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The ForumNG discussion page is (mostly) done, including all the fancy AJAX tricks. It was going to be way too difficult to explain everything in text, so instead I made a five minute screencast all about the new discussion page. (The software I used is in fact limited to exactly five minutes, so you'll notice me getting a little rushed at the end!)

* This link won't work in Internet Explorer. It will work in Firefox, or any other browser that is capable of displaying SWFs directly in the page. If you just get a download box when you click it, try using the latest Firefox instead.

A few things to note that aren't in the video:

1. I recorded this from my home connection, which is extremely slow broadband. So the network delays you're seeing (or in most cases, not seeing) are representative of real usage.
2. Everything shown here is subject to change. Development isn't complete yet.
3. The discussion page is supposed to have a row of buttons along the bottom that give access to advanced features for moderators - seeing a list of students who have read the discussion, etc. This isn't implemented yet, but anyway it won't have the flashy AJAX stuff.
4. If you have JavaScript turned off, everything still works, but the links are standard links that take you to new pages with forms on, the rating stars aren't stars but remain as a dropdown, etc.
5. I didn't show how you add file attachments. That's because it currently doesn't work.