--- title: "Discussion Streams" canonical: "https://wiki.yellowfinbi.com/space/yfcurrent/2204569/Discussion%20Streams" format: markdown --- Overview A Discussion Stream is used to allow members of the business to collaborate; bringing users, Yellowfin Content, and external links together in one place to be viewed and discussed. Streams are tightly integrated with Timeline so that users keep up to date with posts made in a Discussion by viewing updates in their Timeline feed. Creating a Stream In order to start collaborating in a team space, you will need to create a Discussion Stream. Complete the following steps: 1.  Access the  Create menu using whichever  Navigation method you have in your system. 2.  Click on the  Discussion option to begin setting up a Stream. 3.  You will now see the Stream creation window, that allows you to set up all the options related to your discussion. 4.  Set up an image to use for the Stream, helping users identify it when they open it from the browse page, by clicking on the thumbnail. 5.  Click  Add to load a new image to use. Alternatively, select an existing image (skip to step 10).  6.  If loading a new image, click the  Choose File button to locate your image file. 7.  Provide a name, description, and tags for your image.  8.  Click  Save to load your file. 9.  You will now be returned to the image manager to select your new image. 10.  Crop your image so that it's the correct proportions for use with a Stream thumbnail. 11.  Define the following for your stream: 12.  Define the list of members to be attached to the stream. This will invite users to join the conversation. 13.  Click  Save to complete the stream. 14.  You will now see your new stream, you're ready to start posting.  Locating a Stream You can find a Discussion Stream in the following ways: If you have already joined a Discussion Stream, open the Discussion Streams page by clicking on Activity in the Main Menu Navigation, and selecting Discussion Streams from the Sub-menu. The Discussions Streams you are part of will be shown in the left hand panel. If you have not joined any Streams, you can see a list of Streams you have access to from the Browse Page. Open the Browse Page and set the Content Type filter to Discussions. Joining a Stream and Leaving a Stream You can open a Stream from the Browse Page or from an invitation to join. Once opened, if you have not joined the Stream, click on the Join button next to the Stream name. This will enable you to access the Stream in future from the side menu in the Streams page, and to receive updates when posts are made to the Stream. If you no longer wish to be part of a Stream, click on the Leave button next to the  Stream name. Using a Stream Discussion Streams can contain posts (comments), tasks, and decision threads. Each of these types of communication are designed to aid in the collaborative efforts of users and teams, and are able to contain a range of different types of content and attachments.  See  Comments and Tasks  for more information.  Members The users that have joined a discussion stream are considered its members. This includes both administrators of the stream, and standard contributors.  Viewing Members To view the members of a discussion stream, follow these steps: 1.  Locate the stream and view it. 2.  Click on the  Members icon. 3. You will now see a list of members displayed on the right of your screen.  Inviting Members To invite members to join your discussion stream, follow these steps: 1.  Click on the  Share button on the stream's members list. 2.  You will now see a Members List popup. 3.  Locate users in the Members List popup that appears. You can select individual users or groups. 4.  When you have finished adding users/groups click  Save . 5.  You will now see the users as  invited in the main members list. Member Permissions Users can either be a member or administrator of a discussion stream. Members are users that contribute content and posts to the stream, where administrators can also manage users and security permissions. To change the role of a user, follow these steps: 1.  While viewing the Members list on a stream, click on the option button next to a user and select the  Change Role option. 2.  Select their new role. Removing Members If users no longer need to belong to a discussion stream they can remove themselves, but an administrator can also remove them by following these steps: 1.  While viewing the Members list on a stream, click on the option button next to a user and select the Remove option. 2.  Confirm you would like to remove the user by clicking the  Ok button on this prompt. Blocking Members Sometimes users may need to be removed from a discussion thread, and prevented from returning. An administrator can block a user by following these steps: 1.  While viewing the Members list on a stream, click on the option button next to a user and select the Block option. The user will now be moved from the  Members list to the  Blocked list, removed from the stream and prevented from rejoining. Layout A Discussion Stream can have three layouts, each designed to allow users to interact with the stream in different ways. Layout Description Timeline The timeline feed displays a list of activity that has taken place within the Discussion Stream. This can include new threads, responses to posts, and task activity. This behaves the same way as a user's timeline feed. See Timeline for more information. Discussion Lists The lists layout allows you to group all content within a stream into user-defined lists. This allows you to organise content by your own groupings rather than sorting by date. See Discussion Lists for more information. Task Management The task management layout allows you to do just that; manage the tasks associated with the discussion stream. See Task Management for more information. Filtering Threads When exploring a Discussion Stream it's important to be able to quickly locate specific posts or pieces of content when needed. The filters located at the top of the stream feed allow you to do this. Option Description Search This search allows the user to narrow down the events they see in the feed, in order to locate specific posts or pieces of content. Post Type This option allows the users to specify which type of posts they see in the feed, from; Priority This option allows the user to specify the items they see based on the priority assigned to them: Status This option allows the user to specify the items they see based on their current status: Favourite Flag This option allows the user to restrict the items they are seeing just to ones they have marked as favourite or "flagged". Reset This option allows the user to clear all the above items, resetting their timeline feed to show everything. Discussion Streams#Layout This option allows the user to specify which layout they look at on the page. Discussion Streams#Members This option opens the Members panel on the right of the screen, allowing the user to explore people that are involved in the Discussion Stream.