Viewing Forums

Viewing Forums

SA15_ForumListForumLink.jpgTo view a Community Central forum, click on its name on the Forums Home page or on the forum site page in the site where the forum was created.

When you click the forum name, the forum is displayed using Bamboo Discussion Board Plus. The default Forum view lists all topics in that forum. Click a topic name to read it. Topic posts can be displayed in one of three different views: Flat, Append, or Thread. For a description of these three views, see Using Views.

Using Lock or Unlock Topic

Using Lock or Unlock Topic

The Lock Topic feature allows you to lock a discussion thread to prevent any further replies or updates. After a thread is locked, all editing actions are disabled for everyone except site collection administrators:

  • Existing posts cannot be edited.
  • New replies cannot be posted.
  • Answers cannot be suggested, verified, or removed.
  • Locked threads can still be marked or unmarked as Sticky. Locked topics have the Lock icon (Icon-Locked) next to them in the Forum view.

LockedTopic.png The Lock Topic feature must be enabled in the Forum Settings before it is an available discussion board option. When Lock Topic is enabled, you must have at least the Manage Lists permission in SharePoint to use the feature.

See permissions required to use Lock Topic.

NOTE: Anonymous users will not be able to view locked topics.

To lock a topic:

Step Action Result
1. In the Forum view of the discussion board, select the topic you want to Lock.

LockedTopic.png

NOTE: If you do not have the required permissions to Lock a topic or if the Lock Topic feature is not enabled in the Forum Settings, you will not see the option in the ribbon or item menu.

2. In the Items ribbon or from the item drop-down menu, select Lock Topic.

To unlock a topic:

Step Action Result
1. In the Forum view of the discussion board, select the topic you want to Unlock.

sa75unlock.png

NOTE: If you do not have the required permissions to Unlock a topic or if the Unlock Topic feature is not enabled in the Forum Settings, you will not see the option in the ribbon or item menu.

2. In the Items ribbon or from the item drop-down menu, select Unlock Topic.
3. The item will be unlocked. Replies, edits, and answer features are all allowed again.

Community Central Timer Jobs

Community Central Timer Jobs

Community Central has two timer jobs, each of which are set by default to run every five minutes. The schedule on which each of these timer jobs run can be modified, as shown below, but cannot be set to run less often than every five minutes. These two jobs are the:

  • Bamboo Community Central: Master Timer Job
  • Bamboo Community Central: Update Site Information – /Sites/SiteName (where the system populates the site name)

Two Community Central Timer Jobs

  1. Master Timer Job is the master timer job of the Community Central Web application. This master timer job creates the Bamboo Community Central: Update Site Information – /Sites/SiteName timer job referenced below. As an example, if you have two Web applications, then you will have two master timer jobs. If, in one Web application, you create two instances of Community Central—one at http://server:80/SiteA/CommunityCentral and one at http://server:80/sites/SiteB/CC —the master timer job will create two update site information timer jobs for Web application 80 per the two server instances.

  2. Update Site Information – /Sites/Site Name timer job queries the User Activity list to determine what activities have occurred in the last five minutes based on the Last Run Date Time. This job then calculates user information based on scoring rules, and updates the Site Members list with information such as the SharePoint user, total points, number of verified answers, number of suggested answers, number of threads, number of replies, and last activity date. This information is used to determine statistics for categories such as Most Active Users and Top Experts, and also is updated into the Forum Summary and Blog Summary lists.

See also:

Troubleshooting Community Central Timer Jobs

Troubleshooting Community Central Timer Jobs

You can troubleshoot these issues related to Community Central timer jobs:

  • Statistics Web Parts such as Top Rated, Most Viewed, and Top Experts do not display current data.
  • The Site Members list does not indicate new activity even after five minutes.
  • The timer jobs do not display on the Job Definitions page or have failed to run.

Follow these steps to troubleshoot the above issues:

Step Action Description
1. Verify that the timer jobs are running for each Web application that you have created.

Go to Central Administration > Monitoring > Timer Jobs and click Check job status.

Locate both timer jobs under History.
SA15_CheckJobStatus.jpgYou will see both timer jobs: SA15_TrblshootTimerJobs3.jpg

2. AFTER the Bamboo Community Central: Master Timer Job and Bamboo Community Central: Update Site Information timer job have both completed with a Status of Succeeded, manually run both of them.

Perform these steps for both timer jobs:

  • In Central Administration, click Monitoring.
  • In the Timer Jobs section, click Review job definitions.
  • Locate and click the name of the timer job.
  • On the Edit Timer Job page, click Run Now at the bottom of the page.
    SA15_TrblshootTimerJobs4.jpg
3. If a timer job is not running, it is not listed on the Timer Job Status page under Running.

If the timer job failed or did not initialize, it displays on the Timer Job Status page, but the Status is Failed and the initialization is 0%.

To fix this, you must deactivate and then reactivate the timer job. Alternatively, you can start and stop the SharePoint 2010 Timer service.

To deactivate and reactivate a timer job:

  • Navigate to Central Administration > Application Management and click Manage web applications.
  • Click to select the desired Web application, and then click Manage Features on the Web Applications ribbon.
    SA15_TrblshootTimerJobs5.jpg

  • Click Deactivate next to the timer job and click Activate, then click OK.
    SA15_TrblshootTimerJobs6.jpg

See also:

Top Rated Blogs

Top Rated Blogs

SA15_BlogsTopRated.jpgThe Top Rated list in the Blogs Home page lists the posts in the entire community with the highest ratings. Click a post title to read it.

Readers rate posts by clicking on the rating field when reading the post. Ratings are provided by Bamboo’s Rating web part.

NOTE: Individual blog sites also include a Top Rated list. In individual sites, the list is filtered to show only posts in that blog site.

