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In this new series, we hear from new community owners and follow their journey from opening the site to nurturing the fledgling membership.

In this article, we hear from Helen who shares her experience with opening a site catering for dog owners.

We want to ensure that converting from your existing community platform to ours is as seamless as possible.

While we do have a migration service available where we take care of everything for you, we do also offer a DIY option.

We took some time to overhaul the conversion process for those opting to convert using our free tools.

The Internet is a fierce battleground for users, clicks, attention, and audience. Competition surrounds your community from all angles and new threats constantly emerge.

The Internet has leveled the playing field for local businesses, solopreneurs, and small organizations which means more people than ever are competing for users. Online communities are no different, and as companies realize the growing power of communities, you too may face more challenges.

Release parties at Invision Community are a fairly tame affair. You'd think after months of planning, coding and testing we'd want to cut loose and dance the night away.

The reality is we send each other a few amusing GIFs in Slack and then wait for support tickets to start appearing while our developers crack their knuckles and prepare for bug reports to be filed.

We did manage to find five minutes to ask the team what their favourite feature of 4.4 was.

We're thrilled to announce that Invision Community 4.4 is available to download now.

After months of development, over 1650 separate code commits and quite a few mugs of questionable coffee you can now get your hands on the beta release.

What is Giphy Integration? Giphy integration will allow your users to click and select GIF images, directly from the editor. This will pull and search gifs on the popular Giphy platform, allowing for ease of use, and expression through short media videos The Invision Community platform allows you to set up giphy integration, by simply adding your giphy API key into the platform, requiring no coding knowledge to add. Adding Giphy to your site You can switch on Giphy integration by visiting the following location within your adminCP. System -> Site Features -> Community Enhancements Select "Enable" under the giphy option, and optionally select the ratings of GIFs you wish your users to see. If you do not wish to use the preinstalled default key provided for your use, you can enter your own API key using the option provided API Key Entry Using Giphy Once you have completed the above steps, you will see a new button on your toolbar which you can click to search an add gifs to the page, as shown below. If you do not see the button, you may need to add this. Please see the following guide on how to add buttons to your toolbar  

What is Facebook pixel? The Facebook pixel is an analytics tool that allows you to measure the effectiveness of your advertising by understanding the actions people take on your website. You can use pixel data to: Make sure your ads are being shown to the right people Build advertising audiences Unlock additional Facebook advertising tools The Invision Community platform allows you to set up facebook pixel, by simply adding your pixel ID into the platform. Pixel Stats Getting your Pixel ID In order to integrate your facebook pixel, you must first create one on the facebook business site. Once logged in, you can create a pixel by selecting "Get Started" as shown in the image below Getting Started You will then be asked to create a name for your Pixel, along with giving your sites URL Add your name and URL here As you are using the Invision Community platform, the next step in creation is not needed. We have added the integration to the software already, so you need only your pixel ID in order to continue here. Therefore we will simply close this screen. Integration is already done You will now see  that you have a pixel ID in the top left of your screen, you will need to copy this, as this is what you will need to get started on setting up in the Invision Community platform. Copy your pixel ID Adding Pixel to your site Now you have your Pixel ID, you can add facebook pixel to your Invision Community site. To do this, visit the following area within your admin CP System -> Site Features -> Community Enhancements Once here, select the "Enable" button under Facebook Pixel.  You will then be shown the following where you need to enter your pixel ID and select 'Enable. You can also set a delay if needed, which can avoid re-targeting bouncing users, by adding a delay before the pixel loads. Integrating your pixel

When you allow your members to take back control of their privacy, you are empowering them to make decisions about what to share.

Given how eroded our privacy is in our modern always-connected world, this is a precious gift.

It's a new year, and a new beginning. And the possibilities are endless for you and your community.

It’s an exciting time to be leading an online community with Invision Community - whether you’re starting out or switching over - and the new year is the perfect opportunity to start anew.

How are you celebrating the new year with your community? What are your community goals for 2019?

To kick off the new year, I’ve outlined guidance for several types of communities, whether you’re just starting out or you’re looking to take your community to the next level.

We've upgraded our own community for wider testing.

A big focus has been on page speed, so you will notice that our community is significantly faster that it was on 4.3.

Braintree is a payment gateway provided by PayPal which provides some great additional features for PayPal transactions including a significantly improved recurring payments model. We are delighted to be bringing full support for Braintree for Commerce in Invision Community 4.4.

A successful community manager is a combination of so many things.

Being a successful community manager demands that you be a multi-faceted person and to apply a dynamic personality to a position that’s always in flux. You’re the authorized ambassador of your organization; you’re the chief moderator who sets and enforces community guidelines; and you’re the counselor and friend to all of your peers in the community. You may also be the one who updates your community suite, approves members, and manages the moderator team. Oh, and you find time to be the social media coordinator, digital designer-in-training, and all-around fantastic human being.

It's easy to think that email is a relic from the past; from simpler times long before social media and the rise of phone apps.

And it's reasonable to think that way. Your phone constantly pings at you, and your laptop OS constantly pings at you, so why bother with email?

Because it's still a hugely powerful medium to get and retain attention.

Let's take a look at three new email features.

It's been said that the best place to hide a dead body is on page 2 of Google.

While we can't promise to get you to page 1 for a generic search term, we have taken some time for Invision Community 4.4 to do an SEO sweep.

