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To 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.
The 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:
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.
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. |
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| 2. |
Make the desired change to the navigation menu:
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SharePoint 2010
SharePoint 2013 |
| 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:
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.
See also:
| Return to Overview of the Configuration Toolpane |
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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.
Configure a SharePoint alertTo 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. |  |
| 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. |  |
| 4. | Configure alert e-mail options and click OK. | |
Subscribe to the RSS feed for a blogYou 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:
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:
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.
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.
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.
To 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.
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:
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.
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.
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:
Community 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.
To 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:
The 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.
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 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:
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:
See also:
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 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.
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:
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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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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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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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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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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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 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.
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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By default, each blog site includes various lists as described below:
The 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.
Blog 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.
The 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.
In 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.
When 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 are constantly updated to help you track blog site participation. Statistics displayed on the blog site home page include:
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.
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 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.
Individual 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.
Readers 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.
Community Central includes quite a few features which are categorized below. Click the category to read more details about the features.
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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. | ||||
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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. | ||||
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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. | ||||
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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: | ||||
 New topic |
 No New Update |
 Sticky Topic |
 Locked Topic |
 Private Topic |
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| Posts are clearly marked so readers can identify the content most relevant to them: | |||||
 Unanswered |
 Verified as Correct Answer |
 Suggested as Answer |
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| 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: | ||||
 True/False Rating |
 5-Star Rating |
 10 Point Rating Scale |
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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: | ||||
True/False Rating |
5-Star Rating |
10 Point Rating Scale |
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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. | ||||
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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. | ||||
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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. | ||||
When 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!
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.
The top navigation is shared with all pages in the Community Central Home site. To customize the top navigation and 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 | Result |
| 1. | In a Community Central Home site page, go to Settings > Community Central Control Panel. | |
| 2. | In the Community Central General Settings section, click Manage top navigation menu. |  |
| 3. |
Make the desired change to the navigation menu: To change the name of an existing menu option:
To change the destination link of an existing menu option:
To add a new menu option:
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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.
The main content area of the forum site or blog site home page contains a list of all forums or blogs in the site.
When a new forum or blog is created in the site, the list is automatically updated. To view a forum or a blog, click on its name in the list.
The following information is displayed for each forum in the list:
Blog sites are also sub-sites of the Community Central Home site and collect related blog posts. 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 blog site page also 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.
You can edit the list of blogs and forums that appear in the Blog Sites and Forum Sites lists. Click an activity below to learn more:
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The name that appears in the Blog Sites and Forum Sites list is the name of the blog site or forum site when it was created.
Follow the steps below to change the link name: |
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| Step | Action | Result |
| 1. | In the Community Central Home site, go to Community Central Control Panel. |  |
| 2. |
Access the list you want to edit:
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| 3. | Click the Edit icon next to the blog site or forum site name you want to edit. |  |
| 4. | Edit the Description field and click Save. |
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When a blog or forum site is deleted, it is automatically removed from the Blog Sites or Forum Sites list. If you don’t want to delete the site but you want to delete the link so community users don’t see it, you can delete its entry in the sites list.
To delete a blog site or forum site link: |
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| Step | Action | Result |
| 1. | In the Community Central Home site, go to Community Central Control Panel. |  |
| 2. |
Access the list you want to edit:
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| 3. | Click the Edit icon next to the blog or forum you want to edit. | |
| 4. |
Click the Delete Item button.
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Blog or forum sites created in Community Central are automatically added to the Blog Sites and Forum Sites lists. You do not need to add them manually. If you want to add links to external blog or forum sites, you can add links to the Blog Sites or Forum Sites list. To add a link to the Blog Sites or Forum Sites list: |
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| Step | Action | Result |
| 1. | In the Community Central Home site, go to Community Central Control Panel. | SharePoint 2010 SharePoint 2013  |
| 2. |
Access the list you want to edit:
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| 3. | Click new link above or below the links list (depending on the version of SharePoint you are using). | |
| 4. | Enter the URL and Description for the external blog or forum site and click Save. |  Top |
See also:
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 Forum Sites and Blog Sites.
Also see:
The top navigation in a forum site is unique to that site.
The default forum site 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.
