Visual Space manual, Articles, Start And Manage An Article Discussion

Use this walkthrough to start a focused discussion about one part of a published article, add and manage your own replies, and understand what changes when a comment or complete topic is deleted.

Check Access and Choose the Right Conversation

Before you begin, make sure the article is open to you and its owning area still accepts contributions.

•

Confirm area access - You need access to the space, subspace, or activity that owns the article. Opening a public feed card does not grant access to a protected article.

•

Check your permission - Your role needs permission to add comments. Reading permission alone is not enough, and an archived activity cannot receive new topics or replies.

•

Decide whether you need a topic or a comment - A topic names a focused conversation and connects it to the article summary or a body section. A comment is one reply inside that topic.

Use an existing topic when your response belongs in that conversation. Start a new one when you need a distinct question, suggestion, or decision tied to the same or another article section. Discussions and Reactions explains how topics differ from whole-article emoji reactions and Awards.

Open the Article Discussion

You can reach the discussion from the article, its feed post, or an existing entry in the desktop Topics index. These routes lead back to the same article conversation rather than creating separate comment threads.

•

Start from the article - Select its comments control to move to the discussion area below the published content. If comments already exist, you may also see Read Comments or View Comments near the end of the reading flow.

•

Start from a feed post - Select the post's comments control. Visual Space opens the article's dedicated Comments view so the conversation remains connected to its summary and body sections.

•

Start from the Topics index - Select a named discussion beneath the matching summary or body entry. The article moves to its comments area; expand the matching topic to read its replies.

•

Return to the article when needed - In the dedicated Comments view, select Article to go back to the reading page.

The dedicated view labels each topic with the article section it discusses. On the reading page, the same topics appear below their matching summary or body section. For more about article navigation, see Reading Articles.

The article section, named topic, existing replies, and reply field stay together in one focused discussion surface.

Start a Focused Topic

Choose the article section before you name the conversation. This connection helps later readers understand what the topic is about even when an article has several long sections.

•

Select Start Topic - In the dedicated Comments view, choose Start Topic. The action is available only when at least one article section can receive a topic.

•

Choose the section - Select the article summary or body section that the conversation should address. If you are already in the discussion area below the article, the matching section may instead offer Add Comments Topic directly.

•

Name the conversation - Enter a short, specific name in the New conversation topic field. Describe the question or subject readers should discuss, rather than repeating the section heading.

•

Publish the topic - Select Start. A blank or over-limit name cannot be submitted, and the action remains unavailable while the topic is being created.

•

Confirm the result - The new topic appears beneath the selected section, opens for replies, and is added under that section in the Topics index. A new topic can correctly show a comment count of 0 until someone adds the first reply.

Only one topic-creation form stays active at a time. If creation fails, keep the entered name in place and try again after checking your connection, sign-in state, area access, and permission.

Add a Comment

Expand the topic you want to join, then add your reply inside that thread. A topic can contain many comments from different people, but each person manages only the comments they wrote.

•

Expand the topic - Select its expand control to load the replies. Topics with existing comments are normally expanded when the discussion first opens; a topic with no replies can still be expanded for its composer.

•

Write the reply - Select Type a comment and enter your message. Comments must contain text and can contain up to 5000 characters.

•

Resolve an exceeded limit - If the composer shows a negative character count, shorten the message by that amount. The publish action remains unavailable until the text fits.

•

Publish the comment - Select the send action beside the composer. Confirm that the reply appears in the same topic and that the topic's count increases.

The article and its feed post describe the same published item, so their overall comment counts follow the discussion rather than becoming separate totals.

Read and Manage a Longer Thread

Expanding and collapsing changes only what is loaded on the page. It does not add, remove, or change comments.

•

Collapse a topic - Select the upward collapse control to hide its loaded replies. The topic and its total count remain visible.

•

Expand it again - Select the downward expand control to load the thread again. Use this to move between several discussions without keeping every reply open.

•

Load older replies - When the visible replies are only part of the thread, select Load More. The next group is appended under the same topic.

•

Check the count - The number beside the topic represents the complete thread, not only the comments currently loaded on the page.

If Load More is absent, the currently loaded replies already account for the topic's total, or the thread has no additional page available.

Edit or Delete Your Own Comment

Only a comment's author receives its edit and delete actions. Starting the surrounding topic does not let you rewrite or remove individual comments written by someone else.

•

Open your comment options - On desktop, right-click the comment; a control-click also opens the menu. On mobile, press and hold your comment.

•

Choose Edit - Select Edit to place the existing text into the topic's comment field. Revise it, then use the send action, now presented as the update action, to publish the change.

•

Cancel an edit when needed - Select the close control beside the composer to leave edit mode without changing the saved comment.

•

Choose Delete for one reply - Open the same menu and select Delete only when that individual comment should be removed. The reply disappears and the topic, article, and feed-post counts decrease by one.

Deleting a comment does not delete its topic or anyone else's replies. The current comment menu does not add a separate confirmation step, so check that you opened the intended comment before selecting Delete.

Rename or Delete a Topic

The topic options belong to the person who started the topic. Renaming preserves the conversation; deleting removes the entire focused thread.

•

Open the topic options - Select the options control on your topic, then choose Edit.

•

Change the name - Replace the current topic name with a clearer one. Keep it non-empty and within the displayed limit.

•

Save the new name - Select Update. Confirm that the revised label appears on the topic and in the article's Topics index while the existing comments remain underneath it.

•

Review the complete thread before deletion - Expand the topic, use Load More until you understand what the thread contains, and make sure you do not mean to delete only one of your comments.

•

Delete the complete topic - Open the topic options and select Delete. The current action proceeds without a separate confirmation dialog.

Deleting a topic removes every comment in that thread. It also subtracts the thread from the article and feed-post comment counts and removes the topic from both the discussion list and the article index. There is no topic restore action in this workflow, so use topic deletion only when the entire conversation should disappear.

Verify the Completed Discussion

After creating or changing a discussion, check it from the places where other readers will encounter it.

•

Check the section grouping - Confirm that the topic sits beneath the intended summary or body section. Renaming changes its label but does not move it to another section.

•

Check the thread - Expand the topic and verify that new or edited comments show the intended text. Use Load More when the total is larger than the replies on screen.

•

Check the Topics index - Confirm that the topic name appears under the matching article entry. A deleted topic should no longer appear there.

•

Check the counts - Adding or deleting a comment should update the topic, article, and feed-post totals. Deleting a topic should remove the entire thread's contribution.

•

Reopen from the feed when useful - Use the article's post to confirm that its comments control returns to the same discussion. Find, Read, and Save Articles covers the broader route from discovery to the reading page.

Fix Common Problems

•

Start Topic is missing - Confirm that you are signed in, can access the article's area, hold permission to add comments, and are not contributing to an archived activity.

•

The Start action is unavailable - Enter a non-empty topic name and shorten it if the interface reports an exceeded limit. Wait for an in-progress creation request to finish before trying again.

•

The comment will not publish - Make sure it contains text, stays within 5000 characters, and that your sign-in, access, and add-comments permission are still valid.

•

Edit or Delete is missing - These actions appear only for the author of that specific comment or topic. Topic authors do not receive ownership of other people's comments.

•

Some replies seem to be missing - Expand the topic and select Load More when it appears. The topic count describes the full thread even when only the first group is loaded.

•

The topic disappeared from the index - If its author deleted it, the complete thread and its index entry were removed. If you only collapsed it, the index entry and total count should remain.