As a student, I want to be able to post questions (create topics) anonymously, so that I feel comfortable asking questions without judgment.

[shantinghou]

Justification of Prioritization:

Impact (8/10):

Allowing students to post questions anonymously via the create topic button encourages more participation, especially for those who may feel hesitant or intimidated to ask questions in front of their peers. It helps create an inclusive environment where all students can seek help without fear of judgment, which is critical for the success of the Q&A system.

Effort (2/10):

The implementation effort for anonymous posting is relatively low, as it involves adding an optional field during topic creation and ensuring the anonymity logic is handled securely in the backend. NodeBB already supports user permissions and topic creation, making this feature easy to integrate.

Technical Requirements:

• Add an optional "Post Anonymously" toggle/checkbox in the topic creation interface for users.
• Update UI to indicate when a toppic is anonymous
• Ensure that topics marked as "Anonymous" are displayed without showing the user's name to others but the question is still tied to the user
• Add unit and integration tests to verify that the feature works as expected (e.g., anonymous posts show as anonymous, identity is hidden from other students).