phpFox Blog: Social network and online community building insights

New version, fresh look! As you may have known, we are opening the Pre-Order for MetaFox (the new version of phpFox), with tons of benefits for Early Birds. From now to October 27, pre-order MetaFox to get the best pricing ever! But first, let's enjoy some first sneak peeks at our most anticipated release of 2022! PRE-ORDER NOW   RELATED: MetaFox Sneak Peek #2: Feeds, Friends and Profile! The Activity Feed is redesigned! Curious about what UI changes we were talking about? The redesigned activity feed will give your social network site a sleek and cleaner look. The new design has a less cluttered look and brighter icons. We know you anticipated this change a lot so we would like to spoil it first! The redesigned feed will look something like this:   Insert Emoji in your posts 🥳 Emojis can help you express your unique self on social. Now you and your community members can add flair to posts with the new emoji section! 😍 We have integrated all the common emojis that everyone loves to use on social media daily. Start using the perfect emoji to share your feelings, stand out in a busy feed, and connect with your audience on a personal level. Dark mode vs Light Mode Welcome to the Dark side! This exciting new option will allow you to change the colors of your site instantaneously to a darker preset theme. Many people prefer using dark mode in applications because they feel it’s easier on their eyes. So we’re excited to finally implement this feature for you in this release! 👀What's Next? Well, that's some spoilers for MetaFox but remember that the final release will be absolutely better since we are still improving! We know you're counting the days to try it so hurry and join Early Bird now! Stay tuned for more exciting sneak peeks from us!  Join MetaFox Pre-Order MetaFox Pre-Order is now available with pricing from only $499 (😍Full-featured web version & ChatPlus for free). Even better, you'll receive Free Installation and 1:1 support from our experts! You can head over to Our Store to pre-order MetaFox. After Oct. 27th, 2022, you won’t be able to purchase the MetaFox license anymore until the official release (Dec. 2022). So please hurry up! PRE-ORDER NOW 🎯 Note that all pre-orders will have early access to MetaFox web before the official release day. After Pre-Order, you can open a Support ticket in the Client Area for us to install your MetaFox site from Oct. 17th, 2022.   🔑 Have any questions? Contact us via Client Area or email us at hello[AT]phpfox.com    

MetaFox (Fox V5) is now available for Pre-Order from Sept. 27th,2022 to Oct. 27th, 2022 (PDT) With the exclusive early bird pricing from $499. PRE-ORDER NOW Why you should join MetaFox Pre-Order today? You’ll become one of the first to experience a brand-new product, called MetaFox with various UX/UI updates to level up your community site! 1 on 1 support from our dedicated specialists to help you set up quickly Have the best deal with exclusive Early-bird pricing Obtain MetaFox ChatPlus solution for Free on the MetaFox Preorder     How to pre-order MetaFox Early Bird? You can contact us or submit tickets in the Client Area to request the MetaFox purchase. Kindly keep in mind that after Oct. 27th, 2022 (PDT), you won’t be able to purchase the MetaFox license at the Early Bird pricing anymore. So please hurry up! PRE-ORDER NOW 🎯 Please note that all pre-orders will have early access to MetaFox web (Alpha version) before the official release day. Upon pre-order purchase, you can open a Support ticket in the Client Area for us to install your MetaFox site from Oct. 17th, 2022 (PDT).   🔑 Have any questions? Contact us via Client Area or email us at hello[AT]phpfox.com

Yes, it's that time again! After many months of development and careful testing, we proudly announce the release of phpFox Mobile version 1.8.2 with new features and improvements. Plus, some improvements for ChatPlus will also make you more than happy!   Mobile Core Improved User Experience First and foremost, phpFox Mobile version 1.8.2 comes in with various improvements for a smoother and faster app experience.   Improve photo compress before uploading – ShareExtension. This feature is the ultimate image optimizer to make users' images smaller before uploading them to their mobile feed   Apply the ‘Display Limit’ setting for the mobile application's feed. This gives you more versatility when choosing how to display your mobile feed   Video player: pause playing video when opening action sheets on a video. Greatly improve the user experience when performing actions on the mobile app   Music: The user should be able to drag and drop the soundbar to the area to remove all music playing in the list. Another cool feature to make users feel more enjoyable and convenient on the mobile app   Other Highlighted New Features / Improvements Music: Music Album: Add a line below tabs “Information” and “Songs” Support Admob Advertising ID for Android 13 The app will be forced to restart after an update code push Support native Admob (for custom work) Add a description to describe the conditions when setting “Use a strong password” is enabled Music – Display album info in the detail song Photo/Video detail page – should have the page/group name if they belong to the page/group   ChatPlus Updates   phpFox Mobile 1.8.2 brings remarkable updates to ChatPlus solution. Your community members can now enjoy chatting, and video calling with their groups, specifically:   Conversation: add the option “Hide conversation” into the actions of the conversation Support “Call again” feature in the group chat Hide the “Audio & Video Call” icon once the group chat has only 1 member   To see the full detailed updates for this version, Click Here: phpFox Mobile 1.8.2 Release Notes.   How to Upgrade to phpFox Mobile 1.8.2?   👉 Open a Mobile Build ticket in our Client Area to request us to upgrade your mobile apps.   Upgrade now and get all these new features and improvements added to your social networks!    ❓ 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. 

