phpFox Blog: Social network and online community building insights

  A good online community can do more than just create a place for people with the same interest to come and interact with each other. Businesses with a good community can improve their brand loyalty, build trust with the customers, reduce service costs and drive sales. So let’s find out what makes a good online community.   RELATED: How to convert offline customers to online?   In This Article: Relevant User-Generated Content Engaging Content Crowdsourced Ideas Mobile Responsiveness Personalization Integration Gamification Performance Measurement   Relevant User-Generated Content   Smart brands recognize the importance of fostering an environment that encourages people to create meaningful and original content. User-generated content (UGC) improves community member involvement, which deepens a community's ties and perceived value.   Communities with relevant UGC frequently have a large number of members and are constantly expanding. UGC is more likely to be believed and spread since it is written by real people for real people, therefore assisting the community in growing.   Engaging Content   Visually pleasing communities attract more visitors. Allow your customers to upload images and videos to their galleries and articles. Members of your community utilize photos and videos to interact with other members and your business, answer questions, and write feedback. The traffic generated by picture and video material helps to grow the community and its size.   Crowdsourced Ideas   Successful online communities leverage their platform to crowdsource ideas from their most loyal members. These collaborative ideas may be used by brands to enhance existing products or assess interest in new ventures.   If you want to collect product innovation ideas and feedback from your top consumers, make tools in your community that allows users to submit ideas, vote on them, and leave comments available.   Mobile Responsiveness   Over 50% of all internet users globally use mobile devices or tablets to access the internet. Websites were formerly created with solely desktop functionality and user experience in mind. However, as the number of mobile users grows, it is becoming increasingly important to create websites that are adaptable to all design kinds.   This also applies to online communities. Your online community must be mobile-responsive in order for all users to have a satisfying experience. The most effective online communities provide a consistent user experience for all members.   Personalization   Inspire and develop your community by providing members with a curated stream of information that is relevant to them, encouraging them to contribute more. Personalization elements in communities allow community members to be treated as individuals.   Individualized experiences are crucial for members of the community; 80% of customers are more inclined to conduct business with a firm that provides personalized experiences. Personalization may also benefit the bottom line by increasing the efficiency of marketing expenditure by up to 30% and sales by up to 8%.   Integration   When online communities are completely integrated with current systems, they provide the maximum value to businesses. This will enable your brand to deliver better customer service to community members while also collecting important data.   Integrate your online community with existing support procedures to ensure a consistent experience across all help channels. Connect your CRM system as well, so that unanswered inquiries are automatically escalated to direct support channels.   Gamification   The application of game-playing features to another area of activity is known as gamification. Outside of real games, one of the first locations where gamification appeared was in online brand forums. The concepts and methods that drive gamification in modern communities have developed to fit more with a sophisticated member journey model in which the user experience designer's main job is to connect extrinsic incentives with intrinsic motivation.   Gamification encourages customers and workers to share more frequently and passionately. Automate game mechanics for daily tasks, such as giving badges the first time a member of an online community publishes, replies to a post, or praises another member's post.   Performance Measurement   It is critical to be able to assess community health and take action to keep it at its peak. Concentrate on metrics that are important to you by including features that assess the following six health factors: traffic, content, members, liveliness, engagement, and response.   phpFox Helps Brands Create Successful Online Communities    PhpFox is an online community-building platform with built-in capabilities that can assist you in creating a social website for your business, organization, startup, or just your shared interest group.   Your social material can adapt flawlessly to every screen size, whether your audience accesses your community through a desktop computer, tablet, or mobile phone. It's a snap to personalize your appearance and feel. There is no coding necessary! You may simply add, delete, or change any website component using our theme administration system.   Don’t hesitate to RING US up or leave a message at hello@phpfox.com.   UP NEXT:  5 Ideas To Build An Engaged Online Learning Community How To Manage And Grow An Online Community Small Business Goals To Set For This Year  

