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As anyone who runs a website knows, one of the most important things is keeping visitors interested in your content. The best way to do that is to build an online her community on your site.
Enter the community plugin in WordPress. Instead of developing your own community features from scratch, you can install and configure WordPress plugins in minutes.
Additionally, unlike traditional social media platforms, WordPress community plugins can be customized to perfectly fit the needs of your website and community.
Let’s see what these are useful for WordPress plugin We’ll discuss the benefits of using them and how to choose the best one to help you grow your online community without having to build a community website from scratch.
Finally, we’ll review some of the top community plugins to help you get started.
What is an online community?
Before we start talking about the different WordPress community plugins out there, let’s take a look at what an online community is and why it’s important.
Online communities are essentially digital spaces that foster interaction and engagement among community members, usually around a shared topic or common theme.
The community site also serves as a knowledge hub for members, a place to find the latest fashion trends and learn about fashion. best security plugin.
If you run an e-commerce business, developing an online community offers many benefits.
Take Sephora, for example. Sephora online community, beauty insidercustomers can ask questions, get tips, and share product recommendations with other Sephora shoppers on the platform.
Not only does this lead to more frequent customer interactions, but it also increases interest in your company’s products, leading to more purchases.
Additionally, all tips and recommendations left by community members provide Sephora with valuable feedback to understand what customers like, what they don’t like, and what they want more of in the future.
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Why use WordPress to build an online community?
We’ve explained what online communities are and how they can benefit your business. Next, we’ll discuss the best ways to build your community.
You can also build an online community based on popular social networks such as Facebook or Reddit, but there are some drawbacks to doing so.
First, you have no control over the design or layout of your site. Even if a social network isn’t optimized for your kind of service, you only have access to what the social network has to offer.
Second, these networks cater to different interests and niches, so they must compete to attract and retain visitors.
In the long run, developing your own online community website is much better and easier, as we’ll see later. But how do you do this, especially if you have no formal coding training?
We have a lot different platforms Nowadays, you can use it to build online community websites, and WordPress is by far the best option of them all.
A WordPress website gives you complete control over your online community, from the design layout and features offered to whether members can access it for free or for a fee.
When you create your own WordPress website, you can adjust its functionality using community plugins, allowing you to scale your site as your digital community grows.
What is a WordPress community plugin?
Community plugins are plugins that add functionality to your WordPress site, making it easier for members to participate and connect with each other.
When you first install WordPress, it’s basically a blank canvas. On the one hand, this is great because it means there are almost limitless opportunities in how you can design your website. But on the other hand, for someone designing a website for the first time, it can be difficult to get started.
You want to start developing an online community website, but you probably don’t want to spend the time designing and coding each feature you need.
This is why community plugins are so useful.
Community plugins allow you to skip the hassle of writing your own code and instead choose from a variety of plugins. ready-made pluginsMany of them are free to use when you start.
Here are some examples of how community plugins can help your cause.
- Create a user profile.
- Contribute to discussion forums.
- Share, like, and comment on posts.
- Chat with other community members on the website.
- Subscribe to our newsletter and receive email notifications.
How to choose the best WordPress community plugin
There are so many different types of community plugins on the WordPress platform that it can be difficult to know how to choose the right one for your community type.
Let’s take a look at some important things to keep in mind when choosing a community plugin to install on your WordPress site.
- Functionality: What the plugin does and how it benefits the community.Several The plugin is for e-commerce, and others to keep in touch with customers. Specifying what features you want your website to have will help narrow your search.
- safety: Whether the plugin is safe and tested, and whether it will harm your site. A good plugin should have features that allow for malware and corrupted file removal, real-time backups, bot protection, and more.
- support: Is there customer support available to help troubleshoot issues if they occur? A well-supported plugin can help in the event of a security breach or plugin crash.
- ease of use: How easy is a plugin to install, configure, and use? The easier a plugin is to use, the more effectively you can take advantage of its community-building features. Many plugins have drag-and-drop features that are beginner-friendly and allow you to efficiently design multiple web pages.
- Fee: Is it a free plugin, or is there only a limited free version available? Paid plugins allow you to make your community website more customizable, but they come at a higher cost and may The downside is that they range from $20 to over $400.
- compatibility: Whether the selected plugin is compatible with other plugins on your website. Downloading multiple incompatible plugins can cause glitches and site crashes, negatively impacting the experience of our community members.
