Online communities and communication tools

Many communities rely on online platforms and communication tools to stay connected and to host events. On this page we have highlighted several blog posts about building and sustaining communities online. We have also produced a guidebook, accompanying appendix, and other resources for how to get started building an engaging and inclusive community on Slack.

Blog posts

Community manager experiences

From theory to practice

Guidebooks

Slack

Creating an engaging community on Slack

by Lou Woodley and Katie Pratt

May 6, 2020

This guidebook is intended for community managers, but may also serve others who are looking to build an inclusive and engaging online community in Slack.

Creating an engaging community on Slack – Appendix

by Lou Woodley and Katie Pratt

May 6, 2020

This appendix contains several resources to accompany our guidebook. It includes a Slack intentions worksheet, information about the "Invite bot," an example of a new member survey, an example of a weekly newsletter, and a pre-launch checklist.

Slack quick start guide

by Lou Woodley and Katie Pratt

April 23, 2020

This quick start guide is a brief technical orientation for Slack group members to help them to set up their profile and configure Slack notifications in a way that works for them.

Virtual events

If you’re looking for more resources about planning and hosting virtual events, please visit this resource page.

Virtual tools trials

Our virtual tools trials bring together interested members of our community of practice to try out platforms that might be useful for convening communities online. Our tools trials are ongoing, so if you have a platform you’re interested in trying, or would like to co-host a trial and share your experience, please let us know by emailing info@cscce.org.

After each trial, we share a recap of our findings on our blog, each of which includes a link back to the full collaborative notes document from the trial. Find out more about:

  • QiqoChat – a tool for online conferences
  • Mural/Padlet/Jamboard – tools for brainstorming and ideation
  • Gather – a conferencing and networking platform (in which you can also host virtual escape rooms)
  • Etherpad+Video – a tool for collaborative writing with in-doc video chat
  • Remo – a conferencing and networking platform
  • Wonder – a lightweight, spatially-controlled, networking platform
  • Butter – a video-conference tool with additional functionality such as integration with other online tools and enhanced facilitation capability
  • Discourse – an open-source community discussion platform that can be tailored to meet the needs of a range of communities