Though a Discussion Forum is an object similar to a folder, it cannot be created "on its own". Rather, you create a discussion forum, and the first note it contains, in one action:

• Click  File    New    Add Discussion   to bring up the 'Add Discussion' form. In this form
• enter the name of the new discussion forum in the 'Name' field (if no name is entered, the name of the first note, i.e., the text in the 'Subject' field, will be used),
• choose the type of contribution most appropriate for the contents of the note you create,
• in the 'Message' field enter the contents of your contribution (for details see section 4.9.2) and
• enter the gist of your contribution in the 'Subject' field,

Though a discussion forum cannot be created "on its own", it can exist without a note in it: you may 'Cut' or 'Delete' all notes in a discussion forum and add new notes later on.