salman2013 · Mar 17, 2026 · Mar 17, 2026
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
@@ -174,9 +174,11 @@ def is_requirement(line):
         # so edx-platform natively discovers the templates/ directory.
         "lms.djangoapp": [
             "xblocks_contrib_problem_capa = xblocks_contrib.problem.capa.apps:CapaAppConfig",
+            "xblocks_contrib_discussion = xblocks_contrib.discussion.apps:DiscussionAppConfig",
         ],
         "cms.djangoapp": [
             "xblocks_contrib_problem_capa = xblocks_contrib.problem.capa.apps:CapaAppConfig",
+            "xblocks_contrib_discussion = xblocks_contrib.discussion.apps:DiscussionAppConfig",
         ],
     },
 )
diff --git a/xblocks_contrib/discussion/apps.py b/xblocks_contrib/discussion/apps.py
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+"""
+Django App configuration for the xblocks-contrib Discussion XBlock.
+"""
+
+from django.apps import AppConfig
+
+
+class DiscussionAppConfig(AppConfig):
+    """
+    Configuration for the Discussion XBlock Django application.
+
+    Why are we registering this as a Django App?
+    --------------------------------------------
+    By default, Django's template engine (specifically the `app_directories` loader)
+    only discovers `templates/` folders that belong to an app listed in `INSTALLED_APPS`.
+
+    Since XBlocks are inherently isolated components, they are not typically added
+    to the LMS/CMS global `INSTALLED_APPS`. As a result, any standard Django templates
+    (.html files) inside this block would be invisible to the core Open edX platform
+    when it attempts to route or render them natively.
+
+    Instead of forcing repository consumers to manually modify `lms/envs/common.py`
+    or use deployment-specific Tutor plugins to append to `TEMPLATES['DIRS']`, we
+    leverage the Open edX Django App Plugin Framework (`plugin_app`). This hook
+    dynamically injects this module into `INSTALLED_APPS` at runtime.
+
+    This automatically exposes our `templates/` directory to the platform natively
+    without manual intervention.
+
+    References:
+
+    - Open edX Plugin App Framework:
+      https://docs.openedx.org/projects/edx-django-utils/en/latest/plugins/how_tos/how_to_create_a_plugin_app.html
+
+    - Django App Directories Loader:
+      https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/stable/ref/templates/api/#django.template.loaders.app_directories.Loader
+
+    """
+
+    name = "xblocks_contrib.discussion"
+    label = "xblocks_contrib_discussion"
+    verbose_name = "XBlocks Contrib - Discussion Templates"
+
+    plugin_app = {
+        "settings_config": {
+            "lms.djangoapp": {
+                "default": "",
+            },
+            "cms.djangoapp": {
+                "default": "",
+            },
+        },
+    }
diff --git a/xblocks_contrib/discussion/assets/jasmine.common.conf.js b/xblocks_contrib/discussion/assets/jasmine.common.conf.js
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+/* eslint-env node */
+
+'use strict';
+
+// By default, fixtures are loaded from spec/javascripts/fixtures but in karma everything gets served from /base
+jasmine.getFixtures().fixturesPath = '/base/static/spec/fixtures/';
+
+// https://github.com/edx/js-test-tool/blob/master/js_test_tool/templates/jasmine_test_runner.html#L10
+// Stub out modal dialog alerts, which will prevent
+// us from accessing the test results in the DOM
+window.confirm = function() { return true; };
+window.alert = function() { };
diff --git a/xblocks_contrib/discussion/assets/karma.conf.js b/xblocks_contrib/discussion/assets/karma.conf.js
@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+/* eslint-env node */
+'use strict';
+
+const path = require('path');
+
+const discussionRoot = __dirname;
+const uiToolkitRoot = path.dirname(require.resolve('edx-ui-toolkit/package.json'));
+
+module.exports = function (config) {
+    config.set({
+        basePath: discussionRoot,
+
+        frameworks: ['jasmine'],
+
+        files: [
+            { pattern: require.resolve('jquery/dist/jquery.js'), included: true },
+            { pattern: require.resolve('jasmine-jquery/lib/jasmine-jquery.js'), included: true },
+            { pattern: require.resolve('underscore/underscore.js'), included: true },
+            { pattern: require.resolve('backbone/backbone.js'), included: true },
+            { pattern: path.join(uiToolkitRoot, 'src/js/utils/global-loader.js'), included: true },
+            { pattern: path.join(uiToolkitRoot, 'src/js/utils/string-utils.js'), included: true },
+            { pattern: path.join(uiToolkitRoot, 'src/js/utils/html-utils.js'), included: true },
+            { pattern: 'static/spec/spec_helpers/i18n.js', included: true },
+            { pattern: 'jasmine.common.conf.js', included: true },
+            { pattern: require.resolve('draggabilly/dist/draggabilly.pkgd.js'), included: true },