Your feedback is extremely useful to our ecosystem, and we thank you for it. Each new version has undoubtedly taken into account all issue complaints and suggestions. It is with great pleasure that we announce the release of phpFox 4.8.7 as part of our commitment to continuously update phpFox with new Core features, performance enhancements, and bug fixes. Let's dig right in, shall we? Bugs Fixed   Tackle the issue force user verify phone number again after change email address Tackle the issue can't get video information when sharing a Vimeo URL if a site has been blocked connection by Vimeo Next-gen format image doesn’t work properly when editing Theme Resolve the issue thumbnail doesn't show when sharing the link of Facebook/Instagram to feed (if Facebook Connect app is disabled) When clicking on "Manage Phrases" of a language (PHP 8) in the module "Manage Language Packages", it will show 500 error Could not load app categories when access to ACP>>{App}>>Manage Categories (Bootstrap - PHP 8) Display duplicate after refresh multiple times in AdminCP > Site Statistics Could not sign up with Google account if there are required custom fields on the Registration form Paste text in Status/comment composer misses paragraph formatting Wrong image extension after update profile avatar with a format .jpeg  Could not hide block "Users You May Know" in the "Browse user" page Missing validate email when inputting to email friend invites In User Profile, the Custom field does not follow the order which has been set in the backend When sharing a link in feed, the Preview disappears after removing the link and sometimes it's not User cannot send an invitation email at the first time User can edit a post without inputting text Losing value in "Port" and "Database number" when editing Message Queue with type Redis When user edits photo feed right after posting, the redundant large space appears under tags/check-in Cron job app is still keeping after uninstalling it "Search user groups settings" only effects after performing Clear All caches Some XSS Attack on Feed Missing some phrases in AdminCP Missing featured icon on blocks (Recently Active, Users You May Know) and keeping Feature action after featuring others When tag friends  on feed, Redundant slash displays if friend name has special characters Losing the animation when viewing the comments with GIF   New Features / Improvements   The warning message will be displayed sequentially in the Registration and Contact Us form The country code will be auto-detected in Verification by SMS  Adding some core frequently used emails to Emails settings in AdminCP Supporting Submenu Creation  Supporting schedule the post on feed  Hiding 2 fields, Client ID and Client Secret, in the Payment Method section under Account Settings Supporting Multiple Languages for Anti-Spam Security Questions After admin updated Relationship Statuses in AdminCP, the new information will be auto-linked in Front-end without Clear Cache manually The buttons will be disabled after clicking on 'Deselect All' in the Browse users page in AdminCP The link in the email of reported items can be clickable. The confirmation popup will be appeared when deleting a friends list  The notification/email of the private post (only me) will not be sent to the tagged user  Users won't be allowed to search for a friend to tag on the feed if the setting "Who can tag me in written contexts?" of that friend is "No one" Using regex validation setting for importing users in AdminCP    Upgrade phpFox 4.8.7     The package of phpFox 4.8.7 is available for you to download in our Client Area. To upgrade your phpFox site to version 4.8.7, you have to run the full upgrade routine as our Upgrade Instructions.    We highly recommend you backup your site and database before proceeding with the upgrade. And, don’t forget to check with 3rd-party experts about the compatibility of all the apps/templates you are using.   If your phpFox site is using 3rd-party apps or has customizations, please see our recommendations.   For the new phpFox installation, the following articles will be helpful to you: Download Installation Guide   There are more details for your information in the phpFox Release Notes and the Changelog. Don’t hesitate to submit tickets or report immediately to our GitHub Tracker or Client Area for any issue. We always appreciate any feedback to make phpFox better, hence please feel free to share with us your ideas.