See also:

Top Experts in Forums

Top Experts in Forums

SA15_TopExperts.jpgThe Top Experts list contains users with the most verified answers.

Verified Answers are posts that forum users or Moderators have marked as the answer to a forum topic. Top Experts can be viewed are those users who consistently provide the most valuable content for Community Central forums.

The Top Experts list is filtered for the current forum, so a user may be a “Top Expert” in one forum but not in another.

See also:

Top Navigation

Top Navigation

The top of every Community Central page includes navigation to the main sections of the Community Central Home site. The top navigation is configured using Bamboo SharePoint Navigators, and includes links to the Community Central Home page, the Forums Home page, and the Blogs Home page. Click a navigation link to go to that area of the site.

SA15_DefaultTopNavSpotlight_2013.png
The top navigation is shared with all pages in the Community Central Home site. To customize the top navigation to change link names, add or remove links, and even include links to sites outside Community Central, follow the instructions below.

NOTE: Navigation changes will apply to all pages in the Community Central Home site, but not pages in individual forum and blog sites. Top navigation must be changed separately for each site. For details, see Customizing the Forum Site Top Navigation and Customizing the Blog Site Top Navigation.

Step Action Results
1.

In a Community Central Home site page, go to Settings > Community Central Control Panel.

In the Community Central General Settings section, click Manage top navigation menu.

ManageTopNav.jpg
2.

Make the desired change to the navigation menu:

  • To change the name of an existing menu option, select it and click Edit Item. Change the Menu Title and click Save.
  • To change the destination link of an existing menu option, select it and click Edit Item. Change the URL and click Save.
  • To add a new menu option, click Add new item. Enter a Menu Title, URL, and a Sort Order to define where the new item will be displayed in the menu. Click Save.
SharePoint 2010
SA15_EditNavMenu.jpg

SharePoint 2013SA15_EditNavMenuO15.png

3. The changes you make to the top navigation menu will be applied immediately to the Community Central Home site pages.

The main parts of the home page on Community Central are described below; each section is described in each of the individual topics linked below.

See also:

Subscribing to Forums

Subscribing to Forums

Return to Overview of the Configuration Toolpane

There are two ways subscribe to alerts in Community Central forums: 1) by configuring a SharePoint alert or 2) by subscribing to a RSS feed.

Icon-AlertMe Configure a SharePoint alert

To configure a SharePoint alert for a forum so you receive updates anytime a new topic or post is added to the forum:

Step Action Result
1. Go to an individual forum by clicking its name in the Forums Home page or on the forum site page. SetAlert.png
2. In the Forum view, go to List Tools > List.
3. In the Share & Track section of the ribbon, click Alert Me and select Set alert on this list.
4. Configure alert e-mail options and click OK.

To configure a SharePoint alert for an individual forum topic:

Step Action Result
1. Go to an individual forum by clicking its name in the Forums Home page or on the forum site page.
2. Click on a forum topic to select it.
3. In the List Tools > Items ribbon, click Alert Me and select Set alert on this item. Alternatively, select Alert Me in the item drop-down menu. SetListAlert.png
4. Configure alert e-mail options and click OK.

Icon-RSS Subscribe to the RSS feed for a blog

You can subscribe to the RSS feed for a community forum or topic just as you can for any other SharePoint list. Follow the instructions above for creating a SharePoint alert, but click on the RSS Feed button instead of Alert Me. In the RSS Feed page, click Subscribe to this feed.

For information about configuring and viewing RSS feeds using Internet Explorer, see How to use RSS feeds in Internet Explorer 9 on Microsoft.com.

For your convenience, Community Central includes a shortcut to subscribe to the RSS Feed for a forum on the following pages:

SA15_ForumRSSShortcut_2013.png In the forum site list on the Forums Home page, click on the RSS Feed icon next to the forum name to subscribe to that forum.

See also:

Subscribe to a Blog

Subscribe to a Blog

If you would like to subscribe to a blog to be notified about new posts, comments, and other changes to blog content, use one of the following two options:

Icon-AlertMe Configure a SharePoint alert

SA15_AlertBlogs.jpgConfiguring a SharePoint alert allows you to be notified by email when there is a change to blog content.

  • You can configure alerts for multiple blogs.
  • Site Members and Visitors will receive blog alerts after the content has been approved.
  • Site Administrators and Moderators will also receive alerts for blog content having a pending status.

Icon-RSS Subscribe to the RSS feed for a blog

You can subscribe to the RSS feed for a blog just as you can for any other SharePoint list. Follow the instructions above for creating a SharePoint alert, but click on the RSS Feed button instead of Alert Me. In the RSS Feed page, click Subscribe to this feed.

SA15_RSSBlogs.jpg
For information about configuring and viewing RSS feeds using Internet Explorer, see How to use RSS feeds in Internet Explorer 9 on Microsoft.com.

See also:

Start and stop SharePoint 2010 Timer Service

Start and stop SharePoint 2010 Timer Service

To stop and restart the SharePoint 2010 Timer service for Community Central:

Step Action Description
1. Navigate to Start > Administrative Tools > Services. SA15_TrblshootTimerJobs7.jpg
2. Select the SharePoint 2010 Timer service.
3.

Stop and restart the timer using the options at the top, left of the window or by right-clicking on SharePoint 2010 Timer.

Check the timer job(s) again to make sure they are running and that the community, blog, and forum sites display current data.

Search function is not returning any search results

Search function is not returning any search results

Community Central search might not work if one of the items below is set up incorrectly. You or your server administrator can check each item in the list below and then try using the search again.