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 forum pages in the forum site but not to other forum sites or the Community Central Home site.
| Step | Action | Result |
| 1. | In the forum site home page, go to Settings > Forum Control Panel. | |
| 2. | In the Forum Site Settings section, click Manage top navigation menu. |  |
| 3. |
Make the desired change to the navigation menu: To change the name of an existing menu option:
To change the destination link of an existing menu option:
To add a new menu option:
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Community Central awards points to contributors for their participation in blogs and forums. Points are tracked and used to identify Most Active Users and Top Experts.
By default, the following Scoring Rules are provided by Community Central but you can customize the number of points awarded for Community Central activities.
Points are awarded for blog and forum activities as listed in the table below:
To customize the points awarded for each activity, do the following:
| Action (Title) | ||
| Create a new blog post | Points are awarded to the author for either creating a new blog post or a new forum topic. | |
| Comment on a blog post | Points are awarded to the author of a blog post when someone comments on that blog post. | |
| Update a blog post. | Points are awarded to the author for updating their existing blog post or forum topic. | |
| Delete a blog post | Points are deducted from the author when their existing blog post or forum topic is deleted. | |
| Delete a blog comment | Points are deducted from the author of a blog post when any comments are deleted from that blog post. |
| Action (Title) | Description | |
| Create a new forum topic | Points are awarded to the author for either creating a new blog post or a new forum topic. | |
| Post a reply to a forum topic | Points are awarded to the replier for replying to a forum topic. | |
| Update a forum topic | Points are awarded to the author for updating their existing blog post or forum topic. | |
| Delete a forum topic | Points are deducted from the author when their existing blog post or forum topic is deleted. | |
| Delete a forum reply | Points are deducted from the replier when their reply to a forum topic is deleted. | |
| Suggest a forum reply as the answer | Points are awarded to the replier when their reply to a forum topic is marked as the suggested answer. | |
| Unmark a forum reply as the suggested answer | Points are deducted from the replier when their reply to a forum topic is marked as the suggested answer, and is then unmarked as the suggested answer. | |
| Verify a forum reply as the answer | Points are awarded to the replier when their reply to a forum topic is verified as the answer. | |
| Remove verification of a forum reply as the answer | Points are deducted from the replier when their reply to a forum topic has been verified as the answer, and is then removed as the verified answer. | |
| Verify suggested forum reply as the answer | Points are awarded to the replier when their reply to a forum topic, which has already been marked as the suggested answer, is then verified as the answer. | |
| Remove as verified answer and keep as suggested | Points are deducted from the replier when their reply to a forum topic, which has already been marked as the suggested answer and verified as the answer, is then removed as the verified answer. The reply’s status returns to being marked as the suggested answer. | |
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You must be in the site administrator group or assigned Full Control permission to change your site banner. Also, you must have access to the picture library where you upload the image for the site.
The Community Central Home site includes a default banner image for the Community Central Home, the Forums Home page, and the Blogs Home pages. To replace any of these banner images with an image customized for your company, perform the following steps:
| Step | Action | Result |
| 1. | In a SharePoint 2013 Community Central Home site, go to Settings > Site Contents.
In a SharePoint 2010 Community Central Home site, go to Site Actions > View All Site Content. |
SharePoint 2013 SharePoint 2010  |
| 2. | Click the Pictures library. | SharePoint 2010 SharePoint 2013  |
| 3. | Upload your new images to the Banners folder in the Pictures library. |
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| 4. | Navigate to the Community Central Home, Forums Home, or Blogs Home page—whichever contains the banner you want to replace. In the Page ribbon, click the Edit Page button. |  |
| 5. | Edit the Banner Web Part. |  |
| 6. | Change the Image Link location to the image you uploaded to the Pictures library. (If you saved the URL in Step 3, simply paste it into the Image Link box or you can click on the ellipsis to navigate to your picture library where you uploaded the file and locate it that way.) You can also change Alternative Text or image alignment and transparency, as needed. |  |
| 7. | Click OK to save your changes. | The new banner is now displayed. |
See also:
The latest release of Bamboo’s Community Central offers a host of new features and customization options. While by default, Community Central for SharePoint 2013 keeps the same stylistic components as Community Central for SharePoint 2010, our new customization options allow you to change the style of your site to meet your style needs.
With a few minor updates, you can customize the look of your Community Central site including the site’s background color.
The default style for Community Central for SharePoint 2013 is the same as the style for SharePoint 2010.
