Forum support
Turn a Discord forum into a help desk with a message in new threads, In Progress, On Hold and Resolved buttons, busy-thread alerts and auto bump.
On this page
- Before you start
- Set it up
- Settings explained
- Forum and support
- Message in new threads
- Thread notifications
- Auto bump
- How support mode works
- Commands
- Placeholders
- Examples
- Troubleshooting
- New threads don't get a message or buttons
- "You need the Manage Messages and Manage Threads permissions (or an assigned support role)"
- "I need the Manage Threads permission in this forum before I can rename the thread."
- "Status saved, but I couldn't rename this thread."
- High activity notices never appear
- My forum isn't in the list
- Related
Discord forums are great for questions, but it's hard to tell which posts still need an answer. With Buddy's forum manager, every new thread gets a welcome message and status buttons. Staff mark threads In Progress, On Hold or Resolved, and the status shows up right in the thread title, so anyone scrolling the forum can see what's handled.
Before you start#
If your forum is limited to certain roles, make sure Buddy's role can see it too. Buddy also checks your forums regularly and catches threads it missed, for example while it was offline.
Set it up#
It's under Tickets & applications in the sidebar.
Click Add forum, pick the forum (or a text channel whose threads you want managed) and click Add forum.
Click the edit button next to it in Your forums. Nothing happens in Discord until you save this page.
In Message in new threads, write the Content and choose a Message type.
In Forum and support, set Support mode to Support Mode Enabled and pick your Support roles.
Pick channels under Thread notifications, or set up Auto bump.
Click Save forum. The next new thread gets the message and buttons.
The status buttons are attached to the message Buddy posts in each new thread. If Content is empty and Support mode is on, Buddy posts a short line ("Support staff: use the buttons below...") so the buttons still appear. Write your own Content to replace it.
Settings explained#
Forum and support#
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Forum | The forum or channel whose threads Buddy manages. | — |
| Support mode | Adds status buttons to each new thread and tracks its status. | Disabled |
| Support roles | Members with one of these roles can use the status buttons and /support_status. Without any, only members with Manage Messages and Manage Threads can. | None |
Message in new threads#
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Content | Posted in every new thread, for example your help rules (up to 1024 characters). Supports placeholders. Leave empty to post nothing (with Support mode on, Buddy still posts a short line to hold the buttons). | Empty |
| Message type | Regular Message or Embed Message. | Regular Message |
Thread notifications#
Each one is off until you pick a channel. Notifications link the thread without pinging anyone.
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| New threads → Channel | Posts a link to every new thread, so members in busy channels see new questions. | Disabled |
| High activity threads → Channel | Posts 🔥 High Activity Thread when a thread gets busy. At most once a day per thread. | Disabled |
| Message count | How many messages make a thread busy. | 20 |
| Hours range | Within how many hours. | 1 |
| Revived threads → Channel | Posts ☀️ Thread revived when someone posts in a thread that had gone quiet. | Disabled |
| Inactive days | How many quiet days before a new post counts as reviving it. | 7 |
High activity and revived checks run when someone posts a message longer than 20 characters, and Buddy counts the thread's last 100 messages, so keep Message count at 100 or less.
Auto bump#
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Auto bump | Keeps one thread near the top of the forum. | Disabled |
| Thread ID | The thread to keep up. In Discord, turn on Developer Mode, right-click the thread and choose Copy Thread ID. | — |
Whenever someone posts in any other thread of this forum, Buddy posts a quick message in the bumped thread and deletes it straight away, which moves it back up. It's handy for a "Read this first" or FAQ thread.
How support mode works#
When a member opens a new thread, Buddy:
- Posts your Content with three buttons: In Progress, On Hold and Resolved.
- Adds
[New]to the start of the thread's title. - Reacts with 🟠 on the thread's first post.
When staff click a button, Buddy changes the title prefix and the reaction, and greys out the button for the current status:
| Status | Title starts with | Reaction |
|---|---|---|
| New | [New] | 🟠 |
| In Progress | [In Progress] | 🔵 |
| On Hold | [On Hold] | 🟡 |
| Resolved | [Resolved] | 🟢 |
New is the starting status, not a button: there's no New button, so a thread can't be set back to New once staff change it. A new thread has all three buttons available, so staff can resolve it straight away. If a thread was archived, changing its status opens it again.
Commands#
/support_latest EveryoneView the support threads with the most recent activity.
/support_status EveryoneView all support threads and their status.
Both reply only to you. They're for members with a Support role from any of your managed forums, Administrator, or both Manage Messages and Manage Threads.
/support_statuslists every tracked thread, 10 per page, with buttons to filter by All, New, In Progress, On Hold or Resolved./support_latestshows the 20 threads with the most recent activity. Posting in a thread or changing its status moves it to the top.
Placeholders#
Use these in Content.
| Placeholder | Becomes |
|---|---|
{user} | A mention of the member who created the thread |
{server} | Your server's name |
{members} | Your member count |
{role:ROLE_ID} | A mention of a role, e.g. {role:123456789012345678} |
{user:USER_ID} | A mention of a user by ID |
{channel:CHANNEL_ID} | A link to a channel by ID |
Examples#
A message for a help forum:
Thanks for posting, {user}! A helper will be with you soon. Please share screenshots and what you've already tried. {role:123456789012345678}What appears in each new thread:
Thanks for posting, @Alex! A helper will be with you soon. Please share screenshots and what you've already tried. @Helpers
In Progress On Hold Resolved
A new thread notification in #general:
New thread created by @Alex in #help.╰ #[New] My game crashes on startup
Use Auto bump on a "How to ask for help" thread so it's always the first thing people see in the forum.
Troubleshooting#
New threads don't get a message or buttons#
- Click Save forum on the edit page. Until it's saved, Buddy does nothing in that forum.
- Turn on Support mode if you want the status buttons. Without it, Buddy only posts your Content (if any).
- Make sure Buddy can see the forum and has Send Messages in Threads. Problems are listed under Bot errors on your dashboard home page.
"You need the Manage Messages and Manage Threads permissions (or an assigned support role)"#
Add the helper's role under Support roles for that forum, or give them those permissions.
"I need the Manage Threads permission in this forum before I can rename the thread."#
Give Buddy's role Manage Threads in the forum.
"Status saved, but I couldn't rename this thread."#
The status was recorded and shows in /support_status, but Discord refused the rename. Check
Buddy's permissions. Discord also limits how often a thread can be renamed, so try again in a
few minutes.
High activity notices never appear#
The thread needs Message count messages within Hours range, and the check only runs on messages longer than 20 characters. Each thread is announced at most once a day.
My forum isn't in the list#
Run /setup in Discord, choose Update Channels and Roles for Website, then reload the
dashboard.