Generally speaking, online communities bring together networks of customers, experts and partners to connect, share expertise and create conversation and collaboration, in an owned online space. If you want to learn more about the many types of virtual communities and which ones are right for your business, you’ve come to the right place. One size does not fit all. Working with an innovative community provider allows you to tailor an online community to your brand. Here are the most important community formats you can consider to grow your business.   RELATED: Tips to Build a Great Online Community   In This Article: Different Types of Online Communities Top 7 Types of Online Communities Are you looking to build your online communities? Different types of online communities Most online communities are centered on bringing people together around a common interest, cause, or goal. Members connect, engage, and share their knowledge with each other. The difference is in the central focus of the community. The many types of online communities you can find online are thanks to the wide range of interests, professions, and habits of people all over the world. Each one is tailored to the needs of its members, and that means lots of variety! When it comes to the different types of communities, it’s important to take note that a community can be categorized as more than one type. There are no set rules differentiating the types of online communities and often the lines are blurred between them. For instance, as a course creator, you might set up a learning community that doubles as a brand community. As your online community grows and becomes more established, it will probably also take on the form of a social community. To get a better idea of what those types of online communities are, let’s take a look at the top 7 types of online communities.   Top 7 Types of Online Communities Given the many different types of online communities, we’ve broken them down into a list of the most common and most influential ones. Here are 7 of the main types of online communities you can take a look at: Brand Communities One of the most common types of online communities is brand community. As in its name, brand communities are built around one brand or business. This means there’s a huge amount of variety in brand communities. Brand communities focus on fostering an emotional connection between community members and a specific brand. This type of online community aims to bring together individuals as a tribe, centered on a shared identity that’s built around the brand. In the community space, members can interact with their favorite brands and brand lovers. This type of online community is designed to generate brand loyalty by gathering all the most enthusiastic customers in one space. Key characteristics of this type of online community: Brand communities are meant to be fun. At their heart, they’re about celebrating a brand and everything that customers love about it. Brand communities are usually characterized by lots of user-generated content and the community engagement strategy is usually centered on encouraging this type of content. It’s usual to see community engagement ideas like giveaways, competitions, and surveys in this type of online community. For businesses and organizations, brand communities can be a huge asset for generating leads and fostering loyal relationships. When done right, this type of online community can be a powerful tool for accelerating your business. Learning Communities There are many different types of online communities built around learning and knowledge sharing. Learning communities are designed to bring together learners and students into one collaborative space. Learning communities give learners the chance to ask questions, discuss ideas and concepts and receive feedback from their peers. They’re not just a space for furthering students’ knowledge, they can also be an important source of emotional support during the learning process. A great example of a learning community is HelloTalk. This application lets you chat with language partners via text or voice messages easily. Key characteristics of the learning community: Learning communities share similar goals for increasing knowledge around a certain topic. They are largely focused on asking and answering questions, setting them apart from other types of online communities. Learning communities allow learners to collaborate on learning material, including sharing resources and discussing problems and challenges. Of the many types of online communities, this is the one that’s probably most relevant to course creators. Learning communities are a great starting point from which to grow a brand community and membership community too. Interest Communities Such kind of online communities is focused on a specific interest, hobby, or passion. They can be immensely fun and thus you should ensure that the content is engaging for members to interact. One of the best examples of this type of community is Strava. Strava is a fitness app tailored for runners and cyclists. It allows you to record your activities on your feed and connect with others. Interest communities are also suitable for hosting offline events or private meet-ups. As community admins, you can encourage members in nearby locations to get together or host offline events with lots of exciting activities. Networking Communities As the name suggests, networking communities are all about networking! Unlike other types of online communities, networking communities are solely focused on helping members find new opportunities for increasing their network. This type of online community is built around a certain industry or profession. At the same time, there are also networking communities that aren’t professional at all. For instance, communities of support and communities of circumstance can also be classed as networking communities. Key characteristics of this type of online community: Networking communities are often discussion-based with users posting questions for advice or support and topics for debate. Networking communities offer members the chance to find solutions to common problems and issues that they’re facing in the chosen topic. Compared to other types of online communities, networking communities are often more formal than spaces like fan communities or brand communities. While networking communities