To change the background color, follow the steps below. Our example uses colors that match the default User Interface (UI) in SharePoint 2013.
| Step | Action | Result |
| 1. | Go to Site Contents and open the list named Skins. | |
| 2. | Open the Styles folder and download the following files to your local drive: custom.css and custom15.css | |
| 3. | Edit the files custom15.css and custom.css | |
| 4. |
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| 5. | After you’ve saved your changes, upload the files from step 2 to the folder styles in the Skins list. | |
| 6. | Refresh your site page. You will now see that the style changes made above have been implemented. |  |
After you have installed Community Central, you will need to configure your home sites for use. Follow these simple steps to start using Community Central. At the end of each section we include the next step to follow when setting up your Community Central site for the first time. It is preferable to set up your site in this order.
| Step | Action | Result |
| 1. | Under Site Actions, click New Site. Click the Community Central filter on the left side and click Community Central Home Site. |
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| 2. |
Title: enter the name for your new Community Central Home site. URL Name: enter the specific URL that you would like for your Community Central Home site. |
You will be directed to the new site, which includes the Community Central Home page, the Forums Home page, and the Blogs Home page.  |
Next: Create a Forum Site
Also see:
Blog sites are sub-sites of the Community Central Home site and collect related blog posts. The blog site page also contains links to blog-related activities such as creating and managing blog posts.
| Step | Action | Result |
| 1. |
Under Site Actions, click Community Control Panel. In the Blog Site Management section, click Create blog site. |
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| 2. | Enter a Title and Description for the new blog site and select site permissions. |  |
| 3. | Click Create. | You may now create and manage blog posts and comments using the Create a post, Manage posts, and Manage comments options in the Blog Tools Web Part. For more information, read Using Blog Sites in the Community Central online documentation. |
Next: Customize Community Central
Also see:
Community statistics provide insight into community activity and enhance user participation. Statistics are calculated by Community Central timer jobs and displayed on several community pages to highlight relevant content. Some of the ways community statistics are used include:
Click the links below to see the statistics that display on various pages:
Community Central Home page statistics track participation across the entire community. Statistics displayed on the Community Central Home page include:
Forums Home page statistics track participation in all community forums. Statistics displayed on the Forums Home page include:
Forum site statistics provide a more in-depth view of forum participation and are specific to forums in that forum site. Statistics displayed on each forum site home page include:
Blogs Home page statistics track participation in all community blogs. Statistics displayed on the Blogs Home page include:
On the Blogs Home page and the blog site where a post was created, the number of views and comments is displayed for each blog post.
Blog site statistics provide a more in-depth view of forum participation and are specific to blogs posted to that blog site. Statistics displayed on each blog site home page include:
Individual forums and forum posts also track
certain activities, including the following:
On the Forums Home page, the total number of topics and posts for each forum.
In the forum view, the number of replies for each post and the number of views for the topic.
See also:
Can I attach a file to a forum post?
Yes, files can be attached to a forum post.
Can I attach a file to a blog post?
No.
Who can close or lock a topic?
Community Central users with the SharePoint Manage Lists permission or above, including Community Central moderators and administrators, can lock a topic. Once a topic is locked, forum users cannot add new posts, edit existing posts, or suggest or verify answers. For more information, see Using Lock Topic and Permissions in Discussion Board Plus.
Can I set alerts for forums like I can for out-of-the-box SharePoint discussion boards?
**
Yes, Community Central forums support SharePoint alerts. For even more alert functionality, try Bamboo Alert Plus.
Can I create a blog site without creating a Community Central Home site first?
We don’t recommend it. Some blog site features will not work properly outside of a Community Central site.
Can I create a forum site without creating a Community Central Home site first?
We don’t recommend it. Some forum site features will not work properly outside of a Community Central site.
Can I make a change to List Rollup configuration lists or items?
No, the List Rollup Web Part is configured for system use only.
See also:
| Return to Overview of the Configuration Toolpane |
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Community Central uses the built-in SharePoint permissions to determine what actions a user can perform in community site pages. When Community Central is installed, the following SharePoint groups are added to the Community Central Home site, or to the parent site if the Community Central Home site inherits permissions:
When you create new forum and blog sites, the new sites can automatically inherit the permissions of the Community Central Home site or they can use unique permissions; you select which permission level to use when you create a site. If the forum or blog site uses unique permissions, the groups listed above will be added to the site when it is created. The Community Central Home site’s Administrators group will also be added to the new site, with the Full Control permission level, to allow community Administrators to manage all forum and blog sites.