Did you know that the most magical community in the world runs on Invision Community?

For close to 12 years, Michael has been spreading joy through the ClausNet, the world's largest online community dedicated to the faithful portrayal of Santa Claus.

We speak to Michael on how he uses Invision Community and engages with his unique community.

Outside your window, the leaves have burst into fiery reds and oranges.  A crisp breeze floats in the air.  The birds have long chirped their good-byes.

And you’re sipping a hot cup of apple cider, contemplating the change in season.

The holidays are almost here.

The end of the year is one of the best chances to take stock your community and provide an emotive experience for your members.  It’s a chance to reflect upon what you learned, what new initiatives you started, and what you still have ahead of you.  It’s a chance to provide a sense of closure to the year and to ignite one more burst of community-wide goodwill.  In short, the holiday season is an amazing opportunity to bring your community together one last time in 2018.

Sun kissed beaches or snowscapes? Bustling cities or quiet villages?

The question we posted this month was: If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

In theory we could work from anywhere in the world that has a decent internet connection, but where would we choose to live?

Ever since its first release, the REST API built into the Invision Community software has proven to be a very powerful and well-received feature.

We love seeing what our clients and modification authors are able to do with the level of integration afforded to them through this capability, and so it is only natural that we have looked to expand the functionality in our upcoming 4.4 release.

THE BIGGEST SALE OF THE YEAR IS COMING BACK TO THE IPS MARKETPLACE!! !! !! 

THE TALENTED AND AMAZING IPS MARKETPLACE COMMUNITY IS COMING TOGETHER AGAIN FOR THE SECOND ANNUAL MARKETPLACE BLACK FRIDAY SALE!!  🤩

FOR THREE SHORT WEEKS ONLY, GET THE BEST PRICES OF THE ENTIRE YEAR FROM ALL OF YOUR FAVORITE THEMERS, DESIGNERS, AND CODERS. 

RING IN THE HOLIDAYS WITH SOME STOCKING STUFFERS FOR YOUR COMMUNITY MEMBERS.  GET NEW THEMES AND NEW APPS!  🎁

BUY THE GIFTS THAT KEEP ON GIVING WITH MODS THAT WILL DELIGHT AND ENTERTAINMENT YOUR USERS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. 

 

NOVEMBER 9 - NOVEMBER 30

BUY NOW, SAVE NOW, AND CELEBRATE ALL YEAR.  


The IPS Marketplace during the holidays.  IPS let me decorate this year. 

The IPS Marketplace Black Friday sale is the largest and premier sale that goes on once a year, exclusively during the Black Friday season.  The sale goes from November 9 - November 30, so hurry for the best sales on your holiday themes, must-have plugins, and new apps.  These will be the lowest prices of the year.  

All of the most trusted and respected modders from the IPS community are participating again in our IPS Marketplace Black Friday sale.  Our list of participants is a Who's Who of the Invision scene:  Adrian Faria, Newbie LAC, Mike John, DawPI, onlyME, Fosters, OpenType, Faqole, A Zayed, TheJackal84, Invision HQ, Ehren, IBTheme, Pete T, Steve00, Mark Round, TAMAN, Veilon, Heosforo, Lis Koduje, Brian A, Teascu Dorin, JCDesign and others.  

We're the only third-party community that comes together for the Black Friday sale, as a sign of unison during the holiday season.  We're proud to extend and support the amazing communities of IPS clients into new and wonderful days.  As admins of our own IPS communities, we know how important it is to customize the design and functions of our communities and create special experiences for our users.  

❤️ from the IPS Marketplace

Allowing your customers to find exactly what they need as fast as possible will no doubt increase sales.

A good number of our customers use Commerce to sell physical items. Until now, it's always been a little tricky to set up the store to allow customers to drill down into specific items within the store.

In Invision Community 4.4, the sidebar in the store now includes filter options to help customers find the product they're looking for.

This month, Matt thought he'd ask a trick question: "What is your favourite movie?"

He fully expected to be told "but Matt, we work so hard on Invision Community, we don't have time to watch movies." just so he didn't have to complete this month's entry.

But no. Apparently, most of our team have MULTIPLE favourites.

And here they are.

Invision Community already makes it easy for guests to sign up using external services such as Facebook, Twitter and Google.

However, there has to be a conscious decision to click that sign-up button. For some, this may be a barrier too many.

Invision Community 4.4 reduces this barrier by allowing guests to create a post to a topic they want to engage with.

Once they have posted, they are asked to simply complete their registration. They are more likely to do this now they have invested in your community.

Yet again, Joel hijacks our company blog for another generous slice of knowledge from the front-lines of administrating a successful community.

This time Joel reveals 5 secret Invision Community features you may not have seen.

Who remembers the earlier days of the internet? Back when you popped your logo at the top left of your site and you were largely done?

Invision Community has continually developed to account for all the new services that have been built during our 16 years.

We now have social media sharing images, favicons and more to consider.

Invision Community 4.4 also adds mobile application icons, Safari mask icons and data for an application manifest. Handling of these logos and icons was a prime candidate for improvement in 4.4.

Dealing with spam can be an annoying problem for community moderators.

Invision Community comes with several tools designed to mitigate spam, and make it hard for spammers to get a foothold in your community.

This short video takes you through several key areas to secure your site.