are classified as stand-alone types of online communities, other types of online communities can include networking activities too. Other communities often double up as networking communities and you’ll probably find that your online community incorporates traits of a networking community. Social Communities Among the various types of online communities, social communities are arguably the most common and easiest to recognize. Social communities are exactly that – communities based on building social connections. In social communities, people gather to chat, share stories and interact. Brands can leverage social communities for marketing objectives, especially in increasing brand awareness. Unlike other types of online communities, they’re not spaces for endless advertising and promotions. Social communities are about sharing insights and making connections rather than commercial acts. Key characteristics of this type of online community: Social communities vary hugely in size, ranging from just a small, private group of friends to massive communities. You can think of social communities like a virtual house party – it’s a group of people coming together to spend time together and start discussions. You can find social communities on every social media platform, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram Often other communities incorporate elements of social communities and vice versa. In fact, borrowing ideas from social communities are a great way to make your community more fun and engaging. Fan Communities The growth of online communities has made it possible for a very specific type of community to take off – fan community. Fan communities are based on a shared interest like a movie, sports, or artist. Fan communities focus on making social connections but they’re really centered around one interest. While some types of online communities are closed and private, fan communities are usually open to all. All you need is to love that thing a lot! If you’re a fan, you can join a fan community. Social media site Reddit hosts many fan communities such as the community for Game of Thrones, with 3.1 million members. Some creators have begun utilizing fan communities as a way to generate income and grow their personal brand. Key characteristics of this type of online community: Fan communities are started by fans or creators to build a community around a shared passion. Interactions in this type of online community are almost everything around that mutual interest or passion. Fan communities often involve specific types of user-generated content like fanfic, art, videos, and more that aren’t typically seen in other types of online communities. Not all brands are suited to the creation of fan communities, but if you’re a creator or artist, fan communities can be a great tool for building brand loyalty and brand awareness. Support Communities With this type of community, the goal is to create a peer-to-peer network to offer technical and strategic support. These groups are helpful in troubleshooting technical issues, in which software developers and other builders need to navigate complex creative challenges. In peer-to-peer communities, users would discuss together on technical or strategic questions before they contact your customer support team. Below is the support community for phpFox's customers. This type of workflow can help your support team more time and energy, connect customers and create frequent discussions within your community.   Are you looking to build your online community? Now you know the top 7 types of online communities, you may refer to this list to pick a type of community that is best fit for you. If you are interested in getting professional and in-depth advice on building online communities effectively, phpFox is right here for you. It is a feature-rich platform for building online communities of any niche with tons of advanced features like ChatPlus, Live Streaming, etc. To start creating your own online community from scratch, get in touch with us now!   UP NEXT Best Brand Community and What Done Right Key factors of a successful online community Live Streaming benefits for business      

Want to boost community engagement? Be more engaging. We are frequently asked how to make the online experience more compelling, and more engaging. Here are 12 proven techniques that will work for community engagement. Not all are applicable to all types of Communities. You will get a sense of what will work and what won’t with your given audience. Pick two or three to start with and experiment. Then add a few more. Please leave us a comment below to tell us which ones you picked.   Importance of Community Engagement Online community engagement helps you strengthen your relationships with your audience. It also allows you to build customer loyalty. By helping your customers when they’re in need, building a relationship with them, and offering a one-of-a-kind customer experience, you’ll be able to increase your customer loyalty. Customers will trust your brand because you’ve answered their questions. They’ll fall in love with your brand because you’ve joked around with them, expressed your gratitude, and resolved their issues. You may also boost your sales through community engagement. By being active and responding to community posts, members will feel confident making a purchase through your store. Even if there are negative comments on your site, if you respond positively and resolve the issue, you’ll still grow your sales. You can also grow your sales by recommending certain products when asked. Avoid making every reply about your products. The sales will come naturally. We can listen to our customers more personally through optimized community engagement posts. In other words, the more engaged your audience, the more loyalty you’ll build for your brand.   12 proven community engagement tactics you can steal   1. Post content worth engaging with If you want to increase community engagement, you need to create content that people can engage with. It could be a poll, a video people can relate to, a meme that makes people laugh, or a product photo that encourages someone to tag their buddies. Choose to post content that will receive a positive reaction from people. Is your post about something beautiful, inspiring, funny, or relatable? Post content that’ll drive emotional feelings from people. 