This guide is for anyone attending a course that has a forum, with a course provider that uses Cademy. It explains how to open the forum, read it, post a question, comment, vote in polls, share files and choose or stop the forum emails you receive.
A course forum is a private discussion space for people attending a course and the course provider's team. You can use it to read course updates, ask questions and speak to other people on the course.
Course provider: the training provider or trainer running the course.
Course place: your own place on a course. You have one when you booked a place for yourself, when somebody else booked one for you, or when the course provider added you.
You need a course place connected to your Cademy account to read or post in the forum. Owning an order does not give you access when every course place belongs to somebody else.
How a Course Forum Works and Who Can See It
The course provider chooses for each course whether it has a forum. A course without one has no Forum tab.
The forum is private. It opens only for people with a confirmed course place and for the members of the course provider's team who manage that course.
In the forum you can read posts, create your own, comment, reply, add reactions and vote in polls.
Everything you post shows the first and last name saved on your Cademy account and, when you have one, your profile picture.
Which forum you use depends on the type of course:
On-demand course: the whole course has one forum.
Course with scheduled dates: each course date has its own forum. You use the forum of the date you have a place on.
Course with several sessions in one block: all sessions in that block share one forum. There is not a different forum for every session.
Blended course: the scheduled sessions and the online course content use the same forum, the one for the course date or block you have a place on.
The forum can have a different name. A course provider can rename the forum for one course. The new name then replaces Forum on the tab, in the browser-page title, in the welcome message and in the restricted-access message. It is still the same private course forum and its access rules do not change. This guide calls it the Forum tab.
If you run courses and want to turn on or moderate a forum, follow Set Up and Manage a Course Forum.
Open Your Course Forum (Forum Tab)
If you are not logged in or cannot find the course, follow Log In to See Your Courses and Bookings.
If you are already logged in:
Select My Account at the top-right of the page.
Select My Courses & Bookings. The My Courses page opens.
Under Your Courses, select the course you want to open.
Select Forum in the row of tabs under the course name. It is the last tab in the row, and it shows the forum's own name when the course provider renamed it.
The forum opens. It lists the posts and shows a New Post Notifications card, beside the posts on a wide screen or below them on a phone.
If you are inside a lesson, select the Back to link at the top of the lesson page first. The page that opens has the row of tabs.
You can also open the forum from a Cademy forum email. The email about new posts has a View All Posts button that opens the forum. An email about comments or poll results opens one post on its own page. Select View All Posts above that post to open the whole forum.
If the tab is missing, or selecting it does not open the forum, see Why You Do Not See the Forum Tab or the Forum Will Not Open.
Read Posts in the Course Forum
Posts pinned by the course provider's team come first and carry a Pinned label. The other posts follow, newest first.
Admin beside a name marks a post, comment or reply written by a member of the course provider's team.
(edited) on a post, comment or reply means its author changed the text after posting.
Check For New Posts above the list loads posts added since you opened the page.
Scroll down to load earlier posts. A welcome message in the course provider's name marks the end of the list.
When a post has more comments than are shown, a link under them, such as View 5 More Comments, shows the next ones. A link such as 3 Replies under a comment shows its replies.
On most plans the list keeps posts for a limited time that depends on the course provider's Cademy plan. Older posts are no longer listed. Pinned posts stay listed whatever their age. The guide for course providers, Set Up and Manage a Course Forum, gives the limit for each plan.
Vote in a Forum Poll
A post can include a poll. Select a choice to vote. You have one vote and cannot change it.
After you vote, the poll shows the percentage each choice received and marks your choice. Under the poll you see the number of votes and, while the poll is open, Ends in followed by the time left. A poll stays open for 24 hours. After that it shows Final results to everyone in the forum and accepts no more votes.
Post a Question or Create a Post in the Forum
Create a post to ask a question or share something, such as a file or image, with everyone in the forum. Start from the whole forum: the page for a single post has no box for a new post.
Select the Ask a question or create a post box above the posts. The Create post window opens.
Write your message.