SA15_2013search1.png

  • Follow the steps here to clear the Configuration Cache.
  • Install the cumulative updates. See this Microsoft article for the updates for SharePoint 2013
  • Is the Search Server Web Parts and Templates site collection feature activated at the site collection level?
    SA15_2013search2.png

Searching Community Central

Searching Community Central

Community Central allows you to search for keywords in blogs and forum posts. By default, the search text box is displayed at the top of every Community Central page. Using the drop-down list, you can choose the location to perform your search.

General Search Tips:

  • Use specific phrases to narrow down your search. If there are not enough hits or your search results did not return the item you were looking for, you can shorten your search phrase in order to get a larger result set.
  • Put quotation marks around a specific phrase that you want to search for. For example: “SharePoint 2010” will look for the word “SharePoint” that is followed immediately by the string “2010”.
  • Avoid using words such as “the” or “of”. These words are often ignored by the search engine.
  • The current release of Community Central does not support Boolean or wildcard search. This is true even if you are using SharePoint Search Server or FAST Search as the primary search engine in your SharePoint farm.

NOTE: The contents of Community Central blogs and forums are indexed using the schedule specified by your server farm administrator. For example, if your farm is indexed once per day, articles may not appear in search results until the next day, after the search engine has indexed them.

Icon-Warning IMPORTANT: The search results are trimmed according to the security permissions set up by the community administrator. If you do not have permission to view a forum or blog site, you will not see search results from those sites.

SA15_SearchCommunityBox.pngTo search Community Central, enter a word or phrase in the search text box and hit Enter, or click on the magnifying glass button to the right of the text box. Community Central will search for the terms you entered in the body text and titles of every blog and forum post.


Using Filters

SA15_SearchCommunityFilter.png You can also set filters to restrict your search to different areas of the community. Community Central allows you to narrow the search scope to:

  • In this community: Search for keywords in the entire Community Central site collection.
  • In all forum sites: Search for keywords in all forum sites.
  • In all blog sites: Search for keywords in all blog sites.
  • In this site: Search for keywords in the current site only.

Once the search is completed, Community Central displays the search result page as shown below:

NOTE: If search does not return any results, follow the troubleshooting steps in the Community Central FAQs.

SA15_SearchResults_2013.png


Limit Scope

SA15_SiteSearch.pngWhen you search using In this site as the search scope, the search results will be narrowed to return only items in the site that you are currently viewing. Community Central will return the search results using the standard SharePoint search results format.


Site Search

SA15_SiteSearch_2013.png When you search using In this site as the search scope, the search results will be narrowed to return only items in the site that you are currently viewing. Community Central will return the search results using the standard SharePoint search results format, as shown below:

See also:

Release Notes for Community Central

Release Notes for Community Central

NOTE: Release Notes will open in a new browser tab

WSSv3/MOSS SharePoint 2010 SharePoint 2013
Product not available Release Notes Release Notes
Microsoft ended mainstream support for SharePoint 2007 in October 2012. See Microsoft’s Lifecycle Support Policy.
At that time, Bamboo stopped enhancements to our SharePoint 2007 product line, but continues to provide support and bug fixes to customers with active support contracts until October 2017. Previously purchased licenses will continue to function after October 2017, but support for these products will end, and no additional bug fixes will be provided beyond that time. Bamboo plans to cease selling new licenses and annual support contacts for its SharePoint 2007 products in October 2016 to ensure customers will be eligible to receive support for at least one year after purchase.
Microsoft plans to end mainstream support for SharePoint 2010 in October 2015. See Microsoft’s Lifecycle Support Policy. At that time, we will stop any enhancements for our SharePoint 2010 product line but will continue to provide support and bug fixes for our SharePoint 2010 products to customers with active support contracts until October 2020. Previously purchased licenses will continue to function after October 2020, but support for these products will end, and no additional bug fixes will be provided beyond that time. Bamboo plans to cease selling new licenses and annual support contacts for its SharePoint 2010 products in October 2019 to ensure customers will be eligible to receive support for at least one year after purchase.

Bamboo Solutions has also begun releasing Bamboo Apps to the SharePoint Store, for additional details, see the SharePoint Apps & Mobile products page where you can get the latest info about each of our Apps as they release to the Microsoft Store.

A separate installation package and license key is required for SharePoint 2013 deployment. For additional details, review the following knowledge base articles:

Understanding Bamboo Releases:

  • Bamboo offers Trial, Basic and Premium support.
    • Free Trial support expires after 30 days.
    • For more information about Basic and Premium support, please see the Support Plans page.
    • There may be a fee to upgrade from a major version to another.

See Also:

Rating Forum Topics and Posts

Rating Forum Topics and Posts

RatingForums.pngCommunity Central forum readers can rate forum topics and posts. Ratings allow other readers to easily identify the most helpful forum content. Forum ratings are provided by the Bamboo Rating Column custom column, which is configured to use 5-star ratings by default. For tips on using the 5-star rating feature, and other rating types, see Using Bamboo Rating in a List or Library. For more information about configuring rating options, see Configuring Forum Rating.

To rate a topic, view the list of topics for the forum. Click on the rating to rate the entire topic.

RateTopic.pngTo rate an individual forum post, click a topic to view its posts. Click on the rating in the toolbar for the post you want to rate. Note: Ratings are available in Flat or Thread view only.

See also:

Post Settings

Post Settings

Return to Overview of the Configuration Toolpane

PostSettings.pngThe Post Settings section of the tool pane helps you configure how posts behave in Discussion Board Plus. Many of the options to configure Post Settings is a simple check on a box or radio button as described below.

Default topic view

When a user clicks on a topic in a Discussion Board Plus list, the Default topic view setting determines how posts in the topic are initially displayed. Users can switch to a different view using the View drop-down list in the Browse ribbon.
sa75breadcrumb.png

For more details about each view, see About Discussion Board Plus Views.

