Merge Forum Topics

The Merge Topic option in Forums allows you to easily combine multiple forums into one common Forum. 

When you merge one or more topics, all the corresponding followers and votes from the child topics will be appended to the parent topic, except for the comments. Additionally, the followers will be notified via their registered email about the merge.

What happens once the topics are merged?

The child topics will be locked to everybody except your agents who can still reply to the topics. When you open the child topic, you can see a message that indicates which parent topic it has been merged into. 

Note: Only topics with the same Forum Visibility can be merged into one another (All, logged in users, or agents).

To merge forum topics:

1. Go to Forums, click on any forum, and select the topic you want to merge. 
2. Click Merge Topic.
3. In the Merge Topics popup, search for the required topic. You will see the matching search results.
   Click on the green + icon to add the topic to merge.
   
4. By default, the oldest topic will be made the parent topic while others will be added as child topics under it. However, you can choose the topic you want to mark as the parent topic using the Mark as primary option (tick mark) next to the topic.
   
5. Once you are done, click Continue. 
6. Review the merges and check if the forum topics are in the correct hierarchy. You can also add a comment to add reasons for the merge using the Add Reason for Merge option.
7. Click Confirm and Merge.
   
8. Once merged, every time you open the child topic, you can see the parent topic into which the ticket is merged. 

Notes: 

• The merge action is irreversible
• Topics with the Forum Visibility set to Selected Companies cannot be merged using this procedure.

Sometimes, you might notice that there are two or more forum topics that essentially talk about the same thing. In such cases, these topics can all be merged under one single topic provided they all have the same forum visibility i.e. All, Logged in Users or Agents. 

Once two or more topics are merged, the child topics (excluding their comments) will be merged into their parent topic along with their topic's followers and votes. The followers of the child topic will be notified via email of the merge activity.

Quick Guide to Merging Forum Topics:

• Go to the Forums tab.
• Click on any forum and select the topic you want to merge. 
• Click on Merge Topic button on the top right. 

• In the Merge Topics pop-up, you can search for and merge the required topic by clicking on the + sign next to it. Note that when you search, you will only be shown matching results which have the same visibility as the parent topic. 
• By default, the oldest topic is made the parent topic while all others will be added as child topics under it. But you can choose as to which topic you want to make your primary (Parent) by clicking on the check mark next to it. 
• Once you are done, click on Continue. 

• In the following screen, you can review your merge, to see if everything is in order. You can click on Back to go back to the previous step or Cancel to cancel the merge operation. You can also add a comment as to why the topics are being merged by clicking on Add Reason for Merge. 
• Click on Confirm and Merge when you are done. 

Your topics will now be merged into one topic and all the corresponding followers and votes from the child topics will be appended to the parent topic, except for the comments. The child topics will now be locked to everybody except for your agents who can still go on to reply on that topic. When you open the child topic, you can see a message that indicates which parent topic it has been merged into. 

Note: 

• The merge action is irreversible, meaning topics once merged cannot be un-merged
• Only topics that have the same Forum Visibility can be merged into one another
• Topics with the Forum Visibility set to Selected Companies cannot be merged using this procedure