Discussion Templates Special Macros

[Grant Dunham]

I use the discussion group features of Frontier/Manila for student
discussions during courses.  For the most part, it has worked very
well.  But one recurring request is to display the discussion group
messages in a "threaded" view - along with Chronological View and Topic
view.
I've been doing this - but with an extra step.  The Discussion Group's
default behavior is "Topic Based" with the optional Chronological view
in the Topic List Template.  All student feedback is positive to this
point.
But when students click on the Topic of choice in Topic View, I've been
using the messageUrl special macro to display the discussion.  I then
use the special macro topicLink to display the discussion topic in what
our students call "Threaded View" on that page.  The students are asking
for the option to view the discussion topic in either topicLink view or
messageUrl view from the Topic List Template.
When I try to add topicLink special macro to the Topic List Template, it
is neutered.  I then tried to add the special macro to the template at
the server.  But it throws a macro hasn't been defined error.
Is there an easy way to provide this option from the Topic View
template?  If not, how can I make the special macros legal in the
different sections?  Other suggestions would be most welcomed.
Grant
--
PO Box 2799
Whitehorse, YT
Phone: (867) 668-8817
Fax:  (867) 668-8814