Enable Verify Answer

You can control whether one or more answers can be verified using either radio button for Single Answer or Multiple Answers. The default is set for multiple answers, but you can click the radio button next to Single Answer to set the board to have only one verified answer. When Verify Answer is enabled, users with the required permissions in Discussion Board Plus can mark a post as the Verified Answer for the discussion thread by clicking the Verify Answer option in the toolbar at the top of the post.

NOTE: When this feature is disabled, the Verify Answer option is not visible to users. For information about how users interact with the Verify Answer feature, see Using Suggest as Answer and Verify Answer.

Enable Suggest as Answer

When Suggest as Answer is enabled, users with the required permissions can mark posts as Suggested Answers for the discussion thread by clicking the Suggest as Answer option in the toolbar at the top of the post. When this feature is disabled, the Suggest as Answer option is not visible to users.

NOTE: Posts can still be marked as Verified Answers when Suggest as Answer is disabled.

More details about:

Overview of Community Central User Display

Overview of Community Central User Display

CommCentral.pngCommunity Central is a flexible, scalable, and affordable knowledge-sharing application, complete with forums, blogs, and social networking features like ratings and scoring for top contributors.

You could use Community Central for internal or external communities, for training or networking with peers and industry experts, or as a secure and searchable repository for enterprise knowledge. Think of Community Central as having three main components; Blog sites, Forum sites and the top level site where everything rolls up.

Each site has three main parts on its home page as described in each of the individual topics linked below.

Community Central Home Site

Number Item Description
1 Site Header In the site header area, you will find Top Navigation, Breadcrumbs and Search.
2 Side Panel The side panel contains links to Forum Sites and Blog Sites as well as Community Statistics.
3 Content Area In the content area is your welcome Banner, the Welcome Text and Announcements.

Forum Sites

SA15_ForumSite3O15.png Forum sites are sub-sites of the Community Central Home site and collect related forums.

The main Forum site page rolls up information from all individual forums in the site. It contains general information about forums in the site and links to individual forums. Access a forum site by clicking on its name in the Forum Sites list on the Community Central Home page or in the list of forum sites on the Forums Home page.

Each forum site has a similar layout as the top level Home site and Blog site.

Number Item Description
1 Site Header In the site header area, you will find Top Navigation, Breadcrumbs and Search.
2 Side Panel The side panel contains links to Forum Sites as well as Most Replies, Most Viewed, Most Active Users, Top Experts, Forum Links and Forum Statistics.
3 Content Area The content area is for your welcome Banner and the List of Forums.

Blog Sites

SA15_BlogSiteO15.png Blog sites are also sub-sites of the Community Central Home site and collect related blog posts.

The blog site home page contains links to blog-related activities such as creating and managing blog posts. Access a blog site by clicking on its name in the Blog Sites list on the Community Central Home page.

The layout for blog sites is also similar to the Forum and Home sites and includes the following items:

Number Item Description
1 Site Header In the site header area, you will find Top Navigation, Breadcrumbs and Search.
2 Side Panel The side panel contains links to Blog Tools as well as Blog Sites, Most Viewed Blogs, Top Rated Blogs, Blog Links and Blog Statistics.
3 Content Area In the content area, find your welcome Banner and the List of Recent Blog Posts.

See also:

Overview of Suite or Pack Licensing

Overview of Suite or Pack Licensing

Overview of Licensing and and Product Activation

The bundled licensing in Suites and Packs allows multiple products to be licensed with a single key. This is a huge benefit over having to manage a license key for each product and each WFE server. Once the Suite or Pack is successfully licensed, each included product will show that it is running under the license for the Suite or Pack.

Take the Grants Management Solution Accelerator as an example. When installation is complete, the Grants Management Accelerator Pack appears in the Bamboo Web License Manager in the Suites and Packs area. If you click the plus sign next to the name, you will see all the products that are included in the pack.

WLM-GMSAcomponents.jpg

If you click on the Pack name or select Status from the associated menu, you will see the status of the Pack license. In the screen shot below, we can see it was activated on each WFE server with a valid license key. The current status of the license is Active.

WLM-GMSApack status.jpg

The Alert Plus Web Part is included in the Grants Management Accelerator Pack. If you click on the product name listed in the Individual Products section of the Web License Manager, you will see the status of the individual product license. In the screen shot below, we can see it is running under the Grants Management Accelerator Pack Licensing.

WLM-GMSAalertplusstatus.jpg

The Grants Management Accelerator Pack includes eight web parts. Rather than having to license 8 products on two WFE servers in my farm individually (16 different license keys), I use the pack license and am able to save a lot of time.

Sometimes a Suite includes another suite or a pack. The Project Management Suite includes several packs, including the SharePoint Project Management Central Pack. If the PM Suite is licensed, the license status of the SharePoint Project Management Central Pack will show that it is running under the Project Management Suite Licensing.

WLM-PMCPack status.jpg

Overview of Community Central Configuration

Overview of Community Central Configuration

SA15_CreateCCHome.jpgThere are several things to configure before you open Community Central to your users. You’ll need to create and configure your home site, blog site and forum site and depending on how you plan to use Community Central, you may need multiple forum sites or blog sites. Just follow the instructions in the links below to get started.

Most Viewed Blogs

Most Viewed Blogs

SA15_BlogsMostViewed.jpgThe Most Viewed list in the Blog Home page lists the blog posts in the entire community with the most views. Click a post title to read it.

NOTE: Individual blog sites also include a Most Viewed list. In individual sites, the list is filtered to show only posts in that blog site.

Most Active Users

Most Active Users

SA15_MostActiveUsers.jpgThe Most Active Users list in the forum site page contains users who have earned the most points for forum-related community activities. Points are assigned according to how your site was customized to award points.

