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As a marketer, I rely on UTM parameters all the time. They’re one of the easiest ways to see which emails, social posts, or announcements are sending people to your community and which ones aren’t pulling their weight.

So if you’ve ever looked at your analytics and wondered “How did people end up here?” a missing UTM might be the reason.

Whether you’re promoting a discussion, event, or knowledge base article, a quick UTM tag gives you the visibility you need. And in Vanilla, you can filter and chart this data directly in the Page Views report.

What are UTMs?

UTMs are short tags added to the end of a URL. Super helpful when you're linking to your community from:

• Email newsletters
• LinkedIn posts
• Event follow-ups
• In-app announcements
• Paid ads

Example

Let’s say you’re hosting an upcoming Ask Me Anything (AMA) session in your community, and the event post lives here:

yourcommunity.com/events/ama-with-product-team

You want to promote it:

• In your product newsletter
• On LinkedIn
• Via a homepage banner inside the community

Each version of the link can include a unique UTM string, like this one for the email version:

yourcommunity.com/events/ama-with-product-team?utm_source=productnewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ama_promotion

What each UTM parameter means

You can build a link manually or use a free UTM builder like this one from Google Analytics.

Be sure to stick to consistent, human-readable names for each parameter. Your future self will thank you when you’re sorting through analytics.

Where to see UTM performance in Vanilla

In Vanilla’s Analytics, UTM data is available in the Page Views data source. You can:

• Group by UTM values (e.g. by campaign)
• Filter by source or medium
• Compare internal vs. external traffic (Vanilla automatically labels these for you)

This makes it easy to see whether your homepage banner or LinkedIn promo drove more AMA visits and to report on what’s working.

For full implementation details, refer to our documentation on UTM tracking.

Hi everyone!
I wanted to share a bit about my journey customising our community on Higher Logic Vanilla without developer resources in case it's interesting and why I believe it’s something anyone can try.

Some context

Over the years, I’ve been part of small community teams that didn’t always have the luxury of in-house developers. Like many of you, we had to wear multiple hats and get creative with the resources we had.

I took some basic styling and coding courses and got familiar with the Higher Logic Vanilla platform, but I still wouldn’t call myself a coding expert at all. That said, having a foundational understanding together with the right tools can go a long way!

How AI has changed the game for me

Recently, AI has opened up lots of doors for me. With a combination of tools like Copilot, our company's private ChatGPT and OpenAI’s ChatGPT, I’ve been able to build customisations I wouldn’t have been able to before, or that would have taken me a lot longer to achieve.

Here’s how I usually approach a customisation:

1. Describe the desired outcome
   I explain what I want to build or change, sometimes including screenshots or examples from other sites if available.
2. Set the context
   I clarify where the code will be placed (usually via a custom HTML widget) and specify the structure: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript in separate blocks.
3. Inspect and explain
   If I’m modifying something that already exists, I inspect the existing element (right click and inspect) and share the relevant code with the AI to provide more context.
4. Iterate with visual feedback
   If the initial result isn’t quite right, I take a screenshot of the outcome vs. what I intended and share that with the AI. It’s usually enough to get it to refine the code correctly, but sometimes I would also have to write the changes I'd like in a structured way.

What’s worked best and what to watch out for

One of the key things I’ve learned is to avoid injecting code via the JavaScript tab in the Style Guide where possible. This method is more likely to conflict with other existing styling, or break when there's a new release.

Before custom layouts where available, custom HTML widgets were only available on the home page, which meant we had to inject code directly via the style guide for changes anywhere else. It required more complex code and troubleshooting and it wasn't stable long term.

Now that we have custom layouts I highly recommend using custom HTML widgets instead.

💡If you do need to use the Style Guide, this article is helpful for understanding the risks: How Can I Customize My Style Guide (Vanilla Knowledge Base)

Also, always test in a staging environment first - it saves a lot of headaches!

Examples of what I've been able to do

Our community isn't live yet, so screenshots it's the best I can do for now - but it hopefully helps get an idea of what you can do with some customisation.

CTA tiles on the Home page: they zoom in when hovering over, plus I added an "employee only" tag for those only visible to employees.

Fully customised page for guests via custom HTML:

Fancier CTA widgets: customised gradient background colour, buttons change colour when hovering over, employee only label, etc.

A workaround to the "moderation messages" in custom layouts:

Highlight in profile fields: both from the profile picture and form the editing profile menu. The options are highlighted when hovering over

Happy to chat more!

