Building a healthy online community takes more than just choosing the right tool; you have to adapt that tool to make it fit your community's needs.

 

Community design isn't primarily a feature-driven activity, but the following should be considered:

  • accounts - what is the process for entering the community?
  • roles - what levels / arenas of engagement are codified?
  • permissions - who can create, read, update, and delete what?  It's also worth considering that not all permission rules need to be technically enforced; in some cases it's smoother to have social agreements (eg, you can fix typos, but please send comments rather than make major edits)
  • history / recent changes - who will review edits?
  • comments - how should you frame online discussions?

 

 

Tickets relevant to community