The Most Active Users list is filtered for the current forum, so a user may be listed as “Most Active” in one forum but not in another.

See also:

Modifying the Timer Job Schedule for Community Central

Modifying the Timer Job Schedule for Community Central

Return to Troublshooting Timer Jobs

Both of the Community Central timer jobs (the Master Timer Job and the Update Site Information Time Job) are set by default to run every five minutes. The timer job schedule settings can be modified by following these few steps:

Step Action Description
1. From Central Administration, click the Monitoring link in the left-side panel.
2. Click the Review job definitions link in the Timer Jobs section. SA15_ReviewJobDefinitions_2013.png
3. Scroll down the list of job definition titles and locate the two Community Central timer jobs. Click on the timer job you wish to modify. SA15_ListTimerJobs.jpg
4. Enter the new values on which you want the timer job to run. First, click the radio button to select Minutes, Hourly, Daily, Weekly, or Monthly. Next, enter the corresponding time value for the job.

For example, if you want the timer job to run every 15 minutes, click to select Minutes, and then enter 15 in the Every_minute(s) field.

SA15_ModifyTimerJobSchedule.jpg

NOTE: Each timer job may take several minutes to complete processing; therefore, these jobs cannot be set to run less often than every five minutes. If a value of less than five minutes is entered, Community Central will change the value back to the default minimum of five minutes to maintain a processing safety cushion.

5. Click OK to save the new settings. Click Run Now to run the timer job immediately.

NOTE: You can check the Last run time: for the job on the same page within the Job Properties row.

Migrate Community Central from SharePoint 2010 to SharePoint 2013

Migrate Community Central from SharePoint 2010 to SharePoint 2013

Overview

This article outlines how to migrate Community Central from SharePoint 2010 to SharePoint 2013 (SharePoint Foundation 2013 & SharePoint Server 2013).

NOTE: In order to migrate a Bamboo product to SharePoint 2103 from a SharePoint 2010 environment, you need to ensure that the SharePoint 2010 farm has the appropriate version installed. If your Bamboo product version is older, you may need to upgrade the SharePoint 2010 version before migrating to SharePoint 2013. Please refer to information about the specific products that are installed on the farm you are migrating for possible additional steps needed or limitations of the migration. Please note that Community Central does not support “SharePoint 2010 look and feel” on SharePoint 2013.

For additional information about upgrading your existing SharePoint 2010 Farm to SharePoint 2013, read these TechNet articles:

Bamboo Solutions supports the Database Attach upgrade method for upgrading to SharePoint 2013. Bamboo does not support the downgrade of SharePoint editions during a migration (i.e., SharePoint Server 2010 to SharePoint Foundation 2013).

Migration Steps

The steps are slightly different if your Community Central site is a sub-site vs. a root site. Remember in SharePoint, a site collection is made up of one top-level site (the root site) and all sites (sub-sites) below it. Follow the steps below and at Step 4, follow the instructions depending on which type your Community Central site is that you are migrating.

Step Action Description
1.

Follow Microsoft’s Upgrade databases from SharePoint 2010 to SharePoint 2013 article to perform the database-attach migration.

NOTE: If Community Central in SharePoint 2010 was deployed on a sub-site, please follow the additional migration instruction outlined in Step 4A below. If Community Central in SharePoint 2010 was deployed on a Root Site, please follow the additional migration instruction outlined in Step 4B below.

2. During the migration process, retrieve the SharePoint 2013 installation package and license keys for the Bamboo products you are migrating. See Migrate your Bamboo Product License Key From one SharePoint version to another for additional details.
3.

After successfully migrating your farm to SharePoint 2013 (the Microsoft bits), run the SharePoint 2013 Bamboo product installation package(s) downloaded in Step 2 above. During the installation, under Deployment Targets, be sure to select the appropriate Web Applications where the Bamboo product was deployed in the old environment. For more information about installation, refer to How to run the Installation-Setup Program.

NOTE: The Bamboo Web License Manager only has to be installed once. Skip this step for subsequent Bamboo product installations. If you are installing multiple Bamboo products, you only need to install the Web License Manager once on the new farm.

4.

A: If sub-site:

i. After upgrading the databases (as outlined in Microsoft’s database-attach migration instruction), access the SharePoint 2013 Community Central Home site.

NOTE: By default, your site will retain the SharePoint 2010 theme but Community Central will not be navigable. You will need to manually change this for 2013 as described in the step below:

ii. Click on the Start now hyperlink at the top of the site (above ribbon) StartNow.png
iii.

Select the Upgrade this Site Collection button

NOTE: This step will upgrade your site collection.

Upgrade.png
iv. After upgrading the Site Collection, re-activate site features by accessing the SharePoint 2013 server and running Bamboo Feature Activation from the Community Central Installer SA15-Feature Activation.png
v. Once you have re-activated the site features, access the SharePoint 2013 Community Central Home site, select the Settings icon, and click on Community Central Control Panel ComCen.jpg
vi. Click on Manage Community Central Upgrades, under Upgrade Manager ComCen2.jpg
vii. Click the select all checkbox for Optional Master Page Upgrades, then click the Upgrade button. ComCen3.jpg
After the upgrade is complete, it will automatically redirect you to your SharePoint 2013 Community Central Home Site.
4:

B. If Root site:

If Community Central was deployed in SharePoint 2010 on the root site, when you try to access the SharePoint 2013 Community Central Home Site, the browser will display ‘The webpage cannot be found’ message. In order to upgrade, please follow the steps below:

Icon-Warning Please install Community Central on SharePoint 2013, if you haven’t already done so, before proceeding to the steps below

i. Access the SharePoint 2013 server, and launch PowerShell using the System Admin account (Shift + Right-Click > Run as Different User) RunAs.jpg
ii. Run the following cmdlet command: upgrade-SPsite “url” *–VersionUpgrade* Cmdlet.png
iii. Access the SharePoint 2013 Community Central Home site.

