Forum · Websites
The community that knows who is asking.
This is the room.
One thread, opened: the question, the answers with the accepted one on top, the votes and the comments. In the side panel, the member as your business already knows her: her company, her project, her open ticket, her last invoice, and how long she has been a member.
The threads, the unanswered queue, the members.
Threads
Every question by space, sorted by activity, the accepted ones marked, the promoted ones linked to their article.
The threads, the unanswered queue, the members.
Every question by space, sorted by activity, the accepted ones marked, the promoted ones linked to their article.
The things a community needs, none of them bolted on.
What a member is, which spaces they see and what a question is about are yours to set.
Spaces, and who sees them
A space per subject, public or for members only, with who can read, who can post and who can accept set per space.
Similar questions, before posting
While a member types the question, the threads that already answer it are offered, with the accepted answer first.
Accepted answers and votes
The member who asked, or a moderator, accepts one answer. It moves to the top, the thread is marked, and the votes stay visible under it.
Search across threads and articles
One search box on the site reads the threads and the knowledge articles together, and says which is which.
Mentions, flags and the thread's activity
Mention a colleague and they are on the thread. A member flags a post and the moderator sees it, with who flagged it and why.
Notifications and the digest
A member is told when their question is answered, a space's followers when it moves, and everyone else on Friday, once.
The same community, for a fabricator's installers and for a club's members.
What adapts: who a member is (an installer with a price list, a member with a subscription), what a question is about (a product, a facility), which spaces exist and who sees them, who moderates, what an accepted answer becomes, and where an unanswered question goes. Two businesses can run Forum and disagree on every one of those.
A metal fabricator's community of installers
A member is an installer, an account on the CRM with a partner price list. A question is about a product and a drawing revision. Spaces are Fitting, Drawings and Ordering, for installers only. The technical office moderates. An accepted answer becomes a fitting note on the product. A question with no answer after two days is a ticket for the technical office.
A members club's community
A member is a person with a membership and dues, seen only if the dues are paid. A question is about a facility or an evening. Spaces are the sections, Tennis, Sailing, Dinners, for members only. The club secretary moderates. An accepted answer becomes a line in the house rules. A question with no answer after two days is a task for the secretary.
From a question to a ticket.
A community answers most questions. The ones it does not answer are the ones that cost you a customer, because the member waited in public. A rule on the unanswered queue reads: no answer after two days, create a ticket on the member's record, assign it to support, link the thread. Sofie sees it in Helpdesk with the member's contract and history beside it. When the ticket is solved, the answer is posted in the thread under her name, and the member who waited is the first to know. The two days, the team and what counts as an answer are yours to set.
The answer becomes the article.
The third time the same question is asked, somebody in your team has already answered it twice. In Forum the accepted answer is promoted to the knowledge base in one click: it becomes an article, attributed to the person who wrote it, filed next to the product it is about, and published where you choose, in the help centre on your site or for members only. The thread keeps a link to the article; the next member who searches finds the article first; the support person who drafts a ticket reply sees it as a source.
Accepted answer
Knowledge article, next to the product. See Enobase Knowledge and Collaboration.
Accepted answerThe community platform you would otherwise buy holds the member, not the customer.
It knows the thread, the badge and the trust level. It has never heard of the contract, the ticket or the article, and reaches them, when it does, through a login bridge or a connector.
Spaces, threads, accepted answers, votes
- A spreadsheet
- No
- A community platform
- Yes
- A suite module
- Yes
- Enobase
- Yes
The member is the contact on your CRM
- A spreadsheet
- A column
- A community platform
- No, a user with a badge
- A suite module
- Sometimes, via a connector
- Enobase
- Yes, the same record
Their contract and open ticket beside the thread
- A spreadsheet
- No
- A community platform
- No
- A suite module
- Rarely
- Enobase
- Yes, in the side panel
The accepted answer becomes a knowledge article
- A spreadsheet
- Copied
- A community platform
- No, it stays in the thread
- A suite module
- Sometimes, in their knowledge base
- Enobase
- Yes, next to the product
An unanswered question becomes a ticket
- A spreadsheet
- No
- A community platform
- With an integration
- A suite module
- Sometimes
- Enobase
- Yes, by a rule you can read
Moderation, flags and roles per space
- A spreadsheet
- No
- A community platform
- Yes
- A suite module
- Yes
- Enobase
- Yes, per space
Time to live
- A spreadsheet
- A day
- A community platform
- A week
- A suite module
- Months
- Enobase
- One to two weeks
| What you need | A spreadsheet | A community platform | A suite module | Enobase |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spaces, threads, accepted answers, votes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| The member is the contact on your CRM | A column | No, a user with a badge | Sometimes, via a connector | Yes, the same record |
| Their contract and open ticket beside the thread | No | No | Rarely | Yes, in the side panel |
| The accepted answer becomes a knowledge article | Copied | No, it stays in the thread | Sometimes, in their knowledge base | Yes, next to the product |
| An unanswered question becomes a ticket | No | With an integration | Sometimes | Yes, by a rule you can read |
| Moderation, flags and roles per space | No | Yes | Yes | Yes, per space |
| Time to live | A day | A week | Months | One to two weeks |
Questions about Forum
Yes. On its own it is a community on your site: spaces, threads, answers, votes, moderation, notifications, search. The side panel fills in when Contacts is on, the ticket when Helpdesk is on, the article when Knowledge is on.