mutual interest in a forum.
  - Finding and participating in forums
    Browse the forums in your organization to search for solutions to problems or to share your expertise with others.
  - Creating and managing forums
    When you are the Forums administrator or a forum owner, you can edit, delete, and lock or unlock a forum. In addition, you can pin forum topics so that they appear first in a forum.
    - Creating a forum
      Start a new forum when you want to solicit answers to a specific question or to discuss particular topic.
    - Forum moderation
      When moderation is enabled for Forums, any content that users add to forums is not displayed until it is approved by a moderator.
    - Adding more owners to a forum
      If you are the Forums administrator or a forum owner, you can add more owners to a forum to share the responsibilities of forum ownership.
    - Pinning forum topics
      Highlight or prioritize important topics by pinning them. When you pin a topic, it stays at the beginning of that forum's topic listing to ensure that it receives attention from forum users.
    - Locking forums and forum topics
      Lock a forum to prevent users from contributing to the forum or updating existing posts. If you do not want to lock an entire forum, you can control access at topic level by locking forum topics.
    - Deleting forums
      Delete forums when they are no longer being used.
- Wikis
  Tap the wisdom of the crowd by building a body of knowledge in a wiki. Everyone on your team can make a contribution.
- Bookmarks
  Use Bookmarks to collect and organize shortcuts to websites.

Creating and managing forums

When you are the Forums administrator or a forum owner, you can edit, delete, and lock or unlock a forum. In addition, you can pin forum topics so that they appear first in a forum.

Forums can be stand-alone or they can be associated with a community. To create a stand-alone forum, you must add it from the Forums application. Community forums must be added by community owners from the Communities application. After they are created, stand-alone forums cannot be converted into community forums, nor can community forums be converted into stand-alone forums.

Note: External users do not have access to the Forums application, but do have access to Forums within Communities. For more information, see the What can external users do? topic.