OpenProject has features that some project management platforms lack. One such feature is Forums. Learn why you should use them and how to add them to your deployment.
When you think of project management, you might think of big platforms like Asana, Trello, ClickUp, monday.com, Notion, and Confluence. You can also think of functions such as kanban, Gantt charts, Scrum, timelines, calendars, document management and tasks.
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There is one feature that is often overlooked that can have a very positive impact on how smoothly your project will run. That feature is forums. That’s right: forums.
Why You Should Use OpenProject Forums
The open source OpenProject platform includes a Forums module that can be enabled and used on a per-project basis, but why would you need a forum tied into your project management efforts? Simple enough – communication. Many project management tools offer real-time communication tools such as chat, DMs, and Slack-like threaded collaboration, but a forum gives you the ability to break down discussions into specific project-related topics and keep a history of the discussions. This allows team members to refer back to everything that has been said about a particular issue.
Forums are also a great way for team members to interact and learn from each other. This is especially true for remote teams that don’t have the benefit of face-to-face communication. I’m going to show you how to enable the Forums module in OpenProject and then how to create your first one.
What you need to use Forums in OpenProject
The only things you need for this are a running instance of OpenProject and a user with administrative privileges. That’s all: Let’s go to the forums.
Enable the Forums module
Log in to your OpenProject instance and select the project you want to work with. Once in that project, click Project Settings in the left navigation (Image A).
Image A
In the Settings window, click Modules in the left navigation pane. On the Modules page, make sure you check the box for Forums (Figure B) and then click Save.
Figure B
The Forums module is ready to use.
How to create your first forum
Exit the Project Settings page by clicking the left-pointing arrow at the top left of the page. You should then see Forums in the left navigation. Click that item. Then, on the resulting page (Figure C), click +Forum in the top right corner.
Figure C
In the resulting window (Figure D), give the forum a name and optionally a description. Click Create.
Figure D
This will take you back to the Forums overview page, where you can click on your new forum and the resulting page (Figures E) start creating posts.
Figures E
Decisions made easy
If you want to add a level of collaborative discussion to OpenProject, the Forums module is the way to go. If you’re looking for a project management platform that you can quickly deploy internally, OpenProject is one of your best options.
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