2. Host live events and webinars Live webinars are paramount to attracting more followers and boosting community engagement. The first thing you should consider before starting a live webinar is your target audience. The vital factor is choosing a topic of interest for your followers to make sure you increase community engagement. Keep in mind that your content should cater to all tastes. A live webinar should make users curious and want to interact with your content. Keep the content light, friendly and exciting to draw your followers’ attention. Being the host of a live webinar helps you learn about your community’s concerns, questions, and uncertainties regarding your brand. When you go live, you can host around any subject. Whether it’s a new product release, a tour of your company, or a Q&A, you create an opportunity for your audience to connect with you directly and learn more about your business. Bonus tip to increase social media engagement: Advertise before you go live! 😎If you want to step into Live Streaming and make it your powerful communication tip with community members, check out phpFox Live Streaming solution! 3. Boost engagement with contests and giveaways People love free stuff, and if they have something to gain from engaging with your content, they're going to do it. Offering your audience something in return for commenting or sharing your content or becoming a follower is a great way to reward and acknowledge engagement. People, in general, are more than happy to get involved with a brand if it means they will get something from the business. That could be a freebie, discount code, or perhaps a cheaper membership, the choice is yours. Running a simple contest that gets users engaging with your brand is a great way to attract more customers and raise brand awareness. Top Tip: Try to make your contest as fair as possible when generating a winner. If you have to choose, using a random selection tool is a great way to give all of your users a fair chance of being picked for the prize. 4. Host Question & Answer Sessions Handing out nuggets of gold to customers is as easy as giving them useful information and answering their queries. Joining Q&A answer sessions is a great way to provide users with value and gets you seen as a helpful brand. If you can offer relevant answers to customer queries and spark discussion with your prospective customers, all before your competitors, you will become the go-to seller. With consumers becoming more impatient and wanting answers to their queries almost immediately, having a dedicated customer response team is perfect for catering to those needs. Asking a relevant but fun question is a great way to get your customers to leave a comment on your post. For example, you can create a post that compares two different dresses and ask ‘Which would you rather wear on date night?’ This allows you to incorporate your product into the question while still being playful with your audience. 5. Create Polls & Surveys Another good practice for creating engaging posts is through polls and surveys. Social polls and surveys are super simple for obtaining that needed community feedback quickly. Best Practice: Post your poll or survey at the optimal times that your target audience tends to be active. The data obtained from polls and surveys are great for future marketing material. Airbnb created a poll to learn what it is customers see as a need for their short breaks and escapes. The results show that users prefer mountain views the most with outdoor hot tubs coming in a close second. From this information, Airbnb can tailor their future holiday deals around properties that include these features to try and improve conversions and sales. Although this particular poll is pretty generic, it seems targeted to get customers interacting with the brand by voting, rather than trying to obtain useful data for future marketing campaigns. If you can use your poll to do both at the same time, even better! 6. Start a debate As a matter of fact, debates drive some of the most quality conversations you’ll see in a community. They can also create some conflict, which is sometimes necessary for communities. When there’s conflict, and people disagree but work through it and find common ground, their relationships grow stronger. They will feel safer in the community knowing that they can express their opinion without being attacked. But make sure you have clear rules and guidelines in your community, and that you moderate consistently to prevent and remove attacks and abuse. 7. Reply to your audience Replying to your audience is one of the easiest ways to improve community engagement, but companies often overlook it. Many businesses will post content and leave it at that. This action is a mistake — you want to comment back to your followers and engage them in conversation. It takes two to have a conversation, so you must spend the time conversing with your audience. If people comment on your content, comment back. Engage in conversation and start a dialogue with your brand. If you post content on your profile, monitor the comments, and take time to comment back. Even if someone leaves a comment like “This is awesome,” you can reply and say, “Thanks, we love it too!” Having conversations with your audience is one of the most effective social media engagement strategies because it encourages them to keep engaging with your business. You motivate them to comment on future posts and connect with your company in the future. Bonus tip to increase social media engagement: Use the person’s name when you respond to their comments. It helps them feel more connected to your business because you’re addressing them personally. Chewy is a great example of addressing the person’s comments while using their name. 8. Encourage readers to Comment, Like, and Share  There's a proven tip that when you create a post, always add a call to action at the end of it. You can informally ask your community members to like, comment, and share with their friends. People are much more likely to share a post if you ask them to. 9. Use Emojis in posts According to OPUSFidelis, using emoticons can increase your community engagement. Each emoticon can increase engagement by a remarkable amount. A smiley face can boost interaction by 25% whereas a grimacing emoticon can increase engagement by 138%. Those who use emoticons in posts tend to see an increase in likes, comments, and shares. 