Official Apple Discussions Forum to be Discontinued

Apple Discussions, the official Apple forum, is becoming Apple Support Communities, the company headquartered at 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, California announced.

“Very soon a major change will be taking place here at Apple Discussions,” Apple states on the forum in question (screenshot left).

“To help you prepare we have created some documents to give some insight and instructions on this major upgrade,” the Mac maker adds, and proceeds to offer an introduction to the new service.

Apple Support Communities is a more social, user profile-based service, which includes biographies, images, the ability to personalize your homepage, select preferences, add widgets, and more.

“Apple Support Communities brings together thousands of Macintosh, iPod, iPhone, and iPad users from around the world to discuss Apple products and topics,” Cupertino notes.

The service will be there to provide “a wealth of information about your favorite Apple hardware and software products to help you get the most out of your purchase.”

“And, in the spirit of community, you can also help other Apple Support Communities’ users by answering their questions,” Apple outlines.

The process of starting a discussion or asking a question is almost unchanged, with users being required to Login, choose a Community, type their question, and include a description of their issue.

“When you click Post Message, the power of the community takes over,” Apple explains.

By completing a profile and biography, users effectively introduce themselves to other support communities members.

“Upload your profile picture and avatar, and invite your friends to join in the discussion,” Apple notes.

“Personalize your homepage, select your preferences, add widgets. See the Apple Support Communities information you want to see, when you want to see it,” the description goes.

To learn more about the upcoming Apple Support Communities, visit Apple here. Additional documents are provided for details on:

- Browsing and searching the community
- Asking and answering questions
- Using your personal homepage
- Editing your personal profile