You can customize permissions for Community Central sites just as you can any SharePoint site. To set up your own SharePoint permission levels to use with Community Central, refer to the following information:
To set up anonymous access to Community Central content, see Configuring Anonymous Access.
The table below describes the Community Central groups allowed to perform certain administrative actions:
| Community Central Action | ||||
| Customize Site Pages | ||||
| Customize the Top Navigation | ||||
| Access the Control Panel | ||||
| Edit Forum/Blog Links | ||||
| Edit Scoring Rules | ||||
| Customize Forum/Blog Links | ||||
* Moderators may not be able to perform all Control Panel actions.
Since the forums are built on Discussion Board Plus, the Community Central Forums use the default Discussion Board Plus Permissions. And in addition to the default permissions provided by Discussion Board Plus, please note the following for Community Central forums:
Community Central uses the default SharePoint settings to determine who can perform actions in a blog site. For a list of default permissions for basic blog actions, see the table below. For information about customizing blog site permissions, see the following article:
Configure permissions and settings for a blog (From office.microsoft.com)
| Blog Action | Users |
||||
| Read Blog Posts and Comments | |||||
| Create Blog Posts | |||||
| Edit Blog Posts | |||||
| Add Comments | |||||
| Edit Comments | |||||
| Approve Blog Posts and Comments | |||||
| View Draft Posts and Pending Comments | |||||
| Manage Blog Categories |
* Members can edit any blog post or comment by default (not just their own post/comment).
1. Allow visitors and anonymous users to add comments by modifying list permissions.
** Members can view their own draft posts and comments pending approval, but not posts/comments created by other Members.
By default, anonymous access is not enabled in SharePoint 2013. SharePoint administrators may want to enable anonymous users to have access to Community Central content without having to provide authentication credentials. Anonymous access is permitted or denied based on the permissions for the site. Additional configuration is needed for anonymous users to access Community Central content.
For example:
For more information about configuring SharePoint for anonymous access, see:
Alternatively, you can configure SharePoint for anonymous access for forms-based authentication where the accounts can be created from the database. For more information on configuring anonymous users for forms-based authentication, see:
See also:
The Community Central header is shared with all Community Central pages, and will display breadcrumbs to help guide you within the site.
Click on a breadcrumb to return to a higher level of the site. If the page you are on includes additional views, you will be able to switch views in the last breadcrumb link, just like you can when viewing a SharePoint list.
The image below shows an example of a forum breadcrumb that includes views.
See also:
The Blog Tools list contains links to common blog activities.
Any blog site Member can add blog posts to the site.
From the blog site page, click Create a post in the Blog Tools list.
| Step | Action | Result |
| 1. | In the editor window, enter a Title for your post. |  |
| 2. | Enter the content for your blog post in the Body field. The Body field includes a rich text editor with a full range of editing options, including support for inserting images. You can enter text directly or paste from another source, like a Microsoft Word document. | |
| 3. | Choose a Category. Your post will automatically be displayed in the appropriate category on the blog site page. | |
| 4. | In the Published field, enter a date when your post should be published to the blog site. Your post will not be visible on the blog site until the Published date and time. | |
| 5. | When you are finished with your post, click Save as Draft or Publish. Published posts will be visible in the blog site at the Published date and time. Draft posts will not be visible. See the information below for more information. | |
When you create or edit a blog post, you will have the option to Save as Draft, Publish, or both.
Save as Draft is NOT available if content approval is disabled.
Clicking Publish saves the post and publishes it to the blog site as soon as the Published field date and time is reached (or immediately, if it has passed). No one else needs to approve the content.
See Configuring Blog Posts Content Approval for more information about disabling content approval for a blog site.
See also:
You must create a category before you can assign blog posts to it. Any blog site Member can create new categories. To create a new category:
Go to the blog site where you want to create the category.
Go to Settings > Blog Control Panel.
In the Category Management section, click Create a new category.
Enter a category Title and click Save.
After a category has been created, you can edit its name. When you edit a category name, the name is automatically updated in the Categories Web Part and in any posts assigned to the category.
