GTServices

I love the new look; overall changes.
Hopefully, overall DOM size has been reduced.
Have you guys tested and compared speed improvements between 4.xxx and 4.5? Mobile? Desktop? 
Mobile should be just as fast as desktop (or close to it). I believe Google PageSpeed/Lighthouse default tests speed are Fast 3G/Slow 4G.
That's definitely not the case with the current Forums site. HUGE difference.
Yes, we all know that it's not the same as the default platform or how each site will run. But, it is the first thing that potential customers will experience/test.
I'll attach screenshots of the CURRENT speed per Google PageSpeed ... and when IPS converts site to 4.5 I'll share those screenshots as well.
Personally, I just want to see before/after results. 🙂

I love the new look; overall changes.
Hopefully, overall DOM size has been reduced.
Have you guys tested and compared speed improvements between 4.xxx and 4.5? Mobile? Desktop? 
Mobile should be just as fast as desktop (or close to it). I believe Google PageSpeed/Lighthouse default tests speed are Fast 3G/Slow 4G.
That's definitely not the case with the current Forums site. HUGE difference.
Yes, we all know that it's not the same as the default platform or how each site will run. But, it is the first thing that potential customers will experience/test.
I'll attach screenshots of the CURRENT speed per Google PageSpeed ... and when IPS converts site to 4.5 I'll share those screenshots as well.
Personally, I just want to see before/after results. 🙂

I can't wait to get my hands on 4.5!

I can't wait to get my hands on 4.5!

I can't wait to get my hands on 4.5!

I can't wait to get my hands on 4.5!

I can't wait to get my hands on 4.5!

I can't wait to get my hands on 4.5!

I can't wait to get my hands on 4.5!

I can't wait to get my hands on 4.5!

If you have the pages app, you can create blocks and set the visibility in the ACP while creating a block.

These are FANTASTIC new features!! 
One thing that's missing is the UPDATE DATE.
There are many old evergreen topics that are getting updated (for SEO reasons). Having the UPDATE DATE clearly visible tells the reader that the content was recently updated.

These are FANTASTIC new features!! 
One thing that's missing is the UPDATE DATE.
There are many old evergreen topics that are getting updated (for SEO reasons). Having the UPDATE DATE clearly visible tells the reader that the content was recently updated.

These are FANTASTIC new features!! 
One thing that's missing is the UPDATE DATE.
There are many old evergreen topics that are getting updated (for SEO reasons). Having the UPDATE DATE clearly visible tells the reader that the content was recently updated.

These are FANTASTIC new features!! 
One thing that's missing is the UPDATE DATE.
There are many old evergreen topics that are getting updated (for SEO reasons). Having the UPDATE DATE clearly visible tells the reader that the content was recently updated.

My home office is closed due to children care at home.

This is what I call a perfectly timed article. 👍

This is goog point.
I have few breaks during day.
"Simulates" going to work (I have to take children to kindergarten / nursery) walking the dog break for strength exercises For developing software I use JIRA + Confluence For quick notes the same I use OneNote

I agree with the study ... working remotely is more productive. Plus, a company can save thousands of dollars. eg. rent, utilities, etc
To make it work...
Have weekly meetings. Use a work/project management tool such as Asana, Trello, etc. (A history of activity is very important. Not just for you but coworkers, groups, managers, CEO, etc) Make sure you take time off.  At the same time, make sure you are working. (This is really hard for people who are working remotely for the first time.) Stay active in life - otherwise, you will gain wait. Do a Spartan Race every 4 months.  I'm a Studio Windows user, I use Sticky Notes (on desktop screen) to quickly write down notes, todo list, etc ... and OneNote for research, ideas, and UI improvements, etc. (I'm sure Mac users have similar tools.) OneNote can be shared with others in the team. I was going to share my office space ... but I'm too tired ... I don't feel like cleaning the mess. 🙂

I agree with the study ... working remotely is more productive. Plus, a company can save thousands of dollars. eg. rent, utilities, etc
To make it work...
Have weekly meetings. Use a work/project management tool such as Asana, Trello, etc. (A history of activity is very important. Not just for you but coworkers, groups, managers, CEO, etc) Make sure you take time off.  At the same time, make sure you are working. (This is really hard for people who are working remotely for the first time.) Stay active in life - otherwise, you will gain wait. Do a Spartan Race every 4 months.  I'm a Studio Windows user, I use Sticky Notes (on desktop screen) to quickly write down notes, todo list, etc ... and OneNote for research, ideas, and UI improvements, etc. (I'm sure Mac users have similar tools.) OneNote can be shared with others in the team. I was going to share my office space ... but I'm too tired ... I don't feel like cleaning the mess. 🙂