10. Stay on top of the trends Have you noticed how everybody’s using Instagram’s Reel or Facebook Reel as soon as the feature rolled out? Staying on top of the trends is a key factor that will determine a brand’s success in audience engagement. Of course, this doesn’t mean every movement, challenge or feature is right or relevant for every brand or industry. However, your audience is likely to resonate better with content that’s aligned with the current trends. Staying on top of the trends will not only offer your content a fresher vibe, which will lead to your desired community engagement increase, but it will also help you gain more inspiration for future post creation. Isn't it interesting? 11. Ask for feedback on how to make the community better Asking for feedback is a way to get new ideas, but it’s also a great engagement tactic. Members love to be involved in brainstorms and discussions. This will make them feel heard, and important and make them more invested in the success of the community since now they’ve been part of the development process. Try to be clear when asking for feedback. Don’t just ask how to make your community better. You might say, “What can we do to increase the level of activity in this community?” or “What kind of event would you love to attend for the community?” 12. Host in-person events and empower your members to organize If you’re hosting an online community and haven’t created opportunities for your members to get together in real life, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity. Connecting with people in person will allow them to forge stronger relationships, which will bring more energy and engagement back into your online community. This one might seem obvious, but too many people forget about it. Don’t have the time and resources to host an event? Ask your members to organize a small get-together in their local city. Doesn’t have to be fancy. It can just be coffee, brunch, or a happy hour.   Let's wrap up! And there you have it – the big list of our favorite online community engagement tactics. Try each of these activities and see which ones generate the most activity in your community. Once you find your favorites (and your community members’ favorites!), repeat them. This helps you create a habit of engagement in your members. The best way to achieve all of your community engagement objectives and build the perfect engagement strategy is to have a deep understanding of your audience. Collect different information about them, do some research, ask questions, and be sure to listen! For more ideas around online community engagement, visit our blog, where you’ll find practical tips and strategic guidance.   Ready to try Live Streaming? Get started now or contact us to request a demo and ask for advice. GET STARTED NOW    

The primary goals of building an online community include increasing engagement, providing better support at reduced costs, building customer loyalty, converting customers into advocates, etc. However, there are people and organizations who have started to make a fortune out of their online communities with proper monetization strategies. Ever wondered if you can do so too? Can you earn a good income from your online community? The answer is a definite “yes.” But it takes a lot of hard work to know what your community is truly capable of.   In This Article: Why You Should Monetize Your Community Site? How to Monetize Your Website: 7 Actionable Strategies Build Your Online Community with phpFox Why should you monetize your community site? You built your online community from day 1 with tons of effort with the primary goal to produce quality content for your audience. The more you engage your community, the more likely they will stick with you and even be willing to pay to receive good content. Don't overthink that your community members will leave you when you start monetizing. In fact, they would be more than happy to support your business if they think it's totally worth it. So here's the right way: To make money from your online community, first, build your audience. Attract them with great quality content that answers their queries. Remember to be consistent when creating your content and growing your social media base. If you do this month after month, there's a great chance you're ready to start monetizing your community.   How to monetize your website: 7 actionable strategies This guide won’t teach you how to make loads of money in a few clicks, but it can show you how to get tangible ROI from all the hard work you pour into your community. The following 7 strategies will set you on the right track. Start a paid membership website This is one of the best ways to monetize an online community. Membership sites allow you to leverage the interest your audience already has in your content. You can start by creating free content for your website that attracts your audience and gets them hooked. Once you see demand for your content growing, you add a paywall into the mix. This means that people will need to sign up for paid memberships to access certain pieces of exclusive content. The key is finding the right value to offer to your paid subscribers and one of the best ways to determine your content strategy is by surveying your community members.   Premium Subscriptions Initially, you can offer a free basic membership to your customers to build your community. As it grows, and members continue to interact and seek out more information, you can offer them fee-based premium content, such as case studies, whitepapers, or exclusive access to podcasts, webinars, etc. This content will be only accessible to paying subscribers. It will keep your members engaged in the community, and earn you more revenue.   Advertising Advertising is another excellent solution for generating revenue from a community. Nowadays, companies of all sizes want to strengthen their connection with their audience by advertising on various platforms. If you already have significant traffic and a strong following, then you can appeal to brands in search of promotions. There are several ways to advertise on your site and make money from it. You can charge fees for displaying banner ads at different positions and pages on site. The pricing for ad display will depend on the traffic of your site. Another option could be to have sponsored content featured on your site. For instance, if you run a community that’s all about SEO, and a marketing agency wants to advertise on it, they could write a blog post for your community with the top tips on what to look for in an SEO agency. This sponsored post would link back to the other company’s website, and make the brand look good to your customers.   