It’s been  some time since the first arrival of Covid-19, because of it everything has been turned upside down. Organizations are being forced to reimagine how work is done as sofas and dining tables are transformed into workspaces. Here are some suggestions for businesses to survive during this harsh time.    RELATED: Key factors of a successful online community   In This Article: Overcoming Location Disadvantages  Transitioning from Offline to Online Adding Real Business Value Maintain the Productivity    Online Community - Life Changing Solution for Business    Overcoming Location Disadvantages    Even when the pandemic hadn't started, remote work was one of the hottest topics for business to debate. As it has various perks, but it also includes many drawbacks and complications.   Collaboration, mutual help, and generosity are crucial for maintaining a social link and boosting team morale, which is made more challenging when employees work remotely. The home office also creates concerns of isolation, work-life balance, decision-making inefficiency, and restrictions in co-creation and innovation.   Prior to Covid-19, the physical workplace was regarded as important to productivity, cooperation, culture, and recruiting talent. Smart businesses, on the other hand, have recognized that by using the proper tools to build a strong community, they can better adapt to this new style of working. Leading to the boom in popularity in online communities, as people are forced to stay home more.   Transitioning from Offline to Online   Large-scale meetings are a thing of the past, pre-COVID-19. Taking your business online necessitates continual adjustments. Online, technology, trends, and procedures are always evolving. To remain ahead and maximize income prospects, you would need to constantly adapt to changes. Keep current with the payments sector by searching for resources including online forums like Quora, consumer feedback.    Online communities serve various internal roles for your business, ranging from content production to marketing intelligence, but for users, they frequently play a significant role in their entire experience and happiness. On paper, you and your rivals may appear comparable, but an online community may be a significant distinction.   Adding Real Business Value   Not only the online communities help businesses navigate through this pandemic, but also bring actual business value. When done properly, a community may be more than just a tool or a replacement for a real workplace. By connecting everyone with the organization's aims and values, it has the potential to build strong ties among members and promote participation and advocacy.   Members are far more inclined to communicate genuine ideas and sentiments about the larger organization in an online community where trust has been developed and interactions are encouraged rather than demanded. These insights may be used by leaders to enhance the organization and promote loyalty.   Maintain the Productivity    No matter where you work, maintaining effective communication and productivity is essentially due to this increasingly competitive environment. These are the things that should be considered if you want to keep up the current productivity.    Communication: The communication methods you will use to remain in touch and share papers should be agreed upon by everyone in the group. Assist your team and clients with clear and frequent text/video communication and collaboration. Using authorized tools and software, you may remotely meet with colleagues or clients.   Be responsive: Assist your co-workers whenever they need you, and be prompt in your responses to requests. Establish response-time rules and expectations.   Schedule: You and your team should decide on what hours you will be expected to work and how you will share your availability with others. Avoid overworking by following a work plan and routine with specified working hours. Be compassionate and understanding of your coworkers who may have children or other obligations at home.   Community: Keep your team connected by taking virtual coffee breaks and scheduling time for virtual socializing so that everyone can catch up. Congratulations for a job well done, and don't forget to let folks know.   Meetings: Discuss what communication and collaboration programs will be used by everyone on your team and ensure that everyone on your team has access to those applications As much as possible, aim to arrive for virtual meetings early. Organize shorter meetings of 25 to 55 minutes.   Progress tracking: Tracking how things are going is extremely important, so think of a suitable way to keep track of the progress.    Are you planning to build your own online community? Don't know where to start? Let phpFox help you. PhpFox can help you build an online social community with users from different regions, which can help you start localizing your business and build your image on a global scale   Don't hesitate to RING US up or leave a message at hello@phpfox.com.   UP NEXT:  Tips to Build a Great Online Community 5 Things Make People Spend Money On Your Online Community How to promote your products on social media

Labor Day is here, parades, and festivals are all part of September's festivities. On this day, we celebrate the birth of the labor movement and the social and economic accomplishments of American workers. Every year, it serves as a national homage to the contributions that employees have made to our country's strength, prosperity, and well-being.     To celebrate this memorial day!  We're happy to offer a 15% Discount on ALL Purchases, Licenses, Solutions, Upgrades Duration: September 3rd to 7th 2021 Please click below to get the Promo Code [sociallocker]LABORDAY2021[/sociallocker]   In addition, YouNetCo also offer special discount 15% for all their plugins Click here to get Promo Code [sociallocker]YNCLabor2021[/sociallocker] BUY NOW This is a Limited-time offer! What are you waiting for? Get your shopping cart don’t miss out this chance! We wish you all the best from phpFox. For more information Contact us via email hello@phpfox.com

