Topics which users cannot directly reply to, but can create a linked topic?

[craigconstantine]

I’d like to have a category where I restrict who can post new topics. Easy; just don’t give users the ability to Create within said category.

I want users to be able to hit reply and have Discourse default to creating a linked topic in another category.

I don’t think denying “Reply” on the category, nor simply Locking the topics will do what I want.

My use case is a category full of articles that are evergreen. I want users to be able to spin off creating topics for fresh discussion which are linked back to the original article (and of course they could quote in their linked topics.)

??

[codinghorror (Jeff Atwood)]

No matter how you do this, it’s going to be a very confusing setup for the users.

All I can think of is a pinned per-category banner explaining that users need to create topics elsewhere… when presented with that kind of extra work, in my experience, users tend to walk away rather than doing it.

[craigconstantine]

…hmmmm, I went clicking around here in Meta more, and in places I am seeing exactly the behavior I want (although maybe my initial post didn’t explain it well):

Here’s a topic https://meta.discourse.org/t/beginners-guide-to-install-discourse-on-windows-10-for-development/75149…

Both the reply on the first post, and the reply-to-topic at the very end, do what I want [to do intentionally in my community].

• I see the reply control suggesting I can reply
• when I do, it defaults to my creating a linked-topic:

[riking (Kane York)]

That’s clearly not a new topic as there’s no title line…

Consider using the “Auto-Delete Replies” setting under Topic Wrench -> Topic Timers, and let people reply to the announcement to talk about the announcement (e.g. suggested fix-ups).

[craigconstantine]

oooooooooooo… I’ve been [forever] misunderstanding how that option selection works. It doesn’t show the current value as selected.

In my screenshots, I interpreted the absence of the normal “reply” option to mean it wasn’t available. You’re right @riking that the topic I was showing would in fact allow me to reply.

[craigconstantine]

Meanwhile…

@codinghorror

when presented with that kind of extra work, in my experience, users tend to walk away rather than doing it.

…yeah, I’m feeling this is the correct answer. I’m going to just use categories where the users can reply, but cannot start new topics.

Thanks for the brain cycles!