Configurations

Notifications

Ensure outgoing email is working and review the site-wide settings found on /admin/users/notify-defaults.html. Can choose between instant, daily digest, and weekly digest, or none. Settings that automatically set following, subsequently invoke the notifications set for follow events. Groups can be set to create an additional layer of customization by configuring default followed items and then setting the group to follow spaces, particular users, or particular topics. These can be particularly useful to align particular team coverage of particular spaces or topics (subject areas) irrespective of topic expert status.

Incoming Email

Some communities may wish to allow users to post back to the community from the notifications they receive, or to create specific email aliases that can be mapped 1:1 to individual spaces. There is a specific format that emails must follow to properly form new questions based on incoming email - there is supporting material on the doc site for configuration, and some example emails discussed on the success site here https://success.answerhub.com/questions/4346/how-does-the-incoming-email-configuration-work.html

Configuring Ideas

Ideas provide a great way for users to provide ideas and suggestions and allow others to vote and comment on the ideas. Ideas can be progressed through states and be organized by states in the UI; either by the updated, created, hottest, votes or most viewed state. Votes can be configured to have a fixed starting number or infinite. Discuss the philosophy of making votes "count" and how they can be earned back via the Ideas workflow (page in the admin console). This can also lead to potential user abuse of voting for items that already have a lot of votes and are likely to be implemented.

• Note: There are 3 idea states out-of-the-box; submitted, started, completed - you can add new ones. The names of the 3 out-of-the-box types are stored in the database and cannot be changed, and when you create a new state, that selected name is also permanent. However, the Idea Workflow page in the admin console allows for some configuration of several features for ideas. For both new ideas and the out-of-the-box ideas, the label or name of the state shown in the UI can be changed. You can control the order of states, and for each state whether votes may be cast or retracted, when votes are given back to users, and reputation points awarded based upon their contribution in the process.

Best Practices Regarding Ideas

• If Ideas are to be used in the community, be sure the company is committed to responding, commenting and advancing them through states to some resolution whether archived or implemented. If no follow through / progress is evident, communities tend to become disillusioned within 2-3 months and will abandon ideas participation.
• If you want to use ideas, but the business is not ready to commit to implementing customer ideas into new products or services, consider using ideas with a narrow scope that you can control more easily such as ideas about the community. You could create a space called community suggestion box or something similar and only allow ideas on the space.
• Celebrate ideas that are implemented and recognize the contributor of the idea.