As a follow-up to this article, I wanted to say that I fully recognize the supreme irony of posting this article in the middle of the feature blast for 4.5 -- we're being inundated with new features every week: blog categories! club statistics! search insights! stock photos! security stuff! mobile mobile mobile!!  But this is meant to be a timely reminder in the middle of all of these feature releases that these new features and settings are simply the starting point for your community.  You should think carefully and thoughtfully in crafting these features to your community's mission. How do they align with your community's purpose?  How do they enhance / improve what you're trying to accomplish?  Are the features necessary, nice-to-have, or irrelevant?  When do the options stop becoming choices, and start becoming distractions?  
These are examples of real things I've seen during my community reviews:
20+ reactions: Users literally can't even select some of the reactions, because the list goes off the page.  You don't need a reaction for every single human expression, agreement, not-so-agreement, totally-not-agree-but-haha-agree. You just need enough to capture simple expressions.     20+ empty boards: This usually occurs when the ambition of the admin exceeds the subject expertise.  You don't need a board for every possible discussion, subject, or international language -- what value do they offer if they're empty? If you feel you absolutely must offer these boards, then offer them as sub-boards where you still have room to grow but it doesn't overwhelm the forum index. 10+ subscriptions: Humans don't need or want to make complex purchasing decisions, especially over something like a forum membership.  People want choice, but not overwhelming amounts of choice.          The communities who focus on their core objectives and offer best-in-class resources will be the ones who will continue to thrive as the web becomes more crowded (and with more choices!).  It usually means slimming down and focusing all of your energies to be the best in what you do.  The Paradox of Choice leads to analysis paralysis, to purchase paralysis, and to less satisfaction among your members.

@Joel R These are great! Thanks for sharing. 😀
Personally, I drop #10 from the list. 
These days, many admins see Google as their Achilles heel. Yes.
But, Google could be your BEST friend. 
If you focus on Google ... if you spend time improving on site SEO ... you could come out GROWING.
Let me offer an example...
Heather lost about 70% of her organic traffic in the past few years due to all the Google Algorithm Updates. Heather has thousands and thousands of topics. For this purpose, let's put this number at 100,000.
On avg, Heather lost about 100 visits (avg) per topic /wk just on her top 10,000 topics.
That's 1 million visits LOST per wk!
Questions Heather should be asking herself...
How many NEW CONTENT would I have to create to get back 1 million visits per wk? 10,000? 5,000?
How long will it take to complete?
How much would this cost me (money, time)?
FACT: If you seen a drop in organic traffic and didn't do anything about it's likely it will continue to decline.
FACT: Google is FREE. It takes work but it's worth it when done right.
Soooooooo .... Don't ignore Google. 
Oh, by the way - Heather decided to focus on Google + New Content. Heather is now GROWING organic traffic despite the latest January Core Update.

Love this feature. Beer for EVERYONE! (put it on the IPS tab 🤪)
I love the direction IPS is going. 
Forums are experiencing BIG drops in traffic. A lot of people don't know what to do. (Give them the tools they need to make improvements.)
The right tools will push IPS to the next level.

Love this feature. Beer for EVERYONE! (put it on the IPS tab 🤪)
I love the direction IPS is going. 
Forums are experiencing BIG drops in traffic. A lot of people don't know what to do. (Give them the tools they need to make improvements.)
The right tools will push IPS to the next level.

I do the same but I try to keep the same URL if possible. I limit words used on FURLS to 5 words max which allows me to make changes without changing the URL. But, there are times you just have to change the whole title.
Other things I do to improve SEO...
Merge similar topics (especially if old and not driving too much traffic; especially, those that have some value) Format content so that it's easier to scan.  Improve content that drives traffic. (Evergreen content) Delete/Archive old poor quality content.  Delete old accounts with 0 content. None of this is easy but it's worth it. I recommend starting with your most popular topics (high Views count).
I'm against auto-tagging. I just don't see any value to it.
My team have instructions to tag only "high-quality" content.
We use tagging for the Similar Content block because it gives us some control.
We have control over what keywords are used. We  have control over what topics are tagged.  We have control over what topics are found in Similar Content block (and tag pages). The easier it is to find these "quality pages" the more value they gain. (eg. More traffic, shares, word of mouth, etc)
BACKGROUND...
Years ago I used tagging like you do. Enabled auto-tagging, allowed all members to tag, etc ... we literally had hundreds of thousands of tags (perhaps over 1 million) - many were similar, typos, poor quality, etc. (VBULLETIN BIG BOARD SITE)
I found myself working constantly in cleaning the mess. The ROI just wasn't there when compared to other things I could be doing. So I dropped it altogether with no regrets.
TAKE CONTROL
I'm sure you have heard of User Generated Content (UGC). If you run a forum site you are dependent on your members to produce content. About a decade or so ago, most forum admins peaked in terms of traffic. Since then traffic likely plateaued or dropped (more likely the latter).
Heck, back then you would see many forums selling for over $1 million dollars. Not these days. 
The biggest problem we have with a UGC business model is that we have very little control over what members post.
Technology and Google are changing rapidly it's time to start taking some control back. The above is just one way of doing just that.
Joel R's Community Management tips is another great way to take back some control.  A good community manager redirects focus where it should go. 
So let's get back to these Growth Hacks. I'm sure @Joel R would appreciate it. 😉