Discussions can be archived one by one or by backing up the complete forum with user data, then restoring it.
Archiving forums may be useful for example if a thread gets too long, if this is the case you can archive it and then start up the conversation again with a good summary overview of the previous threads.
To archive a discussion:
- Create a forum named 'Archive forum' on your course page
- Go to the forum containing the discussions you want to archive
- Enter the discussion by clicking on the discussion name. At the top-right corner of the screen, you'll see a dropdown menu labelled Move this discussion to.
- Select Archive forum from the list
- You'll now see the discussion in the archive forum. Click the forums link in the navigation bar and select the original forum from the list.
- Post a summary of the archived discussion in the original forum to restart the discussion.
Using an archive forum allows you to keep the discussions manageable whilst retaining all the original details.