NOTE: By default, your site will retain the SharePoint 2010 theme but Community Central will not be navigable. You will need to manually change this for 2013 as described in the step below:

iv. Click on the Start now hyperlink at the top of the site (above ribbon) StartNow.png
v.

Select the Upgrade this Site Collection button

NOTE: This step will upgrade your site collection.

Upgrade.png
vi. After upgrading the Site Collection, re-activate site features by accessing the SharePoint 2013 server and running Bamboo Feature Activation from the Community Central Installer SA15-Feature Activation.png
vii. Once you have re-activated the site features, access the SharePoint 2013 Community Central Home site, select the Settings icon, and click on Community Central Control Panel ComCen.jpg
viii. Click on Manage Community Central Upgrades, under Upgrade Manager ComCen2.jpg
ix. Click the select all checkbox for Optional Master Page Upgrades, then click the Upgrade button ComCen3.jpg
After the upgrade is complete, it will automatically redirect you to your SharePoint 2013 Community Central Home Site.
5. For both types of sites: activate the SharePoint 2013 versions of Bamboo products by following the instructions in the topic Install and Activate a License for Bamboo Products in SharePoint 2013.

Manage Blog Comments

Manage Blog Comments

Community Central Moderators can approve, edit, or delete comments for any blog post. To manage comments, click Manage comments in the Blog Tools Web Part at the top of any page in the blog site. Select a comment in the list and perform one of the following activities:

  • To edit an existing comment, select it and click the Edit Item button in the ribbon. Moderators can edit comments posted by any community user.
  • To change the Approval Status for a comment, select it and click the Approve/Reject button. See the Approving Comments section for more details about comment approval.
  • To delete a comment, select it and click the Delete Item button. Moderators can delete comments from any blog post in the site.

See also:

Localize Bamboo Applications or Custom Columns

Localize Bamboo Applications or Custom Columns

Overview of the localization process for Bamboo Products

Bamboo applications and custom columns are slightly different than web parts when it comes to localizing/translating. The user interface isn’t confined to a web part, but can exist as site definitions or other custom pages. For example, the configuration of a Bamboo custom column is within the SharePoint list settings area.
The text strings that require translation are located in different files than the strings that appear in a web part.

Changing the language or text for an application or custom column is a multi-step process:

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About the Language Files

Text displayed in a Bamboo application may be included in one or both of the following locations:

  • Provisioning Resources. These resources are located in the 12, 14, or 15 “Hive”, in the Resources folder. The number of the Hive depends on the version of SharePoint you are using (e.g., SP2007 has a 12 Hive, SP2010 has a 14 Hive, and SP2013 has a 15 Hive). 14Hiveresources.jpg

    The Bamboo.*.resx files include text used in site features, site definitions, list definitions, and other provisioning resource elements. Any changes you make in these files will apply to new product instances only.

  • Application/Runtime Resources. These are also located in the 12, 14, or 15 Hive, but in the CONFIGResources folder.The Bamboo.*.resx file in the CONFIG folder is different than the one included in the Resource folder.14HiveCONFIGResources.jpg This one includes text used in application pages, custom site menu actions, navigation elements, and other runtime resources. Any changes you make will apply to new and existing product instances only.

In each location, there may be multiple versions of Bamboo.*.resx files with identical content. The different files are provided for English (en-US), German (de-DE), French (fr-FR), and Spanish (es-ES). The content of all files is in English until you translate it to your language. If your site is configured to use a language that does not have a corresponding Bamboo product .resx file, copy an existing file and rename it to include the culture name for that language pack. For example, create a file for Italian by saving the default file as Bamboo.[Product].it-IT.resx. Make your changes to this new file. If your site is configured to use a specific language but you do not have a culture-specific file, the product will use the default Bamboo.[Product].resx file instead.

Icon-WarningIMPORTANT: If you customize one of the default resource files provided with the product, your changes will be overwritten when you upgrade.

To avoid losing customizations, copy the customized file to a different location (not the same folder) before upgrading. After the upgrade is finished, compare the new file with your customized file to incorporate any new entries. Then copy the merged file to the Resources folder. Culture-specific files created for languages that are not provided with the product will not be overwritten during an upgrade, but you still need to incorporate new resource entries.

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Editing text in resource files

Icon-WarningIMPORTANT: Before making any changes, back up your original file to a different folder.

To change text in a resource file, open it in a text editor and locate the text you want to change. Editable text is usually found between the <value></value> tags, as shown in the screen shot below. Do not modify the data tag. If you want to remove text completely, delete only the text; do not delete the <data> or <value> entries from the file, or the server will display an error message. In the example below, the editable text is highlighted in gray.

Common_resxEdit.jpg

When you are finished with your changes, save the file and copy it to the appropriate Resources *folder on *all Web front-end servers in your SharePoint farm. Follow the instructions below to make your changes take effect.

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Applying Language File Updates

To apply changes to Provisioning Resource Files:

If you modified the provisioning resources file, apply your changes by restarting Web services with the following command on all Web front-end servers.

iisreset

NOTE: changes to provisioning resources affect new instances of the Bamboo product only; existing instances of the product are not updated.

To apply changes to Application/Runtime Resource Files:

If you modified the application/runtime resources file, apply your changes by executing the following stsadm command on all Web front-end servers. This command copies the updated resource file to the App_GlobalResources folder of each Web application. Changes apply to existing product instances and any new instances you create.

stsadm -o CopyAppBinContent

NOTE: Changes apply to EXISTING product instances AND any new instances you create.