Best community plugins for WordPress
Now that you have a solid understanding of what WordPress community plugins are and how to choose one, let’s talk about the best community plugins for WordPress that you should consider adding to your website.
1.Buddy Press
BuddyPress is an open-source WordPress community plugin that allows you to transform your WordPress site into a kind of your own social network. BuddyPress is free to use, making it an ideal choice for beginners setting up their first community site.
The main features of this plugin are:
- Create a member profile and profile page.
- Connect with community members.
- Send private messages.
- View the activity stream.
- Build user groups.
BuddyPress is a great plugin for developing online communities, but it’s not compatible with all WordPress themes.this useful directory We list all compatible BuddyPress templates so you can make sure your website is compatible.
Best WordPress Community Plugins for: Social network.
price: free.
2. Paid membership registration
Paid Membership Subscriptions is a WordPress membership plugin that allows you to create and manage subscription services for your website.
The main features of this plugin are:
- Register users.
- Configure custom profile features.
- Manage your subscriptions.
- Restrict premium content.
- Set up recurring member payments.
What’s especially useful about this plugin is that it also integrates with WooCommerce. So, if you manage an e-commerce store, you can adapt it to your existing platform.
Best WordPress Community Plugins for: E-commerce website.
price: free. Pro version starts at $75.
3. wpForo Forum
wpForo Forum is a WordPress forum plugin that lets you create a feature-rich digital meeting place for your community members.
All forums built with this plugin are responsive and have the following benefits:
- Multilingual forum feature.
- Badges and ranking system.
- SEO friendly layout.
- Anti-spam blocker.
Even better, this forum integrates well with many other WordPress community plugins. It also integrates with the aforementioned BuddyPress, allowing you to enjoy the benefits of both a community forum and social media network.
If you want to further expand the functionality of your site, you can also purchase add-ons on the wpForo Forum.
Best WordPress Community Plugins for: Forum.
price: free. Add-ons are available.
4. Profile builder
Profile Builder is another user management tool, this time used to create and manage user registration forms. This plugin allows you to easily customize your website’s front-end login widget and gives you the tools you need to assign user roles and features to your members.
Other main features of this plugin include:
- Member directory and user list page.
- Custom login from anywhere on your site.
- Creating multiple registration forms.
- Creating multiple edit profile forms.
- User role editor.
Best WordPress community plugins for: User management.
price: free. Pro version starts at $75.
5. Youzify
Youzify is an enhanced version of the BuddyPress plugin and must be used in conjunction with it for it to work. This plugin allows you to add additional functionality to your BuddyPress community and make your website more user-friendly.
The main features of this plugin are:
- Add a user activity stream.
- Allow friend requests.
- Add follow user option.
- Give points and badges to other users.
- Allows replies, likes, and comments on user posts.
- Add color schemes to create fun themes for your community.
Best WordPress Community Plugins for: Construction of membership site.
price: free. Pro version starts at $49.
6. Peepsaw
PeepSo is a free community plugin that provides tools to build a social network on your WordPress site.
This easy-to-use plugin has the following useful features:
- Messaging and live chat.
- Uploading media such as videos and photos.
- Custom widgets for community engagement.
- Links from many supported members including YouTube.
The theme’s lightweight and slim design makes it compatible with a variety of WordPress themes, allowing you to customize your website to your heart’s content.
Best WordPress Community Plugins for: Social engagement.
price: free. Professionals start at $19/month.
7.bb press
bbPress is a free, open-source WordPress forum plugin designed specifically for creating discussion boards. This plugin is intentionally designed for beginners and integrates elegantly with your existing WordPress community website.
The main features offered include:
- Compatible with numerous WordPress plugins.
- Scalable to fit your community.
- Simple and flexible design.
The great thing about bbPress is that as an open source project, it has the entire knowledge of the WordPress community behind it. Patches and new configurations are added regularly. If you have something specific you want from the website, you can also request it.
Best WordPress Community Plugins for: Discussion board.
price: free.
Final Thoughts: Choosing the Best WordPress Community Plugins
Designing and managing a WordPress community website is a great way to showcase your brand, share your knowledge, and connect with like-minded people around the world.
And without a doubt, installing the right WordPress community plugin will make the process of designing an eye-catching website easier and more affordable.
However, before you can build your WordPress community website, you need to choose a hosting provider.Fully managed offers you need WordPress hosting A solution that scales with your website.
contact us to find out how our services can help you design the perfect WordPress website for your online community.
