New to community forums, or just new to this one? This is the two-minute version of how everything works. Skim the headings and come back when you need them.
If you’d rather watch than read, there’s a short walkthrough video that covers the same ground. Look for it pinned alongside this topic.
Posting, replying, and mentioning people
- Ask a question. Go to the Q&A category and press + New Topic. A short template appears in the composer to guide a good post. Fill it in and press Create Topic. Don’t worry about getting it perfect; the template is a prompt, not a form.
- Reply. Open any topic and press Reply at the bottom, or the reply arrow under a specific post to answer that person directly.
- Mention someone by typing
@and their username. They’ll get a notification. Handy when you want to bring in someone who answered a similar question before. - Format your post with the toolbar in the composer: bold, lists, links, quotes. Select text in someone’s post and press Quote to reply to just that part.
- Add a file or screenshot by dragging it into the composer, pasting it, or pressing the upload button. Screenshots of what you’re stuck on usually get you a faster, better answer.
Private messages
- Send a direct message from someone’s profile. Click their avatar, then Message. Use it for anything that isn’t for the whole community.
- Most questions do better in the open, though. A public answer helps the next person with the same problem, and you’ll usually get more eyes on it.
Notifications, digests, and following topics
- Notifications (the bell, top right) tell you when someone replies to you, mentions you, or quotes you. That’s the default, and it’s enough for most people.
- Follow a topic or a whole category using the notification control at the bottom of a topic or on a category page:
- Watching. Get notified of every new reply.
- Tracking. See a count of unread posts, no notification.
- Normal. The default.
- Muted. Hide it entirely.
- Email digest. If you’re away for a while, Discourse emails you a summary of the popular activity you missed. You can change how often (or turn it off) in Preferences → Emails.
Searching before you ask
- Search (the magnifier, top right) is worth thirty seconds before you post. Someone may already have asked your question and got a good answer.
- Filter by tag to narrow it down. Search
iso27001ornis2to see everything on your framework. - If you find a near-match that doesn’t quite fit, link it in your own question and say what’s different. That’s a great question, not a duplicate.
What a good question looks like
The best questions here get you a trusted answer fast. They tend to:
- Give a little context. Where you are in the process, and what you’re actually trying to achieve.
- Say what you’ve already tried or read. “Nothing yet, I don’t know where to start” is a perfectly good answer.
- Ask one specific thing. A focused question is easier to answer than a broad one.
- Carry the right tag so the right people find it: your framework (
iso27001ornis2), andpre-certificationif you’re just getting started.
Beginner questions are welcome. Asking early is how you avoid stalling later. Nobody here will judge you for it.
Marking an answer
- If a reply solves your question, mark it as the answer. A tick appears on the post so the next person can see straight away what worked.
- It also thanks the person who helped, and it’s how the community builds a library of answers you can trust.
Contacting moderators or reporting a post
- Report a post using the flag control (the flag icon under a post). Flags come to the moderators privately. Use one for spam, something in the wrong place, or anything that breaks the community guidelines.
- Message the moderators directly if you’re not sure where something belongs, want to raise something quietly, or need a hand. Send a message to
@moderatorsand one of the team will pick it up. - New here and everything looks fine? You’ll likely never need this, but it’s here when you do.
That’s the tour. When in doubt, ask. That’s what the community is for.