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MyLaw Help

This guide is designed to provide help using MyLaw to the UCLA School of Law community. If you need additional assistance, please email: mylaw@law.ucla.edu.
URL: https://libguides.law.ucla.edu/mylawhelp

Using a Discussion Board through Outlook

Connecting Your Discussion Board to Outlook

If you have Office 2010, you can set up your discussion board to sync to your Outlook and use outlook to view, respond and add discussion board posts.  To do this, go to your collaboration site and navigate to the Discussion Board.  (If it is not on your site home page, click on Discussions under Quick Links)

At the very top of the screen you will see something labeled "List Tools." Under this, click on "List"       

Once you select "List" you will see a ribbon of other choices appear across the top of your screen.  Towards the middle of the ribbon, click "Connect to Outlook"

Once you select this, you will receive the following message:

Click "Allow"

Next you will be prompted to Connect this Discussion Board to Outlook.  Note: if you do not have Outlook open, it may take several minutes while Outlook is opened on your computer before this message appears.

 

Click "Yes"

This will create a section below your Outlook Mailbox(es) that is called "SharePoint Lists" and will show a link to your Discussion Board.

 

 

 

 

In the main view of your screen you will see a list of all existing discussion board posts organized by subject.  Each subject will show as "collapsed" Click on the subject to expand the view and to click on individual posts within a topic.

Creating a New Discussion Board Post in Outlook

Click on the discussion board in your SharePoint List.  In the top left corner of the ribbon, click on "New Post"

This will open a new window that looks similar to a new email message in Outlook.
  • Enter a Subject for your post.
  • Type the body of your post (include an attachment if needed).
  • When your post is complete, click "Post" in the upper left of the screen.

Once you post your response, you will see it in your Outlook and it will update to the Discussion Board in MyLaw.

Viewing and Replying to Exising Posts in Outlook 

To view a post on the discussion board through Outlook, click on the discussion board in your SharePoint List.  Click on the post you wish to view.  If there are several replies to a topic, it will expand and will be listed in reverse chronological order (newest on top).  Single click on the message you wish to view in the reading pane, or double click on the message to view it in a new window.  While viewing a post, if you wish to reply, click on the "Post Reply" option in the ribbon.

Clicking on this will open a new window for you to type your response.  The previous posts on the thread will show below, just as it does in an email.  Once you have finished composing your response, click "Post" in the upper left corner.  Once you post your response, you will see it in your Outlook and it will update to the Discussion Board in MyLaw.

Accessing the Discussion Board from an Email Alert

Once you sign up for email alerts, you will receive an email for each new topic and each reply posted to the discussion board.  The email will include the type of post (new topic, reply to a specific topic), the name of the topic, the body of the message, previous responses within the thread and the person who posted the response. 

If you would like to post a response or start a new topic, there are two easy ways to access the discussion board from the email alert. If you have Office 2010, at the top of the email message is a link to "Preview this Discussion Board"  If you click this, your browser will open the Discussion Board in MyLaw.

Alternatively, within the body of the email is a link directly back to "View Discussions"  If you click on this link, your browser will open the Discussion Board in MyLaw.

Note: It is best not to click on the link next to 'View Discussions" that says, "View name of the topic" because this will take you directly to the body of the response, but NOT to the view that will allow you to post a reply.