Create first content and first groups
Now you're ready to start creating the core elements of your community platform, the content and spaces which you'll use to inform and engage with users, and empower them to do the same with each other.
This dynamic or destination content is so named because it provides users with the opportunity to engage, whether passively or actively. The rest of the platform settings and pages you build will all be geared towards guiding users into these spaces.
Therefore, even if your content (strategy) is still being developed, it's recommended to start building by creating at least initial examples of the following types of content:
- A Group as a dedicated (and/or private) space for specific users to get together
- A Topic as a blog, resource, and/or news item
- A Discussion thread to promote direct engagement and collaboration
- An Event as a first community activity
- Book Pages for “Community Guidelines” or other informational content which will benefit from a book structure (such as this getting started guide!)
Are you still unsure about how you will differentiate between all these types of content? Then return to your Taxonomy to set up, at least a basic, structure for your content.
Learn more about overall Content Management here
Create your user flow
Dashboards & Landing Pages
When you've got some content, events or groups for members to navigate to and engage within, you need to create the pathways to lead them to these spaces.
Therefore, you need to create pages which curate this information together, presenting the user with different options. Some of these are populated by default, such as The Resource Library and/or they can be found via the search button.
You also have default links for /all-topics, /all-groups, /all-members, /all-discussions and /community-events, which automatically update with new information as it's created.
However, you can/should also create your own specially designed pages to curate this information. These can be created using:
- Dashboards: Flexible pages for curating information, user actions and content in one, curated space
- Landing Pages: Less flexible, but more user-friendly pages for achieving similar goals to the dashboard
A dashboard or landing page is also what you should use for your Homepages (see below). You can review the guides above to understand which feature is more suitable for your needs - in general, our clients tend to use Dashboards due to the greater flexibility and design.
For creating/reviewing your content, you can always navigate to the Content Overview page from your Site Manager Menu which allows you to see all of your content and create new content. You can also use the “+” sign in the main menu on the right-hand side to create new content.
Menu Links
After you’ve got your first content, you’re ready to determine the structure of your community platform and the experience of your members. The platform allows you to completely control the main menu & the footer, as well as creating different homepages for different user roles (i.e. logged-in user vs public users).
You can control this in the Site Manager Dashboard via:
This should give you the tools you need to take your first steps in building your community platform. Make sure to review the information carefully, and don't hesitate to reach out if you need help. You can contact your CSM or rely on this Community Talks community for further support!
Good luck!