List of Recent Blog Posts

List of Recent Blog Posts

The main content area of the Blogs Home page contains a list of recent blog posts from all blog sites in the community. Posts are displayed in descending order by date. Each post contains a link to the post content and to the blog site where it was created. To view a blog post, click its title. To view a blog site, click the link to the site at the bottom of the post.

The following information is displayed for each blog post in the list:

  • The title of the post. Click the title to read the post.
  • The number of views and comments for the post.
  • A preview of the post content.
  • The name of the author. Click the name to view his or her SharePoint profile.
  • The name of the blog site. Click the name of the site to view it.
  • The date the post was published.

SA15_BlogLinks.jpgThe Blog Links list contains links to other views of blog posts, including Recent Blogs. This list is configurable by Community Central Moderators or Administrators. To add, edit, or remove links from the Blog Links list, go to Site Actions > View All Site Content and click the Blog Links list. Edit items in the list like you would any SharePoint Links list.

List of Forum Site Lists

List of Forum Site Lists

List of Forums

The main content area of the forum site home page contains a list of all forums in the site. When a new forum is created in the site, the list is automatically updated. To view a forum, click on its name in the list.

The following information is displayed for each forum in the list:

  • The name of the forum. Click the name to read the forum.
  • A link to subscribe to the RSS feed for the forum.
  • The number of topics in the forum.
  • The number of posts in all topics.

Forum Sites List

When a new forum site is created in Community Central, a link to the new site it is automatically added to the Forum Sites list. Click a forum site name to navigate directly to the site page and begin reading posts. For information about customizing this list, see Managing the Blog and Forum Site Lists.

Forum Site List

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Most Replies List

The Most Replies list in the forum site page lists the topics from all forums in the site the most reply posts. Click a topic name to read it.

Most Replies

Note: The Forums Home page also include a Most Replies list. In the Forum Home page, the list includes topics from all forum sites in the community.

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Most Viewed List

The Most Viewed list in the forum site page lists the topics from all forums in the site with the most views. Click a topic name to read it.

Most Viewed

Note: The Forums Home page also includes a Most Viewed list. In the Forum Home page, the list includes topics from all forum sites in the community.

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Most Active Users List

The Most Active Users list in the forum site page contains users who have earned the most points for forum-related community activities. Points are assigned according to the scoring rules defined by Administrators in the Community Central Control Panel. The Most Active Users list is filtered for the current forum, so a user may be listed as “Most Active” in one forum but not in another.

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Top Experts List

The Top Experts list contains users with the most verified answers. Verified Answers are posts that forum users or Moderators have marked as the answer to a forum topic. Top Experts can be viewed are those users who consistently provide the most valuable content for Community Central forums. The Top Experts list is filtered for the current forum, so a user may be a “Top Expert” in one forum but not in another.

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Forum Links List

The Forum Links list contains links to other pages and sites. This list is configurable by Community Central Moderators or Administrators. To add, edit, or remove links from the Forum Links list, go to Site Actions > View All Site Content and click the Forum Links list. Edit items in the list like you would any SharePoint Links list.

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Forum Statistics

Forum statistics are constantly updated to help you track forum participation. Statistics displayed on the forum site home page include:

The total number of forum topics and the number of topics added today.
The total number of forum posts and the number of posts added today.
The number of topics in the forum site that have replies.
The number of topics in the forum site without replies.

Forum Statistics

Other community statistics are displayed on the Community Central Home, Forums Home, and Blogs Home pages and on individual blog sites. See About Community Statistics for more information.

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List of Blog Site Lists

List of Blog Site Lists

By default, each blog site includes various lists as described below:

Archives List

SA15_Archives.jpgThe Archives list is automatically created based on the Created date for blog posts in the site. Click on a month to see all blog posts created in that time period.

Categories List

SA15_Categories.jpgBlog post authors can assign their post to categories to make it easier for readers to find content they are interested in. The Categories list is automatically generated based on the categories created by Community Central Administrators. For more information about creating and managing the Categories list, see Blog Categories List in Community Central.

Blog Links List

SA15_BlogLinks.jpgThe Blog Links list contains links to other views of blog posts, including Recent Blogs, My Posts, a Calendar view of posts by date, and the Blogs Home page.

This list is configurable by Community Central Moderators or Administrators. To add, edit, or remove links from the Blog Links list, go to Site Actions > View All Site Content and click the Blog Links list. Edit items in the list like you would any SharePoint Links list.

Most Viewed List

SA15_BlogMostViewed.jpgIn individual blog sites, the list is filtered to show only posts in that blog site. Click a blog title to read it. The Most Viewed list on the blog site home page lists the blog posts in this site that have earned the most views. Individual blog sites also include a Most Viewed list.

NOTE: The Blogs Home page also includes a Most Viewed list. In the Blogs Home page, the list includes posts from all blog sites in the community.

Blog Sites List

SA15_BlogSites.jpgWhen a new blog site is created in Community Central, a link to the new site it is automatically added to the Blog Sites list. Click a blog site name to navigate directly to the site page and begin reading posts. For information about customizing this list, see Forum Sites and Blog Sites.

Blog Statistics List

SA15_BlogStatistics.jpgBlog statistics are constantly updated to help you track blog site participation. Statistics displayed on the blog site home page include:

  • The total number of blog posts and the number of posts added today.
  • The total number of comments to blog posts and the number of comments added today.

Other community statistics are displayed on the Community Central Home, Forums Home, and Blogs Home pages and on individual forum sites. See Community Statistics for more details.

