[DEPR]: Divided (cohorted) discussions management on the legacy instructor dashboard #38945

RFC Start Date

2026-07-31

Target Plan Accepted Date

2026-08-14

Target Transition Unblocked Date

2026-08-14

Earliest Breaking Changes Unblocked Date

2026-08-14 - Since we're dropping the feature with no replacement, breaking changes are unblocked immediately.

Earliest Open edX Named Release with Breaking Changes

Willow - 2026-10

Rationale

The redesigned frontend-app-instructor-dashboard is replacing the legacy instructor dashboard, and its "Discussions" management section configured divided discussions. Two of the capabilities it offered have no counterpart in the new MFE: dividing discussions by enrollment track, and selectively choosing which topics are divided. The discovery openedx/frontend-app-instructor-dashboard#225 put the question - rebuild these in the MFE or drop them - and this DEPR was how we gauged interest. There was not sufficient interest in keeping them, so they're being removed rather than ported.

Cohort-based division stays. Dividing discussions by cohort remains a supported feature and is configured through the Pages & Resources discussions settings (authoring), so this DEPR must preserve it. Only enrollment-track division and per-topic division selection go away.

The legacy config surface is removed by the legacy-instructor-dashboard DEPR #38432: the dashboard's "Discussions" management section, its Backbone UI, and the two staff-only config endpoints (course_discussions_settings_handler, discussion_topics) that exist only to serve it all come out together there.

This DEPR covers the remaining backend part: dropping the enrollment-track and per-topic-selection behavior and migrating existing data, while leaving cohort division working. It's a behavior change plus a data migration, so it's kept as its own follow-up and does not block removing the legacy dashboard or the legacy forum tab.

Divided discussions lets staff partition discussion topics so a learner only sees posts from peers in their same cohort or enrollment track. It's configured per course and does nothing unless a course explicitly sets a division scheme (CourseDiscussionSettings.division_scheme defaults to none), so I expect relatively few courses use the parts being removed - though I don't have hard usage numbers.

If you rely on dividing discussions by enrollment track, or on choosing specific topics to divide, please chime in on this ticket.

Removal

The two divided-discussions capabilities being dropped - division by enrollment track and selective per-topic division - and the data and logic specific to them (paths against openedx/openedx-platform master 1746666137). Cohort-based division is preserved throughout.

• Remove the enrollment-track division scheme: the enrollment_track option in CourseDiscussionSettings.division_scheme / available_division_schemes, and the enforcement that divides topics by enrollment track.
• Remove selective per-topic division: the ability to choose which course-wide and inline topics are divided (divided_discussions, always_divide_inline_discussions). Exact field handling has to keep cohort division working - confirm in implementation whether these fields are removed outright or retained to serve the cohort scheme.
• A data migration that unsets enrollment-track schemes and per-topic division selections on existing courses, leaving cohort-based division intact.

Preserve: division_scheme == cohort and the topic-division enforcement it drives, since cohort division remains supported and is configured via Pages & Resources.

The legacy management UI (dashboard section + Backbone UI) and the two config endpoints are not in this DEPR - they are all removed by #38432. This ticket is the follow-up that removes the enrollment-track and per-topic behavior once that lands.

Replacement

None for the parts being removed - enrollment-track division and per-topic division selection are dropped, not migrated. Cohort-based division is unaffected and stays configured through the Pages & Resources discussions settings. The new frontend-app-instructor-dashboard covers cohort management (creating cohorts, assigning learners) via /api/cohorts/, which is a separate feature.

Deprecation

Mark the enrollment_track division scheme and the per-topic division fields (divided_discussions, always_divide_inline_discussions) as deprecated, and log a DeprecatedFeatureWarning-style notice where enrollment-track or per-topic division is applied. Leave the cohort scheme unmarked.

Additional Info

Scope split (2026-09): this DEPR originally covered the whole divided-discussions surface. The legacy UI and its config endpoints were moved into the legacy-instructor-dashboard DEPR #38432 (the dashboard section, its Backbone UI, and the course_discussions_settings_handler + discussion_topics endpoints that exist only to serve it), so they can be cleaned up now and unblock that effort. This ticket handles only the backend removal of the dropped capabilities (enrollment-track + per-topic division) as a later follow-up.

Related: openedx/frontend-app-instructor-dashboard#225 (discovery that surfaced this gap and recorded the decision); #38936 (MFE/legacy inventory).