We will illustrate the benefits of adding a community forum to your WordPress blog/site. We will show you how easy it is to add forum plugins/widgets, integrate SSO (single-sign-on), and take advantage of the Vanilla API. We will also look at real world examples of high traffic WordPress communities that benefit from these features.

1. Building a Community
Around your Blog
3
From C onception to Integration
@digibomb

2. First, a quick recap ...
Check out par t 1 Check out par t
2

3. from par t 1
1
The pro blem with blogs

4. from par t 1
1
1 Community is only in
the comments, and that is
ver y limited!

5. from par t 1
1
1 Community is only in
the comments, and that is
ver y limited!
Reade rs are forced to
discuss the topic at hand.
No new discussions.
No interaction.
2

6. from par t 1
1
What’s the
solution?

7. from par t 1
1
Anybody?

8. from par t 1
1
Stop speaking and listen!
Let the comments be your content.

9. from par t 1
1
Interac tivity engages
readers a nd creates a
positive impression

10. from par t 1
1
Interac tivity engages
readers a nd creates a
positive impression
A sense of community
creates loyal readers

11. from par t 1
1
Interac tivity engages
readers a nd creates a Readers who like you
positive impression will help you out in
various ways
A sense of community
creates loyal readers

12. from par t 1
1
Interac tivity engages
readers a nd creates a Readers who like you
positive impression will help you out in
various ways
A sense of community
creates loyal readers
Even if your community is
small, it p rovides you with
an o ppor tunity to get to
kno w your readers

13. from par t 1
1
Where do
I start?

14. Bork!
You need
the right
ingredients!
from par t 2
2

15. Keep the barriers low
from par t 2
2

16. Keep the barriers low
Monitor content
from par t 2
2

17. Keep the barriers low
Monitor content
Promote influencers
from par t 2
2

18. Keep the barriers low Be a cheer leader
Monitor content
Promote influencers
from par t 2
2

19. Keep the barriers low Be a cheer leader
Monitor content
Give your
Promote influencers readers
homework
from par t 2
2

20. Determine who your
Keep the barriers low Be a cheer leader community is and
what they want
Monitor content
Give your
Promote influencers readers
homework
from par t 2
2

21. What’s the
next step?

22. developers, developers, developers,
developers, developers, developers,
developers, developers, de
velopers,

23. Development considerations

24. 1 Plugins & Widgets

25. Determine who your community is and what they want

26. Determine who your community is and what they want
Uploads Notifications
Voting
Shares
Badges
Follows
Signatures
Attachments

27. 2 SSO - Single Sign-On

28. seamless entr y

29. seamless entr y
leverage your existing userbase

30. seamless entr y
leverage your existing userbase
No extra accounts

31. 3 API’s

32. Create unique experiences

33. Drive growth and engagement
Create unique experiences

34. 4 Embed

35. Embed your community into any site in the world with a single line of code

36. 5 Social Connect

37. Keep the barriers low

38. 6 Mobile

39. Star t a discussion from anywhere

40. 7 Scalability

41. What do you do when your
community goes down?

42. What do you do when your
community goes down?
Communities are fragile to begin
with and take time to cultivate

43. What do you do when your
community goes down?
Communities are fragile to begin
with and take time to cultivate
As your members increase so does
content, traffic , and ever ything in between,
this success can create headaches

44. What do you do when your
community goes down?
Communities are fragile to begin
with and take time to cultivate
As your members increase so does
content, traffic , and ever ything in between,
this success can create headaches
A ho sted forum provides peace of mind
that your biggest traffic days will be
your greatest days, not your worst

45. Software options

46. NOT FREE
Out of the box design
N ot plugable, no API
Some social integration
Mobile Version

47. Free & open source
Out of the box design
Not plugable, no API
No m obile version
No social integration

48. Free & open source
Simple API
SSO with WordPress
Social integration
Themeable

49. Free & open source
Simple & clean
Powerful API
Mobile ready
Social integration
SSO
Embedable

50. Some examples

56. Thank You!
@digibomb