Add Spaces into Courses
I’d like to propose a feature enhancement that could greatly improve the student experience in courses. Specifically, I suggest adding private "Spaces" within the course area where students can interact with each other, share thoughts, and connect outside of the comments section. Currently, the comment section serves its purpose for course feedback, but students could benefit from having a dedicated space to engage more deeply with the material and one another.
Here’s what I envision:
- A new tab within each course for a private student-only space.
- Students can freely discuss the course, share insights, and form connections without the structure and limits of the comment section.
- This private space would be exclusive to members enrolled in that specific course.
- I'd also like to have a feature where students can add topics to their posts when they share something in the Space. However, I would prefer that these topics do not show up in the course filter, to keep things clean and simple for browsing.
This would provide an added value to course members, especially those who pay for premium or extended course access. For those offering paid spaces or communities, it would streamline integration and reduce the need for complex permission settings.
I think this feature could lead to greater engagement and a stronger sense of community for students while keeping the course structure tidy.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this!
VOTE HERE: https://community.wpmanageninja.com/fluentcommunity-roadmp/#/idea/1018/
Why not just make a private space for each course and add the students automatically to that private space when they enroll in the course? That can easily be done using, for example, Uncanny Automator.
Melynda Andrews too much work and a ton of clutter. I want spaces to be on different topics. Having to add dozens of additional spaces for users to have to navigate makes the experience more hectic for the user.
Having a tab with the course would keep it simple and private for course members only. Navigating what you're talking about is a ton of work to have some spaces you charge for and others that are just for course members only. Having them grouped into one place with one set of permissions is much easier to maintain.
Instead of building an exact replica of Circle, I'm trying to provide feedback to allow WPManageNinja to build something that stands out. The future is building large complex communites and not a website with 10 spaces and a small handful of courses.
If each course had its own ecosystem of links, documents, custom pages and an integrated space that was for course members only, you could build a strong community. Esclusivity is how Facebook grew at a rapid pace. Having to go to multiple places on your site to search for it, ruins the customer exsperience and the sense of being part of soemthing exsclusive.
I think if we can buildout courses into small communities and inprove the navigation, this can be a product that stands out above the rest.
Dynamic Sidebar: https://community.wpmanageninja.com/fluentcommunity-roadmp/#/idea/983/
SEO Fix: https://community.wpmanageninja.com/fluentcommunity-roadmp/#/idea/989/
Sean To me, it doesn't seem like very much work, and it seems like zero clutter. If it seems otherwise to you, then perhaps I didn't reply clearly enough. Here, I'll try again. :-)
Here's my suggestion:
1) You create a private discussion space for each group and add topics (once) in FluentCommunity.
2) You use Uncanny Automator (or Fluent CRM or whatever) to automatically add course enrollees to that course's private space.
3) Add a link (or, if you code, a button using a snippet or even a little plugin maybe?) to the course page that takes enrollees to that private discussion space.
My solution is uncluttered (one link or button added to the course homepage), and it isn't a lot of work (you only have to create one space per course you offer).
I hope that helps! :-)
Melynda Andrews As I understand it, that is beside his point. It is more about user experience, and he is right about, that in a big community with a lot of different products, tabs are easier to navigate for the user.
Melynda Andrews That is a ton of cluttered unnecessary work. When you are building a large community and have over 100 spaces and dozens of courses, it adds strain to the already large library and makes it more complicated for the user. It is also a hassle to setup.
Having a separate tab in the course area is a better customer experience and no additional work for your team.
This features can also be achieved using Fluent CRM to automate the process.
So a user automatically added to a space once the enroll into a course.
Albert Dunoo Yes, just like every other platform that copied Circle. Having a tab in the course is a better customer experience. This allows members to quickly connect with other students, versus going to another part of the website and searching for their course again.
Like I said, I am trying to provide feedback to improve the customer experience and make FluentCommunity stand out from the rest. Creating workarounds through adding additional plugins is not the answer, it's a Band-Aid.
Sean I understand your point. It will enhance the user experience.
You want everything to be under one block instead of navigating away to search for the community that the course belongs to.
Bryan William yes. There are competitors in this space working on innovation. I am trying to provide suggestions to build something unique that functions better than the competition.
Improving the navigation will improve the customer experience and hopefully get members to stay longer. If you have to click all over the website just to have a conversation and connect with other students, it ruins the experience.
I think if they could add this, a dynamic sidebar, and fix the SEO issue, this would be one of the better versions of what is out there today.
One of the most important parts of your business is maintaining a great customer experience. Making FluentCommunity unique and easy to navigate will help you a build a Tribe that lasts!