Forums can only be created by administrators. Standard users who have been granted access to a forum can create new topics and send messges, but they cannot create new forums. 

Administrators who wish to create new forums with restricted access should consider first creating one or more groups under the Users and Groups tab.

To create a new forum, click on the Forums tab and click "+ add forum".

After filling out the forum Name and Description fields, consider how you want people to use the forum. To use a forum, a user must be logged into SeaSketch. But, remember, anyone in the world can create a SeaSketch login. For discussions among all users - including members of the public - check "Public Access" under both Read Access and Write Access fields. For forums that are generally used to communicate information one way (e.g., messages from staff) consider giving Read Access to the public, but limiting Write Access to a pre-defined "Staff" Group. 

Forums may be moderated such that only messages that have been approved by an administrator are revealed to other users. To do this, check the box next to "Require admin approval before publishing messages." 

In the configuration above, if users create a new forum topic or post a message to an existing forum, they will see a warning: "Posts to this particular forum won't immediately appear. They first must be approved by a moderator."

Message then appear in a moderation queue that administrators may view under the Forums tab in the administrative dashboard.