Host live talks or virtual events Hosting regular virtual events is another great way to monetize a community. Why? Because it gives you a chance to talk directly to your members. Imagine that, face-to-face communication, who doesn't love that! This includes events such as workshops, meetups, and private talks and charging a fee for that. In today’s post-pandemic world, it can also be online events in a webinar format, e.g. via Zoom, or Google Meet. Such events bring your community members together, no matter which part of the world they are in, and your brand gets extra revenue. To begin with, you can organize small meetups, but with the growth of the community, the events can become more ambitious and large-scale. Organizing events can be time-consuming, but at the same time, it unlocks new opportunities to monetize your community. Some easy ways you can do this are inviting guest speakers, providing live-coaching events, or holding events where members can network for professional development. Besides entrance fees, you can sell merchandise, ad space, sponsorships, and VIP tickets.   Launch online courses Running online courses is another great way to monetize your users. The global eLearning market is expected to quadruple in size from around $250 billion in 2020 to $1 trillion in 2027. Online learning has quickly become the go-to mode of learning across the world. If your members already love the tips and tricks that you share in your community, they’ll appreciate the chance to learn more. The key to success with online courses is picking the right idea. Start by looking at your website analytics and finding out which topics your customers visit most often. You can also think about the kind of issues that people in your industry face and examine what your competitors are doing to help customers just like yours. The more you know about your audience, the better. Remember, when creating an online course, it’s important to go beyond high-level overviews of topics. Get deep into a specific issue or concern that your customer has and deliver the value they can’t get anywhere else. Extra resources like videos, quizzes, and tools that your audience can use to increase their understanding can be very helpful.   Sell branded merchandise Selling merchandise that showcases your branding can drive extra income for your business in two key ways: First, you gain a profit from the sale of each branded item you offer. Second, those branded items provide advertising for your community when members use or wear your merchandise out in the world where other potential members will see them. With an emotional connection created, your audience will be likely to show their support of your brand by buying products with your logo or colors on them. If you’ve ever proudly worn a customized t-shirt or hat with the name of your favorite brand, you’ll know how valuable branded merchandise can be. For instance, Netflix opens a merch shop selling goods related to movies. Thanks to print-on-demand, you can allow your customers to choose from a range of branded products, from mugs and hoodies to pieces of home artwork.   Accept donations Lastly, if you don’t want to sell to your community, and you can’t think of any branded products or specific items that you’d like to advertise, consider donations. There’s no shame in asking your readers to support you. Pro gamers, writers, artists, and other creative types will often have a cohort of raving fans ready to donate some cash. Donations are all about helping a company to grow. If you stand for values that you believe that your customers appreciate, then they may be willing to donate to help your business grow. To receive donations, you need to have a deep emotional connection with your audience that generates some intangible value. For instance, you might be able to get donations if you convince your audience that your content can help them to improve their knowledge. You could also convince people to donate so that you can continue creating the videos that they find entertaining. It’s extremely easy to implement donation opportunities into your community, as all you need to do is create a donation form using a form builder. Remember to thank your audience for what they give you. A bonus sticker on their member account that shows they’ve donated could be a great way to show your appreciation.   The best place to build an online community for your brand is phpFox We hope that the article has been helpful and now you have all the necessary information to turn your online community into an additional revenue channel. phpFox is a leader in the world of online community building and has all the tools for you to create, grow, and monetize your community, instantly available on the web, iOS, and Android. Ready to start building your successful community? Start a free trial now!     👉Get started now or contact us to request a demo and ask for advice.  

The fall season marks the beginning of the holiday season! It's time to get a treat from phpFox on Autumn Promotion 2022. Ready to unveil it?   AUTUMN SALE PROMOTION 2022 🎁Time to welcome this Fall with phpFox special deals: 15% OFF on all license purchases, upgrades, or add-on solutions (ChatPlus, Live Streaming) from August 4th to August 7th, 2022. Code: FOXAUTUMN22  Hurry up and save big today!   🤝In addition, 3rd-party experts are also offering Discounts for all their plugins. Shop all offers! YouNetCo 15% OFF for all Plugin Purchases |  Code: YNCAUTUMN22 | August 4th to August 7th   🔑Have any questions? Contact us via Client Area or email us at hello@phpfox.com

