Discussion

In any ecosystem, there is an equilibrium that is naturally achieved when left to it's own. The same applies to a community. When left by itself, what is the natural state of your community? Does the community tend to have too much of a certain kind of conversation? Does it have enough conversation and content to be self sustaining? Part of the role of a community manager is to nudge the community's equilibrium in the right direction, until the community can achieve its equilibrium on its own.

The purpose of Invisioneer is to help communities of all sizes and shapes succeed, but there's a special place in my heart for small, independent communities. Usually these are started and fueled by the passion of the community owner. One of the biggest strengths of forums is passion. One of the biggest weaknesses is passion. Passion from an independent community owner means that you will be able to research, share, discuss with a fiery enthusiasm that can truly distinguish your forum from other forums. Passion means you will push yourself, care for all of the details. Passion also means you can quickly burn out. You can only self sustain an intense…

When I set out to build Invisioneer.org, I knew one of its unstated critiques would be: Is this yet another forum administration / forum webmaster / forum promotion site? How will Invisioneer be any different? There is a small cottage industry of forum users who enjoy popping up and installing forum administration sites, year after year. I think that's great! There is enough room on the Internet for all of us to co-exist. Part of those other sites may overlap with part of the value of Invisioneer, but you'll find a sharply-defined vision of Invisioneer that will separate us over time. What you will find on Invisioneer You will find a relentless focus…

As we stand on the threshold of 2024, I am filled with a sense of optimism and excitement for what we, as a vibrant community of forum enthusiasts and online community managers, can achieve together. It’s clear that our passion for creating engaging and meaningful digital spaces is the heartbeat of our success. The coming year presents an opportunity for us to refine our approach, placing a greater emphasis on strategy over mere engagement. Engagement is the lifeblood of our communities, but it's the strategies behind this engagement that turn our visions into realities. By focusing on thoughtful, well-planned tactics, we can create experiences that are not only eng…

In a community, you are as smart as the smartest person in the community.

"You say 'amateur' as if it was a dirty word. 'Amateur' comes from the Latin word 'amare', which means to love. To do things for the love of it." Source: Mozart in the Jungle

There are plenty of forum choices. There are plenty of discussion platforms. There are only a few community software choices (and calling yourself a community platform when you're nothing more than forums + gallery doesn't really count). When I evaluate the landscape of software, especially in context of legacy forum software, most of them created software that was driven by users: albums, files, blogs. This worked 10 - 15 years ago. Nowadays, social platforms have absorbed these user-centric groups and offer user albums, user blogs, user clubs. Independent community platforms shouldn't compete with social platforms, because social platforms are extremely…

Before this sets off alarm bells for anyone (!), I don't plan on switching software. This was a question asked by a user on another community: "should I switch software?" The four or five answers provided by other members were all more or less the same: get feedback from members. This is one of the worst answers that could be given. Most importantly, it reflects a disappointing lack of insight and depth by legacy forum admins who continue to over-rely on member feedback because they have no strategy or vision to independently drive their tactics and objectives. When the default answer is to listen to members as the first and primary directive, you're su…

Invisioneer may have officially started a short two months ago, but it's been years in the making behind the scenes. Why did I start Invisioneer.org? I've been running my primary community (not Invisioneer) for over a decade. In the early years, my community was doing okay - until it plateaued. In all of that time, I actively participated in forum administration sites, forum webmaster blogs, forum promotion sites, and the developer's support community, and I was both a vocal contributor and experimenter with everything that was being discussed. I thought I was doing "everything right." But I wasn't. In 2017, my site's activity and engagement plateaue…

Marketplace Directory The Marketplace Directory for IPS third-party is an invaluable and indispensable part of the community experience. Clients are invited to browse, shop, and be inspired by third-party themes, plugins and applications. Customizing and tailoring your community experience is important. Social media platforms are very good at grabbing broad and shallow attention, but they will never fight for niche discussions, niche organization, and niche tools. This is where customization can come in, to give you an advantage that social media is simply uninterested in. We invite clients to think deeply about how they can organize their content, build …