Privacy and community settings

In this article: How to control the social and community features in your course — the People directory, chat, and discussions. All Plans

When you'd use this

Every course in Ruzuku has community features built in: a People directory, 1:1 chat, and discussion forums. These are turned on by default, which works well for most courses.

But sometimes you want more control. If you're running a self-paced course where community isn't central, you might hide the People page. If you want structured discussions led by you (rather than open conversation), you can prevent students from starting new threads. These settings let you tailor the community experience per course.

Access privacy and community settings

Open the Manage Course menu (Cmd+K on Mac, Ctrl+K on Windows).
Click Course Settings under the Actions column.
Click the Privacy & Community tab in the left sidebar.

You'll see four toggles organized in two groups.

People page and chat

People page

The People page is a directory of everyone in the course — students and the guide. When this is on, students can see who else is taking the course and visit their profiles.

On (default): Students see a People tab in course navigation.
Off: The People tab is hidden. Students who try to visit the page directly are redirected to the course home.

Chat

Chat enables 1:1 messaging between course members. Students can start private conversations with other students or the guide.

On (default): Students see the chat option and can message each other.
Off: Chat is disabled for this course. No 1:1 messaging between members.

Note: Chat requires the People page to be visible. If you hide the People page, chat is automatically disabled and the toggle is greyed out.

See Set up and use the chat feature for more about how chat works.

Discussion forums

Discussions page

Discussion forums are where students can post, reply, and have conversations around your course content. Individual lessons can also have their own discussion prompts.

On (default): Students see a Discussions tab in course navigation.
Off: The Discussions tab is hidden from students.

Allow students to create new discussions

This toggle controls whether students can start new discussion threads themselves, or can only read and reply to discussions you've created.

On (default): Students see a "Start a discussion" button and can create new threads.
Off: The "Start a discussion" button is hidden. Students can still read and reply to existing discussions, but can't start new ones. Guides and facilitators can always create discussions regardless of this setting.

Tip: If you want guided discussions where you set the topics, turn this off and create discussion prompts yourself. Students can still participate by replying — they just can't start their own threads.

This toggle is only available when the Discussions page is visible. If you hide the Discussions page, this setting is greyed out.

See Course-wide discussion forums for details on creating and managing discussions.

Common configurations

Scenario	People	Chat	Discussions	Student-created discussions
Full community (default)	On	On	On	On
Guide-led discussions only	On	On	On	Off
No community features	Off	Off	Off	—
Discussions only, no chat	Off	Off	On	On

Frequently Asked Questions

If I hide the People page, can students still see each other in discussions?

Yes. Hiding the People page removes the directory and disables chat, but students who participate in discussions are still visible to each other within those threads. Discussion participation shows the student's name and profile picture.

Can I change these settings after students are enrolled?

Yes. Changes take effect immediately. If you hide the People page or discussions after students have been using them, the content isn't deleted — it's just hidden. You can turn them back on anytime and everything reappears.

Do these settings affect lesson-level discussions?

The Discussions page toggle controls the standalone Discussions tab. Lesson-level discussion prompts (the ones you add to individual lessons) are separate and always visible as long as the lesson is accessible. If you want to remove all discussion entirely, you'd need to hide the Discussions page and remove discussion prompts from individual lessons.

Can facilitators still see everything even when features are hidden?

Guides and facilitators always have full access to course features regardless of these settings. Hiding the People page or discussions only affects the student experience.