Scrolling through the activity feed for updates is a habit of every user on social media. Here, we outline the definition, benefits, use cases, and best practices of the activity feed, and ways you can easily integrate this vital feature into your own mobile platform.   In This Article: What is an Activity Feed? Benefits of Creating an Activity Feed Real Examples of Activity Feed Implementing Activity Feed In Your App What is an Activity Feed? Sometimes called a newsfeed or activity stream, an activity feed is a real-time list of actions performed by users on an app or website. Activity feeds display information from a user’s online community such as likes, follows, comments, posts, and content shares. Feeds are an effective way for apps and websites to keep users engaged in their platform and motivated to interact and connect with others. Activity feeds positively impact an app or website’s key performance indicators such as retention rates, session length, engagement, and overall user satisfaction, making them a vital software component for community-centered platforms such as social apps like Facebook and Instagram, and professional tools like Microsoft Teams and Hubspot. Not only social apps, activity feeds can also be integrated and used in different niche social networks, e.g. sports, travel, gaming, education, etc. Before looking into the real examples, let’s go through the key benefits activity feeds can bring to your app.   Benefits of creating an activity feed An activity feed helpfully organizes what your users see first when they login to your app. Here is why your app needs one: It is great for collecting user feedback The activity feed is that forum where you and your users can interact frequently. The upshot is that you gain access to end users’ feedback directly, including what’s working about the app, and any problems they’re facing. You are able to better understand how they are using the app, where they are facing a problem, what they expect more from it, and how you can improve it further for them. Nothing better than real user insights to better your product! It makes customer support easier While collecting feedback from the activity feed, you’re probably going to stumble across a few complaints. You can then use your feeds to clear the issue up by offering immediate and direct support to the end user. This means they don’t even need to leave the app and head to another channel. Instead, you can keep them inside the app, which will increase customer satisfaction and engagement at the same time. It makes measuring user reactions easy Continuing on the point above, when you make broadcast announcements, you’re bound to get reactions – positive and negative. On activity feeds, you can immediately see how the users are reacting to an announcement. You can measure the success of it in terms of likes and comments – this also gives you a chance to make the users better understand something new on the app, by getting their announcement reaction before going live with that feature. It makes the interaction between users easy Notice how easy it is to like a friend’s picture on Facebook and drop a comment on an article you liked? The ease of the platform when it comes to interacting with others is what draws you back to it. It lets users track what others are doing, like, or comment on their activity and interact socially. This also keeps them engaged in the app for much longer. It helps build stronger communities At the end of the day, all the above-mentioned benefits contribute to the development of a loyal and vibrant in-app community. Strong communities help retain existing users and reduce user acquisition costs for businesses by 90%.   Real examples of activity feed Looking for some inspiration for your app? Wondering how to implement an activity feed of your own? Let us dispel all your doubts by looking into how feeds are used in different app categories. Health & Fitness: Strava Strava is a social network for cycling, running, and triathlon athletes. The activity feed is basically the home screen of Strava, where users share their activities and workouts, comment on them, and cheer each other up . One of the great things that Strava offers is the ability to share group events or include other users in your activity if they didn't have anything to track it with themselves, or if you just happen to be exercising with someone else. The Strava smartphone app also has a friend finder on the Feed page - it's a social network after all and making connections is part of what you're supposed to do. Travel: TripAdvisor TripAdvisor is a full-fledged social network for travelers. All users, including hotels, and restaurants are now able to create personalized profiles and follow their friends and trusted experts, including bloggers, popular brands, and influencers. Users can look up and save useful content in a convenient format and share it by using a dynamic feed of videos, articles, guides, and reviews. TripAdvisor members can also create “trips” in their profiles, which can become guides, itineraries, or wish lists for future travels. This content may be for personal use, or it may be shared to help other members of the community find the best vacation and accommodation options. The user’s home page is converted into a personalized news feed. When searching for a specific destination, the feed automatically narrows the information displayed to a specific geo-location. In the first place, the feed will display the most suitable options for a particular user with the highest rating from friends and people they follow. Education: Duo Lingo The Activity stream was a section that held a record of the activity on Duolingo, including discussions created, comments posted, sentences translated, lessons completed, and course levels attained. In addition, users could review a record of activity from everyone they've followed. Users could also see a record of what they've done by clicking on their username in the Blue Bar at the top of the screen. Social Network: Instagram Feeds are a core functionality for social media apps like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. One of the most popular is photo-centric Instagram. Instagram’s personalized feed leverages machine learning to populate new and relevant content to users in order to keep audiences scrolling.   Implementing activity feed into your app Activity feeds have the potential to turn your app into the new socializing channel for mobile users. With phpFox, you can build social news feeds and notifications into your mobile app in no time. Let users create engaging content and engage with others through comments and reactions. Users follow other users or topics and become members of various groups to get a personalized timeline of content. Ready to give it a try? Get started now or contact us to request a demo and ask for advice.