To add something to the post, use the four buttons under the message. In order, they are Add an image, Add a video, Attach a file and Add a poll. The name appears when you point at a button.
Select Post.
The window closes and your post is added to the forum. Cademy also follows the post for you, as explained in Follow a Forum Post to Get Comment Emails. Creating a post does not send an email at once. The post is listed in the daily email described in Stop or Choose the Forum Emails About New Posts, which each member receives according to their own setting.
These limits apply:
An attachment is an image, video or file. A post holds up to 9 attachments in total.
A post has either attachments or a poll, not both.
Post becomes available when the post has text, a complete poll or at least one attachment. It stays unavailable while an attachment is still uploading or a poll is incomplete, even when the post has text.
A poll needs between 2 and 9 choices. Every choice must be filled in and different. Select Add an option... to add a choice. When a poll has more than 2 choices, the cross beside a choice removes it. Ends in 24h under the choices shows that the poll closes 24 hours after you post. Remove Poll takes the poll out of the post before you post it.
The largest file you can add depends on the course provider's Cademy plan. A file above the limit stays in the window without uploading. Remove it with the cross on the attachment so that Post becomes available again. Plans are described for course providers in What Each Cademy Plan Includes and Costs.
If This post is still being processed. appears above your post after you add an image, video or file, Cademy is still preparing it. Until it is ready, only you can see the post.
Comment, Reply and React to Forum Posts
Comment on a post: write in the Write a comment... box under the post, then select the send button, which shows a paper plane. Cademy then follows the post for you, as explained in Follow a Forum Post to Get Comment Emails.
Reply to a comment: select Reply under the comment, write your reply, then select the send button. Cancel closes the reply box without sending. A reply has no Reply link of its own.
Add a reaction: select the smiley button under a post, comment or reply and choose an emoji. To add a reaction that somebody else already used, select it. Select your own reaction again to remove it.
Comments and replies stay with the original post, so everybody can follow the discussion in one place.
Edit or Delete Something You Posted in the Forum
You can edit or delete your own posts, comments and replies. The course provider's team can also moderate the forum.
Edit or Delete Your Forum Post
Open the three-dot menu on your post.
Select Edit to change the post or Delete... to remove it.
If you are editing, change the text in the Edit post window and select Save. If you are deleting, confirm by selecting Delete Post.
Editing changes the text only. Images, videos, files and poll choices stay as you posted them.
Edit or Delete Your Forum Comment or Reply
Open the three-dot menu beside your comment or reply.
Select Edit to change it or Delete... to remove it.
Select Save after editing, or confirm deletion by selecting Delete Comment. Keep Comment closes the window without deleting.
Follow a Forum Post to Get Comment Emails
When you follow a post, Cademy emails you about new comments on it. These emails are sent once an hour, and each one covers the new comments on one post. You receive none when the only new comments are your own. Replies to comments are not included.
If a post you follow has a poll, you also receive one email with the results after the poll closes.
Cademy follows a post for you when you create it and when you comment on it. Replying to a comment does not follow the post. To follow or stop following a post yourself:
Open the three-dot menu on the post.
Select Follow Post. If you already follow the post, the menu shows Unfollow Post instead.
Unfollow Post stops these emails for that post. If you comment on the post again, Cademy follows it for you again.
Stop or Choose the Forum Emails About New Posts
Once a day, Cademy sends an email listing the posts added to the forum in the previous 24 hours. Posts you wrote yourself are left out, and no email is sent on a day with nothing to list.
Choose what this email includes, or stop it, on the New Post Notifications card on the forum page. Select the button on the card, which shows your current setting, and choose:
All Posts: the daily email includes new posts from anybody in the forum.
Admin Posts Only: the daily email includes only new posts from the course provider's team.
No Posts: you receive no daily email from this forum.
The setting applies only to the forum you are viewing. Until you choose, it is either All Posts or No Posts, depending on how your course place was confirmed. Check the card the first time you open the forum.