+            { pattern: 'static/js/vendor/URI.min.js', included: true },
+            { pattern: 'static/js/vendor/jquery.leanModal.js', included: true },
+            { pattern: 'static/js/vendor/Markdown.Converter.js', included: true },
+            { pattern: 'static/js/vendor/Markdown.Sanitizer.js', included: true },
+            { pattern: 'static/js/vendor/Markdown.Editor.js', included: true },
+            { pattern: 'static/js/vendor/jquery.ajaxfileupload.js', included: true },
+            { pattern: 'static/js/vendor/jquery.timeago.js', included: true },
+            { pattern: 'static/js/vendor/jquery.truncate.js', included: true },
+            { pattern: 'static/js/vendor/split.js', included: true },
+            { pattern: 'static/js/mathjax_accessible.js', included: true },
+            { pattern: 'static/js/mathjax_delay_renderer.js', included: true },
+            { pattern: 'static/js/common/utils.js', included: true },
+            { pattern: 'static/js/common/models/*.js', included: true },
+            { pattern: 'static/js/common/content.js', included: true },
+            { pattern: 'static/js/common/discussion.js', included: true },
+            { pattern: 'static/js/common/mathjax_include.js', included: true },
+            { pattern: 'static/js/customwmd.js', included: true },
+            { pattern: 'static/js/common/views/*.js', included: true },
+            { pattern: 'static/spec/spec_helpers/discussion_spec_helper.js', included: true },
+            { pattern: 'static/spec/view/discussion_view_spec_helper.js', included: true },
+            { pattern: 'static/spec/fixtures/**/*', included: false, served: true },
+            { pattern: 'static/spec/**/*_spec.js', included: true }
+        ],
+
+        exclude: [
+            '**/public/**'
+        ],
+
+        preprocessors: {
+            'static/js/**/*.js': ['sourcemap'],
+            'static/spec/view/discussion_thread_view_spec.js': ['regex', 'sourcemap'],
+            'static/spec/**/*.js': ['sourcemap']
+        },
+
+        regexPreprocessor: {
+            rules: [
+                {
+                    fileName: 'discussion_thread_view_spec.js',
+                    replacement: [
+                        { replace: /return function\(\) \{\s*/g, with: '' },
+                        { replace: /            \};\s*\n        \}\);\s*\n        describe\('thread responses'/g, with: '        });\n        describe(\'thread responses\'' }
+                    ]
+                }
+            ]
+        },
+
+        plugins: [
+            'karma-regex-preprocessor',
+            'karma-jasmine',
+            'karma-chrome-launcher',
+            'karma-firefox-launcher',
+            'karma-sourcemap-loader',
+            'karma-coverage',
+            require('karma-spec-reporter')
+        ],
+
+        reporters: ['spec', 'coverage'],
+
+        coverageReporter: {
+            dir: 'coverage/',
+            reporters: [
+                { type: 'html', subdir: 'report-html' },
+                { type: 'lcov', subdir: 'report-lcov' }
+            ]
+        },
+
+        port: 9876,
+        colors: true,
+        logLevel: config.LOG_INFO,
+        autoWatch: false,
+        browsers: ['FirefoxNoUpdates'],
+
+        customLaunchers: {
+            FirefoxNoUpdates: {
+                base: 'Firefox',
+                prefs: {
+                    'app.update.auto': false,
+                    'app.update.enabled': false
+                }
+            }
+        },
+
+        singleRun: true,
+        concurrency: Infinity,
+        client: { captureConsole: true }
+    });
+};
diff --git a/xblocks_contrib/discussion/assets/package.json b/xblocks_contrib/discussion/assets/package.json
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+{
+  "private": true,
+  "scripts": {
+    "build": "webpack --config webpack.prod.config.js",
+    "build-dev": "webpack --config webpack.dev.config.js",
+    "test": "karma start karma.conf.js",
+    "test-ci": "xvfb-run --auto-servernum karma start karma.conf.js"
+  },
+  "devDependencies": {
+    "backbone": "^1",
+    "backbone-associations": "^0.6",
+    "backbone.paginator": "^2",
+    "append-prepend-loader": "^1.0.0",
+    "copy-webpack-plugin": "13.0.1",
+    "imports-loader": "^0.8",
+    "webpack": "^5",
+    "webpack-cli": "^5",
+    "draggabilly": "^3.0.0",
+    "edx-ui-toolkit": "^1",
+    "jasmine-core": "2.6.4",
+    "jasmine-jquery": "git+https://git@github.com/velesin/jasmine-jquery.git#ebad463d592d3fea00c69f26ea18a930e09c7b58",
+    "jquery": "^2",
+    "karma": "^0.13",
+    "karma-chrome-launcher": "^3",
+    "karma-coverage": "^2",
+    "karma-firefox-launcher": "^2",
+    "karma-jasmine": "^0.3",
+    "karma-regex-preprocessor": "^1.0.1",
+    "karma-sourcemap-loader": "^0.4.0",
+    "karma-spec-reporter": "0.0.20",
+    "underscore": "^1"
+  }
+}