Being unique is crucial to your success, and it is essential to offer something that users cannot find anywhere else. To achieve this, you need to look at customizing your community site. For example, most community sites start with a forum, such as XenForo, InvisionCommunity or free options like phpBB, SMF or phpBB. Think of how many bog-standard forum themes you have seen - did they inspire you to join? Not only does a unique theme or ’skin’ make you stand out from the competition, it also shows the visitor that you are making a real effort with your community.
To achieve a unique design, you can browse the Marketplace's / Resources for design templates, or you can even post a design proposal as a contest to have people design a 100% custom layout for your chosen forum or blog software on forums like digitalpoint or websites like fiverr.
It is also possible to add additional features to your community software through customization or add ons - but it is essential to consider the value they will add to your members. It is pointless to add hundreds of customizations or plugins that nobody will use, which can slow down your site and confuse visitors.
It may be more difficult to offer unique software for your online community unless you have a decent development budget, but having your own design shows you are committed to your site’s development and sets you apart from all those competitors sitting with a design you can see on thousands of sites all over the internet.
In future posts, I will delve deeper into specific add-ons and customizations for XenForo and InvisionCommunity, two platforms I have experience using. I also hope to bring on guest posters to discuss modifications and other popular community software. - But developers are busy... well - developing. So hopefully someone will agree to a Community Interview.
Do you have a custom theme ? How much did you spend on it? Which developer would you like to see interviewed?