Building a sports community goes beyond creating a website and finding members. It’s a combination of user understanding, web design, and key functions. When it’s done right, it gives businesses a distinct identity and lifelong values. Today we'll show you how to build a solid and profitable sports community from scratch as well as tools and strategies to support your sports community.   In This Article: Examples of Sports Forums and Community Sites How phpFox Can Help You Build a Mighty Sports Community Wrap Up: Start Establishing Your Own Sports Community Examples of sports forums and community sites A sports community can be the ideal platform to build real and strong relationships with sports lovers. Undoubtedly, these connections foster continuous engagement, loyalty, and sales opportunities. Below are a few great examples of successful sports communities that you can relate to: 1. Covers Forum This is a very active forum and they cover a huge range of sports (NBA, NHL, soccer, basketball, tennis, horse, rugby, golf…). Besides, it provides various accesses to every sport including game schedule, scoreboard, analysis, member discussion, etc. It also has a contest section that awards members for winning small games and contests with Amazon gift cards. This is a great example of how you could engage your members with exciting activities. 2. FC Bayern Munich Forum Fußball-Club Bayern München, commonly known as FC Bayern Munich, is a professional German sports club based in Munich, Germany. It is best known for its professional soccer team, which plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German soccer league, and is the most successful club in German soccer history. FC Bayern won a fascinating record of 30 national titles and 20 national cups, along with numerous European honors. It is not only a famous football club, it is also a German social media champion, placed at the top of the Social Media Index 2022, curated by the International Football Institute. FC Bayern’s social media team is active on the main social media platforms – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube – but it also runs its own community forum, which was founded in 2006. The forum is publicly accessible and integrated into the FC Bayern Munich website. As of July 2022, the FC Bayern Munich Forum has over 16,617 topics; 686,214 posts; and 9,083 members. Fans talk about the team, rumors of players’ changes, practice, and much more. Through the use of gamification, community members can collect points, e.g. for starting a discussion, commenting, or liking others’ contributions. Based on these points, a ranking is built, retaining a competitive element. Through the FCB Forum, supporters from around the world have the opportunity to become not just loyal fans but also family members. 3. Cappers Mall forum This forum is also a great choice for sports lovers because you will find the best topics to discuss soccer, horse race, football, baseball, basketball, etc. One of the best advantages of this forum is its simple-to-use community site. The navigation makes it super easy for users to find a topic they are interested in.   How phpFox can help you build a mighty sports community  phpFox is a feature-rich community platform developed to help you build an all-around and robust online community, no matter what your niche is. Especially, it is popular for providing mobile apps on iOS/Android, add-on solutions, and customization packages to help community owners build their niche site exactly the way it should be built. Essential features for a sports community  phpFox is a feature-rich community platform that covers all features to build a sports community from Sign up/ Sign in, Profile update/ Profile management to Activity Feed, Private Groups, Chat rooms, Media gallery, Gamification, etc. You can also increase user engagement by giving members reward points for daily login or comments/sharing on community posts. Unlimited customization options By ‘unlimited’, phpFox offers a full suite of customization solutions for whatever you want your site to work or look like. To be more specific, you may ask to integrate a video gallery with your Youtube channel or other video platforms or request to redesign your website's look and feel to make your sports community look more branded and match your brand theme. 👉See more customization services phpFox can offer to help level up your community site! Advanced solutions to step up your game Apart from essential features, phpFox also provides game-changing solutions to help your sports community stand out from other community sites. ChatPlus: What makes ChatPlus a must-have instant message tool is its helpful functionalities for online communities. With advanced instant messaging, group chats, and audio/video calls, ChatPlus works just like Facebook Messenger to let you share photos, videos, GIFs, and emojis and communicate faster with members or hold online private meetings on site. Live streaming: Live events or talks may help sports fans feel extremely united and connected to fellow members if done correctly. Take advantage of the phpFox Live streaming feature to host intimate live talks, Q&A sessions, and giveaway events to boost user engagement and strengthen relationships with your community members. User-friendly mobile apps Mobile devices are becoming irreplaceable things in our daily life. Mobile apps increase user intention for your business thanks to their popularity and especially push notifications. App owners may utilize this channel to enhance their brands. Fortunately, phpFox is available on Android and iOS platforms with responsive and friendly UI/UX for users. Monetization strategies After a period of operating and gathering members, you can think of different ways to earn an income with your sports community. There are tons of methods to make money from an online sports community: - Membership: provide exclusive content for paid membership - Charge for sponsored content or run ads - Organize events with partner collaboration - Open a store to sell branded merchandise With phpFox's various customization solutions, you can turn any of your monetization ideas into reality within a short period of time.   Wrap up: Start establishing your own sports community! Above all, starting a sports community is not as difficult as you think thanks to its massive fanbase. You can start by building an intimate community space where fans can easily come to find people with the same favorite sports team or players and make it easy for them to talk and share. A solid online community should be built based on true connections and sharing. Lastly, if you are nurturing an idea of creating a community for any sport, just get down to the business with the help of phpFox!   DISCUSS WITH US to learn how you can create a branded sports community and turn your successful community into a profitable business!    

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