There are many reasons you may be unable to create topics on the forums. This topic explains some of the common reasons users have trouble.
New Forum Member
Probably the most likely scenario is being a new forum member. New forum members are trust level 0 (TL0) and have restrictive rights. More information on how to advance through the trust levels can be found in this forum guide: Trust Levels and How to Advance.
Home Page
You cannot see the “Create Topic” button while you are browsing the home or category pages. You will need to navigate to the appropriate sub-category before the button will be made visible.
| Page Name | Url |
|---|---|
| Home Page | https://forums.flightsimulator.com |
| Category Page | https://forums.flightsimulator.com/categories |
If you want to compose your topic while on the home page, press C - Ensure you select the correct category from the category drop down, otherwise your topic may be deleted.
Top Level Categories
We use Top Level (or parent) categories to group similar subcategories together, you cannot create topics in top-level categories.
The picture below shows the “read-only” parent category in red, while the sub-categories are in green.
You will be able to post in most subcategories, however, some of these may be restricted categories.
Restricted Categories
These categories are “read-only” for most users, and only allow specific groups of users to create topics.
| Category Name | Groups with posting access |
|---|---|
| News and Announcements | Forum Staff (Admins & Moderators) |
| Community Guides | Post Approval Only |
| Forum Navigation | Post Approval Only |
| 3rd Party Product Announcments | Third Party Developers - click here for more info + Forum Staff |
| Content Creators | Trust Level 2…see here for info to get to TL2. |
| Official Feedback | Community Managers/MSFS Staff |
| Official Tips and Troubleshooting | Community Managers/MSFS Staff |
| Bugs & Issues > SDK | Please use DevSupport to report bugs in the SDK. |
The News and Announcements category is used to post important information, this can include MSFS news, forum news, and other announcements.
If you want notifications when new topics are created, navigate to the category page, click the bell icon at the top of the topic feed and set it to “Watching First Post”
Account Silenced
If your account has been silenced, you cannot create new topics, posts or private messages.
If a moderator has silenced your account for violating the Code of Conduct, you should have received a private message, and an email detailing the conditions of your silence. If you do not have an email and/or private message, then you may have been automatically silenced by @System, the forum’s AI.
If you need information about an account silence, and we have sent you a private message in the past you can reply to that PM.