Invision Community 4: SEO, prepare for v5 and dormant account notifications By Matt Monday at 02:04 PM
Schroeder Posted May 26 Posted May 26 I'm looking for comprehensive training or guides for Invision Communities. I'm beginning to feel a little overwhelmed. I know what I want to do, but having trouble getting it done. My degrees are in Computer Science and Network Engineering (from the 90s). I'm a techie guy, but I'm not a programmer (or coder as I believe it's called today). I know just enough to know I need help or I need to better educate myself. As I don't have the funds to hire someone at the moment, I'm willing to invest time in myself by learning the platform. Would someone please direct me to training via Invision or a third party? I've read the guides and looked around, but I don't see a training section. Please tell me I'm simply overlooking it. Thanks!
Randy Calvert Posted May 27 Posted May 27 Let’s start with what are you wanting to learn?  Installing the software?  Configuring the software?  Customizing the software?  Sonya* 1
SoloInter Posted May 27 Posted May 27 No really need to be a coder. Lot of stuff can be done without any skills.
Schroeder Posted May 27 Author Posted May 27 Hi Randy, right now I'm in the setup phase. Well, I've done the most basic setup and started creating content (blog posts, events schedule). I consider myself still in the setup phase but also wanting to customize the site. I each it to look and flow better for future members. I know I have a LOT to learn but I'm up to the task. I don't have the time or desire to learn how to code. I can possibly manage some very basic code snippets obtained elsewhere and inserted, but I have no time or desire to learn to code myself. I love learning so I'm willing to put in the time and effort, but I'd like to do so in an efficient manner. That's why I'm looking for something with some structure that allows me to continue to build on what I learn.
Gary Posted May 28 Posted May 28 Hi @Schroeder, Another couple of questions that come to mind: What do you want out of the software? What are you trying to achieve with your community? Are you looking to completely customise your community, or is it purely for education? Just bear in mind that the more "custom" you make things, the more difficult it will be in the future for you to upgrade with security patches, updates and newer versions of the software. If something stops working or you encounter errors, the Invision Community Team are not obligated to assist you unless it is purely an issue caused by the core software. I'm not sure what licence you hold at Invision Community, but the Classic one provides you with the ability to run a live community, and a test one (which you can use to test and customise things).
Marc Posted May 28 Posted May 28 On 5/26/2024 at 9:39 PM, Schroeder said: I've read the guides and looked around, but I don't see a training section. Please tell me I'm simply overlooking it. Thanks! It would be worth letting us know what it is you arent finding here. What exactly is it you are looking to achieve? We can then either point you in the right direction or let you know how to do things here
Schroeder Posted May 28 Author Posted May 28 Thanks for the replies @Gary and @Marc Stridgen I have travel agent/agency credentials and love to travel. I happen to have been born and live in a tourist town which has grown tremendously over the past 50 years. My goal is to create a travel/tourism website for my hometown based around the forum functionality. Of course blogs, event calendar, photos, and videos will be involved and later some other of the other functionalities will likely be involved to help monetize the site. However, the core of the community will be based around the forums, which I am guessing is the case for most subscribers. I don't want to completely customize the site, but I do want to make it look a certain way. I think I can achieve most of this using the built-in functionality, at least I hope this is the case. @Marc Stridgen I posted this question because I didn't want to start posting separate questions every time I ran into one. I'm willing to do the learning "up front," but the guides don't seem to be comprehensive enough to allow this. Maybe it's best that I slow down a little and go back through them again. If there is training elsewhere, please let me know. In the meantime, I'll work with the guides again and post questions as they arise. Thanks for you time!
Marc Posted May 28 Posted May 28 If you are looking to start on forums, then this would be your best starting point 🙂  Â
Solution Gary Posted May 28 Solution Posted May 28 8 hours ago, Schroeder said: Thanks for the replies @Gary and @Marc Stridgen I have travel agent/agency credentials and love to travel. I happen to have been born and live in a tourist town which has grown tremendously over the past 50 years. My goal is to create a travel/tourism website for my hometown based around the forum functionality. Of course blogs, event calendar, photos, and videos will be involved and later some other of the other functionalities will likely be involved to help monetize the site. However, the core of the community will be based around the forums, which I am guessing is the case for most subscribers. I don't want to completely customize the site, but I do want to make it look a certain way. I think I can achieve most of this using the built-in functionality, at least I hope this is the case. @Marc Stridgen I posted this question because I didn't want to start posting separate questions every time I ran into one. I'm willing to do the learning "up front," but the guides don't seem to be comprehensive enough to allow this. Maybe it's best that I slow down a little and go back through them again. If there is training elsewhere, please let me know. In the meantime, I'll work with the guides again and post questions as they arise. Thanks for you time! No problem at all. There are a lot of resources you can find throughout the community here, not just in the guides. But I would definitely recommend using them as a first step or reference point as they are well-written and easy to understand (especially for a beginner in this space). All of those things you want to do can definitely be achieved with Invision Community. And as I mentioned before, keeping your forum as vanilla as possible (by using the default functionality and applications) will prevent many issues in the future. A lot of errors and larger problems occur once you start customising code, editing functionality, adding plugins, etc, especially when it comes time to upgrade to newer versions and patches. Unless whatever it is you are trying to achieve is an absolute necessity for your community, I would always do my best in coming up with a solution with the core software before thinking about introducing anything else. This is purely from my personal experience by the way; in all the communities I have ever created, I have never installed a plugin or strayed outside of the core software. Using this topic seeking assistance would be ideal as it relates to the topic title. It'll allow other users to find solutions to their issues as well. When reading through the guides again, voice what you think is missing and the Invision Community Team will always take on your feedback (bearing in mind v5 is on the horizon which may mean these guides receive an update).
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