Requirements Document
Comprehensive requirements for the Discussion Forum Service in the KnowledgeTracker Platform.
1. Functional Requirements
1.1 Discussion Threads
- •Create threaded discussions with nested replies
- •Rich text editor with formatting, images, code blocks, and attachments
- •Thread categories and tags for organization
- •Pin important threads and mark as announcements
- •Thread locking and archiving capabilities
1.2 Q&A Features
- •Question posting with marking best answers
- •Upvote/downvote system for answers and questions
- •Accepted answer highlighting
- •Question status tracking (unanswered, answered, resolved)
1.3 Moderation Tools
- •Flag inappropriate content for review
- •Moderator queue for flagged posts
- •Edit, delete, or hide posts by moderators
- •User warnings and temporary bans
- •Spam detection and automatic filtering
- •Moderation logs and audit trails
1.4 User Interactions
- •@mention users in posts and replies
- •Follow threads for notifications
- •Bookmark threads for later reference
- •React to posts with emoji reactions
- •User reputation system based on contributions
1.5 Search & Discovery
- •Full-text search across all discussions
- •Filter by category, tags, author, date range
- •Sort by recent activity, votes, views
- •Related thread suggestions
1.6 Course Integration
- •Course-specific discussion boards
- •Lesson-level discussion threads
- •Instructor participation and highlighting
- •Private vs public forum visibility
2. Non-Functional Requirements
2.1 Performance
- •Thread list load time < 1 second
- •Pagination for threads with 50 posts per page
- •Real-time updates for new posts without page refresh
2.2 Scalability
- •Support for millions of posts and threads
- •Efficient indexing for fast search
- •Caching strategy for popular threads
2.3 Security
- •XSS protection for user-generated content
- •Rate limiting on post creation to prevent spam
- •Role-based permissions for forum access
2.4 Usability
- •Intuitive thread navigation and hierarchy visualization
- •Mobile-responsive design for forum browsing
- •Accessibility compliance (WCAG 2.1 AA)
3. Integration Requirements
3.1 Internal Microservices
- •User Management: User profiles and permissions
- •Course Management: Course-specific forums
- •Notification Service: Mention and reply notifications
- •Gamification: Points for forum contributions
Requirements Validation
Use this requirements document alongside the Database Design to validate:
- ✓Thread hierarchy and nesting are properly modeled
- ✓Voting and reputation systems have supporting schema
- ✓Moderation workflows are database-supported
- ✓Multi-tenant forum isolation is implemented