Email Replies to Forum Posts

If you receive an email notification for a forum post, you can reply via email and it will automatically post your email message as a reply in the forum.

How do I get email notifications of forum posts?

See our help guide on Forum Subscription and Tracking.

What if my forum subscription is set to digest?

An email reply to a digest will bounce. If you wish to send email replies to forum posts, see our help guide Forum Subscription and Tracking to change your preferences.

Can a student reply to an Announcements forum post?

Only instructors can post to the Announcements forum. If a student replies to an email notification of an Announcement, the reply will never be posted in the Announcements forum. If the course is visible, the reply will go directly to the instructor's email. If the course is not visible, the reply will go to an unmonitored mailbox.

How long does it take to receive an email notification of a post?

Email notifications for forum posts are sent out once an hour. Therefore when someone posts to a forum it can take up to 60 minutes before an email notification arrives in your inbox. Keep in mind, due to this time delay you may not be responding to the most recent posts when you send email replies.

How long does it take for my email reply to be posted in the forum?

Within 60 minutes your email reply to a forum notification will be displayed as a post within the forum. The time stamp of the post will be when it was posted, not when the email was sent. Keep this in mind if your instructor has deadlines for forum posts.

Does everyone see the email reply?

Your email reply becomes a post in the forum (unless it is a reply to an Announcements forum post). Everyone who has access to the forum will see the forum post and everyone who is subscribed to the forum will receive an email notification containing the forum post.

What about groups - will my email reply just go to members of my group?

If the forum is set to separate groups, only your group members will see the email reply as a forum post and receive, if subscribed, an email notification containing your post.

Will students see email replies to a Q&A forum before they post themselves?

No. Even if a student is subscribed to a Q&A forum, they will not receive emails containing posts made by other students until they first post to the forum.

Can an attachment be added to a forum post through email?

Yes. A document attached to your email reply will also be attached to your forum post.

Can an image be included through email?

Yes, but you must attach the image file to your email to have it included as an attachment in your forum post. An image placed in the body of your email reply will mostly likely display as a broken link in the forum post.

What if I forward my campus email to another email address - can I respond from that email?

No, it will bounce. An email reply only works if it comes from the email address associated with your account in Cougar Courses.