Recent Blog Posts List

The main content area of the blog site home page contains a list of recent blog posts added to the site. When a new blog post is created, the list is automatically updated. Newer posts are at the top of the list. To view a post, click on its title. Only posts that have been approved by Moderators and have a Publish date of today or later are displayed.

The following information is displayed for each blog post in the list:

  • The title of the blog post. Click the title to read the post.
  • A preview of the post content.
  • The name of the community user created the post. Click the name to view their SharePoint profile.
  • The date the post was created.
  • The number of times the post was viewed.
  • The number of comments for the post.

Blog Tools List

SA15_BlogTools.jpgThe Blog Tools list contains links to common blog activities. For more information about blog activities, see Creating and Managing Blog Posts and Using Comments and CAPTCHA.

  • Create a post: Create a new blog post for this blog site.
  • Manage posts: Edit existing posts and approve posts submitted for publishing (Moderators only).
  • Manage comments: Approve and manage blog post comments.

Top Rated List

SA15_TopRated.jpgIndividual blog sites include a Top Rated list. In individual sites, the list is filtered to show only posts in that blog site. The Top Rated list in the Blogs Home page lists the posts in the site that have the highest rating by readers. Click a blog title to read it.

SA15_RateBlogPost.jpgReaders can rate blog posts in Community Central. Ratings determine which posts are included in the Top Rated list and help identify relevant content for other community users.

Ratings in Community Central are provided by Bamboo’s Rating custom column, which is configured to use 5-star ratings by default. For tips on using the 5-star rating feature, and other rating types, see How to Use a Bamboo Rating Column in a List or Library.

To rate a post, scroll to the bottom of the post and click on the rating that best matches your opinion. For more information about ratings, see Configuring Blog Rating.

Key Features of Community Central

Key Features of Community Central

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Community Central includes quite a few features which are categorized below. Click the category to read more details about the features.

Platform & Browser

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SharePoint 2013/2010 Compatibility Community Central is compatible with Microsoft Windows SharePoint Foundation 2013/2010 and SharePoint Server 2013/2010.
Cross-Browser Support Use Community Central in Internet Explorer 8.0 or newer.

Customization & Personalization

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Site Templates Community Central, Blog, and Forum site templates allows you to easily group and customize content for different parts of your organization, different audiences, and different information security requirements.
Customization Administrators can customize banners and messages, navigation links, and titles.

Community Statistics

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Community Statistics View daily and total activity summaries per blog or forum site and for the entire community.
Content Relevance Identify the most popular blogs and forum topics based on views, replies and ratings.
Most Active Users Track the most active contributors using scoring with points assigned for blog and forum activities such as new posts, replies or comments, or verified answers.

Forums

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Forums and Forum Sites Users can ask questions and receive verified answers in community forums powered by Bamboo Discussion Board Plus. Collect related forums in forum sites, which are displayed in a central Forum Home site and on the Community Home site for easy navigation.
Topic and Post Status View the status of topics at a glance with helpful icons and tooltips:
Icon-NewTopic
New topic
Icon-Read
No New Update
Icon-Sticky
Sticky Topic
Icon-Locked
Locked Topic
PrivateTopic
Private Topic
Posts are clearly marked so readers can identify the content most relevant to them:
Icon-Unanswered
Unanswered
Icon-VerifyAnswer
Verified as Correct Answer
Icon-Suggested
Suggested as Answer
View Counts Statistics are updated immediately to show the number of topic views, including views from anonymous users.
Integration with Bamboo’s Rating Column Select from three types of rating controls to rate forum topics and posts:
Icon-TrueFalse
True/False Rating

Icon-StarRating
5-Star Rating

Icon-10PointScale
10 Point Rating Scale

Blogs

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Blog Sites Share information with the community using SharePoint Blog sites. Posts from blog sites are aggregated in a central Blog Home site, and links to blog sites are displayed on the Community Home site for easy navigation.
CAPTCHA Community Central integrates CAPTCHA technology as security for comments and to repel attacks from spam bots.
Navigation Options View blog posts by date or category and easily identify most recent, most viewed, and top-rated posts.
Integration with Bamboo’s Rating Column Select from three types of rating controls to rate forum topics and posts:
Icon-TrueFalse
True/False Rating

Icon-StarRating
5-Star Rating

Icon-10PointScale
10 Point Rating Scale

Subscribe & Search

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RSS Feed Set up an RSS feed to receive relevant information instantaneously.
Search Multiple search options to let users search globally (in all forum and blog sites) or locally (just “this” forum or blog site). Search results include content from forum topics and posts and blog posts and comments.

Administration & Moderation

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Control Panel Administrator can control the settings and permissions for all Community Central and individual forum and blog sites using a central Control Panel.
Navigation User-friendly navigation, including tab strips and breadcrumbs, so your audience can quickly get to the information they need.

Member Options & Security

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Forms-based Authentication (FBA) Supports Forms-based Authentication (FBA) in SharePoint 2010 for Community Central sites.
Allow Anonymous Users Anonymous users can read Community Central forums and blogs (except locked forum topics).
User Profiles Associate SharePoint user profile information, including profile pictures, with blog and forum posts.

How to Use Community Central

How to Use Community Central

SA15_featuretile.pngWhen Community Central is installed, a new category called Community Central is added to the SharePoint Create screen. A SharePoint user with rights to create new sites can select the Community Central Home Site template to create a new community. In addition, several Bamboo products that provide additional functionality for Community Central are added to the Web Part Gallery and site collection feature list.

After you have installed Community Central, you will need to configure your home sites for use.

Follow the steps in each topic below (in order) to get your Community Central site up and running for users to start working with it right away!

  1. Create a Top Level Site
  2. Create a Forum Site
  3. Create a New Forum on the Forum Site
  4. Create a Blog Site
  5. Customize Community Central