“Every success story is a tale of constant adaption, revision and change.” – Richard Branson, billionaire and founder of Virgin Group.
We all seek success with our Invision Communities. For too many of our communities, however, we yearn for success but we don’t plot the correct navigation to get there. We haphazardly pursue our strategies, trying new ideas and hoping one will stick. It’s time…
In a move that surprised many, British cosmetics firm Lush has chosen to quit social media.
With a combined following across Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, Lush has a combined audience of over 1.2 million followers.
Lush are being a little cryptic about its reasons but cite having to pay for visibility and getting tired of trying to produce content so just that algorithms will rank it …
Since the last blog entry in this series I have been very busy. I’m still working full time so haven’t been able to spend as much time as I would have liked on The Dogly Mail but I’m really enjoying the time I can.
Early growth has been promising and I have been experimenting with different ideas that have come from founder members to see what might work long term.
We recently broke the …
We do love a parlour game at Invision Community HQ and we were playing "6 degrees of separation" recently.
You've probably heard of the "6 degrees of Kevin Bacon". This is where you try and connect any actor with Kevin Bacon in 6 steps or less.
So let's try "6 degrees of Invision Community". This is where we try and connect a person with an Invision Community.
David Goggins and Invis…
I've had this similar conversation dozens of times in the recent past when someone has taken an interest in what I do.
Person: So what does Invision Community do?
Me: We develop and sell an independent community platform.
Person: Oh. Neat.
I used to say the F word. But this used to cause some confusion.
'We develop and sell a forum system'.
This used to elicit a response simila…
Online communities shine with the brilliance of humanity. Every day, our communities inspire, evoke, inform, motivate and engage in a hundred different ways. Every member feels a uniquely individual sense of value from your community.
For too many communities, the strategy revolves around two simple pillars: content and engagement. You inform. You engage. And you think your job is done. H…
I was fortunate enough to be invited to speak on the Expert Focus podcast, hosted by experienced community manager and public speaker, Claire Dowdall.
Claire has significant experience in managing and developing strategies for increasing Facebook Group engagement for high profile speakers and entrepreneurs, while my background is with independent communities.
This set us up nicely for a l…
Are you a vBulletin admin looking to stay on the leading edge of online communities?
As an IPS client who frequents the Invision Community support forums on a daily basis, I often run across existing or former vBulletin admins looking to migrate to IPS. In fact, based on my not-so-scientific survey, vBulletin is one of the most popular platforms from where admins migrate. Many of the vBulle…
I'm only one month in to starting a new community and I've already learned a huge amount. I was a little apprehensive at first but I'm taking things one step at a time and I'm happy with how things are going so far.
The points I'm going to raise are working for me but I'm a beginner and running a website of any description is new. Nothing here is guaranteed and I hope to receive comments from…
I'm sure that most reading this blog are running an up-to-date Invision Community and enjoying all the benefits of a modern community platform.
Little things that get taken for granted now, like being able to view your community on a mobile phone without pinching and zooming just to read a few posts and having multiple automated tools to deal with community toxicity and spam.
However, a …
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…
One of the first things I do when visiting a site that I know has a community is to try and find it.
More often than not, it's hidden away in the footer links or buried in several sub-menus and labelled something relatively obscure like "Fans" or "Support".
This is a massive lost opportunity!
We all know that social proof is incredibly important when making a purchasing decision.
…
We attach a significant amount of personally identifiable data to our social media profiles daily.
I regularly use social media to share photos of my kids and holidays. I post my personal thoughts on products I've used and TV shows I've watched. I'm even tagged in location-based check-ins.
It's all there in my news feed for anyone to see.
I'm not alone. More and more of us live our …
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…
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 you…
Did you know that the most magical community in the world runs on Invision Community?
For close to 12 years, Invision client @Michael R has been spreading joy through the Santa Claus Network (ClausNet.com), the world’s largest community for Santa and his followers.
He started building the site in November 2006 and went live in the beginning of 2007, using Invision Community as his platf…
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 me…
Yet again, Joel hijacks our company blog for another generous slice of knowledge from the front-lines of administrating a successful community.
Inspired by Invision Community client @Joey_M who discovered the emoji of serendipity and chief architect @Matt who literally knows everything about Invision Community in ACP Tips and Tricks, they both made me realize there’s always something to learn…
Dealing with spam can be an annoying problem for community moderators. It's bad enough that our inboxes get clogged up with it daily.
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:
The Invision Community spam defense system
CAPTCHAs…
Once again, we hand over the reigns of our blog to client and friend to Invision Community Joel for another client view of our community suite.
Today @Joel R tackles Activity Streams, and how to make them "your awesome".
Activity Streams is one of the best new features of Invision Community 4 with more flexibility and options than ever before. It can be an amazing and easy way to div…
Today, we're handing over our blog to long time client and friend to Invision Community, Joel R.
@Joel R is often found hanging out in our community offering his insight and wisdom when he's not harassing the team in Slack.
Over to Joel.
Invision Community releases a variety of blockbuster features in every major update, which usually hits once a year. You may think those updates a…
It's 2 am, and my bleary red eyes are fighting sleep. My thumbs are still glued to the Playstation controller as I try and persuade my on-screen avatar to complete the level. If I manage it, I've won another trophy.
Many of us have been there. Investing a considerable amount of time into a game just to get to the next level, win a trophy or better yet, complete the entire game.
I still r…
Work smarter, not harder is a motto we hear a lot of in our modern age.
This is of course great advice. Invision Community's Admin CP is packed full of tools and settings to help you configure your community to your needs.
In this short video I show you how you can work smarter in the Admin CP.
Dashboard Blocks
I show you how create a dashboard perfect for your needs. The dashboar…
We often get asked how to create a portal-like home page for a community.
A homepage has many benefits including:
Showing your best content first
By using the "Our Picks" blocks, you can display your best content first. This content sets the tone for the site and will encourage engagement across your site.
Display multiple areas of the suite
Each application has its own feed blo…