How’s it going? We are so excited to announce that the phpFox Mobile App 1.7.5 has been officially released. In addition to bug fixes, many cool features have been added to the mobile app that I believe that you shall be interested in. Let’s take a look at them now. Mobile App 1.7.5 Bug fixes Hide activity points in users' About Info section Fixed errors when a reshared post automatically disappeared if there were a change in the privacy of the original post. Fixed cropped image in Event cover photo Sponsor in feed post stays on the top of the feed. Users are now automatically being tags in a reply comment Enable selection of photo album on ios Improvements Optimize iPhone storage Improved DateTime picker on iOS 14 Support custom tab bar with animation Have an option for menus configuration for a specific user group on the mobile app Do not show Quizzes results on iOS and Android apps Support privacy setting in feed with “Community" permission Support  “Invitee only” option for  Event’s privacy Support  non-friends chat function for Instant Message Improved map feature New features Integrate deep link Autoplay video in Feed. This feature is only functional for videos uploaded directly from local storage and is not yet supported for external video links. Upgrade Mobile App 1.7.5 You can open a Mobile Build ticket in our Client Area to request us to upgrade your mobile apps.   There are more details for your information in the phpFox Release Notes. Don’t hesitate to submit tickets or report immediately to our Client Area for any issue. We’re constantly working to improve your phpFox experience. We always appreciate any feedback to make phpFox better, hence please feel free to share with us your ideas.

Many students are experiencing isolation and a lack of connection, particularly with their classmates, as we are in the midst of a period of social distancing and many schools will be closed for the remainder of the year. People and collaboration, on the other hand, are frequently the most enjoyable aspects of the classroom. Collaboration and connection are critical to our academic and social success. They can happen more naturally when we are confronted with the environment, which is why we must be more intentional in allowing this to happen when we are far away. Here are 5 ideas to build an engaged online learning community to connect students and teachers. Make use of activity feed When students access an online learning community, the first thing they see is the activity feed. As a result, it should be the location where important information such as general announcements, event updates, upcoming courses, offers, and more are posted. Learners can easily keep up with everything around them. They also receive timely notifications, ensuring that they do not miss anything important. Utilize Instant messaging feature A friendly approach to communication always yields the best results. That is why, if you want to create an engaged online learning community, you should make use of instant messaging to increase communication efficiency. Private messaging enables professors to communicate with students at their leisure in order to share their knowledge and answer questions. The instant messaging function should be used because it allows you to respond quickly when needed. If you are or will be creating an online learning community using the phpFox platform, this is the time to keep an eye on ChatPlus. Categorize groups A community is a place where students with similar interests can come together. For example, if your community is centered on digital marketing, you might have a separate group for Content Marketing, Social Media Marketing, etc. You should make a separate group for each course. Make certain that these groups are formed based on the interests of the students. Having different groups is also beneficial for sharing resources and promoting learning among participants. Activate forums You can activate forums that allow for discussion in your online learning community. One simple strategy is to share a text, a quote, or a question for discussion with the entire class and provide a brief overview and guidance before assigning them to discussion groups. Even if information follows its own pace, that doesn't mean your learners should limit sharing their knowledge or perspectives. Forums are arguably the most popular way to establish communication for an engaged online community. Ability to give feedback Building an engaged online learning community where students can give each other feedback is a practical way to connect learners and make it easier for teachers to manage their work. This is just as important for their academic success as it is for their emotional bond. While students can do this on their own, facilitating the teacher will provide more networking opportunities. It is important to build an engaged online learning community A well-invested and built online learning community will bring a lot of great benefits to both students and teachers. Hope these 5 ideas to build an engaged online learning community will help you in implementing your plan. If you are planning to build an online learning community, phpFox can help. We are the leading online community platform that can help you kick start your plan quickly and easily. Along with free consultancy, we offer an optimal package while setting up and other services for your ideal online community. Do not hesitate to contact us for further discussion or drop us a message at hello@phpfox.com