Discussion Board

Pawtograder’s discussion board allows students and staff to discuss course content and ask questions. It is not intended to be a replacement for office hours, although you can format a post as a question that needs an answer (as opposed to a “note” that does not need an answer). Posts are formatted as Markdown and support code blocks, drag-and-drop attachments, and image uploads. You can drag image files directly into the editor to upload and embed them in your post.

Discussion Board Layout

The discussion board features a feed-based layout with helpful sidebar widgets:

My Feed: Your personalized view of posts, showing content from topics you follow and posts you’ve interacted with
Browse Topics: Explore all discussion topics organized by category
Followed topics: Filter to show only posts from categories you’re following

Pinned Posts

The sidebar displays Pinned Posts: important threads highlighted by your instructors. These typically include:

Frequently asked questions
Important announcements
Helpful resources and guides

Pinned posts stay visible in the sidebar for quick access, regardless of how many new posts are created.

Leaderboard

If enabled by your instructor, the sidebar displays a Leaderboard showing top contributors based on karma points. The leaderboard encourages positive participation and recognizes students who actively help their peers. When you have an active help request in office hours, it follows you around the site. A widget appears in the sidebar showing:

Your current position in the queue
Status updates (e.g., “Staff is here helping you now!”)
Video call notifications when a TA starts a video chat
A Join Video Call button for instant access

Discussion board with active help request widget showing staff is helping and Top Posts This Week

This integration ensures you never miss updates on your help request while browsing discussions or working on other parts of the course.

Watching Posts and Notifications

By default, you don’t receive notifications for new posts, but you can watch a post to be notified when it’s updated or receives a reply. Replying to a post automatically watches it. See Notifications for browser alerts, sound, favicon badges, and other preferences. If you’re stuck on an error in your submission, Pawtograder may surface related discussion posts directly on the submission page. See Error Pins. If you need live help instead of posting, see Office Hours.

Post Visibility and Identity

Posts can be shared with the entire class, or with course staff only. Each user in a class has a pseudonym, and can choose to use their real name or their pseudonym. Staff can always see the real name of a user. Students can edit their own posts, and staff can edit any post.

Creating a New Post

Click the + New Post button in the top right to create a new discussion thread. When creating a post:

Select a topic: Choose a category to help organize your post
Choose visibility: Share with the entire class or staff only
Select identity: Post with your real name or pseudonym
Mark as question or note: Questions indicate you need an answer; notes are for sharing information
Add content: Write your post using Markdown formatting
Add images: Drag and drop image files directly into the editor, paste from your clipboard, or click the image button in the toolbar to select files. Images are automatically uploaded and embedded using standard Markdown syntax.

The system prevents accidental double-posting by disabling the submit button (and all inputs) after you click it. Wait for the page to navigate to your new thread before creating another post. If you need to make changes after submitting, you can edit your post using the edit button.

Use drag-and-drop image uploads to share screenshots, diagrams, or error messages when asking for help. This works for both new posts and replies to existing threads.

Engaging with Posts

Each post displays helpful metadata:

Topic tag: Color-coded category (e.g., “Logistics”, “Assignments”)
Author: Who created the post
Timestamp: When it was posted
Replies: Number of responses, with “(X new)” indicators for unread replies
Likes: Community engagement—click the heart to show appreciation
Answered badge: Indicates questions that have been resolved
Karma score: Points earned for helpful contributions (if enabled by your instructor)

Replies are threaded, allowing for organized conversations. Use the Markdown editor to format your responses with code blocks, links, images, and more. HTML tags in Markdown content are automatically escaped for security, so they display as text rather than being rendered.

Karma System

Pawtograder includes an optional karma system to recognize helpful contributions to the discussion board. If your instructor has enabled the karma system, you can earn points by:

Creating helpful posts: Posts that receive likes from other students or staff
Providing good answers: Answers that are marked as helpful or accepted by the original poster
Receiving instructor endorsements: When instructors endorse your contributions
Engaging constructively: Participating in discussions in meaningful ways

Your karma score appears next to your name on posts and replies, on your profile page, and in the course leaderboard (if enabled). Karma helps recognize students who actively contribute to the learning community and encourages quality peer-to-peer learning.

Focus on providing thoughtful, helpful responses rather than maximizing karma. Quality contributions naturally earn recognition from your peers.

The karma system and leaderboard are optional features that instructors can enable or disable. If you don’t see karma points or a leaderboard, your instructor has chosen not to use these features.

Discussion Board

Discussion Board