Two kinds of email do not follow this setting. Emails about comments and poll results on a post you follow are controlled by Follow Post and Unfollow Post. The course provider's team can also email a single post to the forum's members as soon as they publish it, and that email is sent to members who chose No Posts as well.
Why You Do Not See the Forum Tab or the Forum Will Not Open
No Forum tab: the course provider has not turned on a forum for that course. The tab is also left out on the Content page while that page cannot open the course content for you, for example after your access to the content has expired. The forum itself still opens from a forum email, as described in Open Your Course Forum (Forum Tab). Contact the course provider if you expected a forum.
The page says "You're not booked onto this course" (the course provider's own word can replace "course"): Cademy found no booking for that course or course date under the account you are logged in with. The page shows the email address you are logged in with. If you booked with a different email address, select Log In With a Different Email, then log in with that email address. If you have not booked, you can book a place with the button on the same card. It reads Book plus the course provider's word for the course, for example Book Course, or the course provider's own label. The book button is missing when the course is not open for booking on that website.
The page says "This forum is for people on the course" (a renamed forum shows its own name in place of "forum", and the course provider's own word can replace "course"): you have a booking for that course or course date, but no confirmed course place of your own. This is the case when you booked places only for other people, and while your own place is waiting for the course provider's approval or for your payment. Each participant opens the forum from their own Cademy account. If your own place was cancelled, you see this message while the rest of your order is still active, and the "You're not booked onto this course" page once the whole order is cancelled.
An unassigned course place is available: you can add yourself as a participant if you want to attend and join the forum. Follow Manage the People on a Course You Booked.
The course is missing from My Courses: check that you logged in using the email address connected to your course place.
The forum shows only a welcome message: nobody has posted yet, or every earlier post is older than the limit described in Read Posts in the Course Forum. Select the Ask a question or create a post box to start a discussion.
A post you read before is no longer listed: its author or the course provider's team deleted it, or it is older than the limit described in Read Posts in the Course Forum.
A forum email you expected did not arrive: check New Post Notifications for the daily email, and the three-dot menu on the post for comment emails. Cademy sends forum emails only while the course provider's account is allowed to send emails, so ask the course provider if your own settings are correct.
The Forum tab or a forum link opens a page headed Course Not Found: this happens when the course no longer has a forum, for example because the course provider turned it off, and when the post in the link was deleted.
Contact the course provider for decisions about forum access or course places. The course provider is the training provider or trainer running the course.
Frequently Asked Questions
I booked the course for somebody else. Can I read their forum?
No. Owning the order does not give you access when you are not attending, and the forum shows the message "This forum is for people on the course". Each participant uses the Cademy account connected to their own course place. If an unassigned place is available, you can add yourself as a participant.
Does every session have a different forum?
No. All sessions in the same booked block share one forum. A different scheduled course date or separately booked block has its own forum.
Does an on-demand course have a forum?
Yes, when the course provider has turned it on. An on-demand course then has one forum for the whole course.
Can people outside the course read the forum?
No. Course forums are private. Access is limited to people with a course place and the course provider's authorised team.
Who can edit or delete a post?
You can edit or delete your own posts, comments and replies. The course provider's team can moderate the forum.
What is the difference between New Post Notifications and Follow Post?
New Post Notifications controls the daily email about new posts in the whole forum. Follow Post controls the emails about new comments on one post.
Why can I not see older forum posts?
On most plans the list keeps posts for a limited time that depends on the course provider's Cademy plan. Older posts are no longer listed. Pinned posts stay listed.
I chose No Posts. Why did I still receive a forum email?
No Posts stops the daily email about new posts. You still receive emails about comments and poll results on posts you follow until you select Unfollow Post on them. The course provider's team can also email a single post to the forum's members, including members who chose No Posts.
Why am I being asked to add a profile picture?
The Update Profile Picture window opens in the forum when your account has no profile picture. A picture helps other people recognise you in the discussion. Select Upload Photo, choose an image and select Save, or close the window and continue using the forum. If you close it, it opens again after a week while you still have no picture. To change your picture later, follow Update Your Personal Details in My Profile.