With the release of Moodle 3.8, forums have a new look and function a little differently. See this complete guide to participating in forums (accessible version in Word) if you are new to Moodle. The illustration below shows how you can:

• Star a post to move it to the top of your display (note that this applies only to your view, not everyone else's).
• Click on the button on the right of a post to subscribe to that thread. You'll get an email any time someone replies to it.
• New replies are highlighted in the Replies column.

Your instructor may assess your participation in a discussion forum with a rubric. To view your feedback, open the forum, then click on View grades:

One other change you may see is a notice in forums of due dates for participation. If an instructor adds a cut-off date, you will be able to review forum posts, but you will not be able to make any additional replies.

Another new feature in forums is your instructor's ability to reply privately to students. If you receive a private reply, no one else will see it or know that you have received it. Students cannot make private replies.