To edit the title of an existing category:
| Step | Action | Result | |
| 1. | Go to the blog site that contains the category you want to edit. | ||
| 2. | Go to Settings > Blog Control Panel. |  |
|
| 3. | In the Category Management section, click Manage categories. | ||
| 4. | Click the Edit icon next to the category title. | ||
| 5. | Update the category Title and click Save. |  |
|
NOTE: Before deleting a category, check to see if there are any blog posts assigned to it. You may not want to delete the category if it helps community users find posts. However, even if posts are assigned to a category, deleting the category does not delete the post; it only un-assigns the post from the category.
To delete a category:
| Step | Action | Result |
| 1. | Go to the blog site that contains the category you want to delete. | |
| 2. | Go to Settings > Blog Control Panel. |  |
| 3. | In the Category Management section, click Manage categories. | |
| 4. | Select the category you want to delete and click the Delete Item button in the ribbon. | |
Posts can be assigned to categories when the post is created or by editing the post later.
When a post is assigned to a category, browsing the category will display any posts assigned to it.
To browse categories, go to a blog site page and click a link in the Categories Web Part.
The posts assigned to the category will be displayed.
By default, Community Central blogs are configured to use out-of-the-box SharePoint content approval. This allows community Moderators to review and approve new posts before they are published to the blog site. For details about configuring (or disabling) content approval options, see Configuring Content Approval.
When a blog post is saved as draft, its approval status is changed to Pending. Community Central Moderators can approve or reject posts.
NOTE: If you need to make changes to a post before approving it, edit the post. When you click Publish as a Moderator, the post is automatically approved and you can skip the steps below.
To change the approval status for a post, sign in as a Community Central Moderator.
| Step | Action | Result |
| 1. | In the blog site page, click Manage posts in the Blog Tools list. |  |
| 2. | Click on the Title link for the post with an Approval Status of Pending to review it. | |
| 3. | Return to the Posts list and select the post you want to approve. |  |
| 4. | Click the Approve/Reject button in the Items ribbon. Select an Approval Status, enter any Comments (optional), and click OK to submit the status change. |  |
| 5. | If you changed the Approval Status to Approved, the item is now visible in the blog site. Items with an Approval Status of Rejected or Pending are not visible. |  |
See also:
Keep your user community informed with the Community Central Announcements feature. You can do the following tasks within the announcements:
To add a new announcement, click the Add new announcement link in the Announcements section of the Community Central Home page. Enter the announcement Title and Body.
If you would like the announcement to expire on a certain date, select the date in the Expires field. When that date is reached, the announcement will no longer be displayed on the Community Central Home page.
NOTE: If you do not see the Add new announcement link, you do not have permission to add announcements to the Announcements list.
To edit an existing announcement, click on it in the Announcements list and click the Edit Item button in the View ribbon. Click Save when you have finished making changes.
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To delete an existing announcement, click on it in the Announcements list and click the Delete Item button in the View ribbon.
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See also:
Community Central allows blog readers to comment on blog posts. Comments are displayed at the bottom of a blog post after they are approved by a Community Central Moderator.
To add a comment to a blog post, click on the post title in the Blogs Home or blog site page to read it.
| Step | Action | Result |
| 1. | At the bottom of the post, enter comments in the Leave a comment section. |  |
| 2. | If CAPTCHA is enabled, verify that you are a person by typing the letters you see in the CAPTCHA box. |  |
| 3. | Click Submit Comment. | Your comment will be marked with a status of “Pending” until a Moderator approves it. Only you will see your comment until it is approved. |
See also:
Community Central forums use the following icons to describe the status of forum topics and posts:
| Icon | Description |
Sticky Topic |
Topic is Sticky and will always be displayed at the top of the Topic list. |
New Topic |
Topic has a new reply or update. |
No Replies |
Topic has no recent replies or updates. |
Locked |
Topic is Locked and can only be edited by users with specific permissions. |
Private |
Topic is shared privately and only users with the correct permissions may see the content.. |
Unanswered |
No posts in the topic have been marked as a Suggestion or Answer yet. |
Verified |
A post in the topic has been marked as a Verified Answer. |
Suggested |
At least one post in the topic has been marked as a Suggested Answer. |
After you upload the file to the library, right-click on the file name and save the shortcut in your clipboard to use when you get to Step 6 below.