I’m by no means a developer, but with the help of AI I’ve been able to deliver real enhancements to our community.

These are just some examples of what can be achieved, but there's a lot more that can be done and I'll be exploring next :) If you’re curious about how I tackled a specific customisation or want help getting started, feel free to drop me a message. I’m more than happy to share what I’ve learned 🤗

As a community manager, you’re often asked to have your members do a lot of different things. Q&A, feedback, ideation, testing, use cases, customer stories - the list goes on and on. Before you know it, your community home page ends up looking like Times Square complete with billboards and flashing lights. This quickly becomes overwhelming. It’s overwhelming for you as a community manager to set up, monitor, and pull results from. And it's overwhelming for your members as it often becomes unclear how to interact with the community. 

At times like these, it can be helpful to take a step back, breathe, and ask yourself: “If I can only choose one, what is the one thing I want my members to do when they visit our community?”  

Back to Basics 

When you’re tired, stressed, or overwhelmed, we all have our places of comfort that we go back to. Whether it’s revisiting your favorite movie or tv show, listening to that album you never get tired of, talking to a friend or family member, curling up with your dog, or cooking up a meal than never fails to hit the mark, these are things that help us reset our focus. Sometimes your community needs that too. 

A clear focus helps in several ways: 

• Encourages consistent engagement – When members know what they’re supposed to do, they’re more likely to participate. 
• Simplifies community design – Your community’s structure, content, and features should align with your primary goal. 
• Improves member experience – A focused community prevents information overload and makes participation easier. 
• Strengthens business or organizational goals – A well-defined purpose ensures your community aligns with larger objectives. 

How to Identify Your Community’s “One Thing” 

Determining your community’s core action starts with understanding your purpose, audience, and desired outcomes:  

1. Identify Your Community’s Purpose 

• Why does this community exist? 
• What value does it provide to members? 
• What does success look like for this community? 

Examples of “one thing” for different community purposes: 

• Customer Support – Ask or answer a question 
• Brand Advocacy – Share a story or testimonial 
• Product User Group – Share feedback 
• Education – Complete a course 
• Hobby – Post a project photo 

These examples may seem overly simple, but that’s the beauty of your “one thing” - it should be simple. And by defining it, you provide a clear path for engagement and make it easier for members to participate. 

2. Analyze Member Behavior 

If your community is already active, look at analytics and engagement trends: 

• Which types of posts receive the most interaction? 
• What actions do the most engaged members take? 
• Where do members drop off in participation? 

Your most engaged users can provide insight into what naturally resonates. If they consistently gravitate toward discussions, testimonials, or user-generated content, lean into that. 

3. Align with Business or Organizational Goals 

Your community should support broader business objectives. Consider: 

• If your goal is customer retention, should your one thing be product discussions or success stories? 
• If your brand values education, should your one thing be knowledge-sharing through articles or webinars? 
• If you’re aiming for peer support, should your one thing be encouraging members to answer questions? 

4. Make It Actionable and Easy 

Your one thing should be clear, simple, and repeatable. 

• Instead of “engage more,” say “comment on one post per visit.” 
• Instead of “help each other,” say “answer one question per day.” 
• Instead of “share experiences,” say “post a recent success story.” 

How to Reinforce Your “One Thing” 

While defining your “one thing” falls to you, we’re here to help you implement it in your community! Higher Logic Vanilla makes it incredibly easy to reinforce the primary action you want members to take across a wide range of tools: 

1. Structure Your Community Around It 

Ensure your homepage and navigation guide members toward the key action. If your focus is Q&A, make sure questions are prominently displayed. And if your “one thing” is different for different types of members, utilizing Roles is a powerful way to customize your community so the right actions are available to right members. 

2. Encourage Through Calls-to-Action 

Use simple, direct CTAs in your widgets, posts, and community prompts: 

• “Have a question? Post it here!” 
• “Know the answer? Help a fellow member!” 
• “Share your latest win with the community!” 

3. Reward Participation 

Create recognition programs, badges, or leaderboards for members who consistently take the primary action. Often just letting people they've been noticed is enough to keep them coming back.

4. Monitor and Adapt 

Community engagement is dynamic. Track participation, setup analytics dashboards, gather feedback, and refine your "one thing" over time if needed. Sometimes the needs of your organization or members will change, and as someone who is closely monitoring the activity of your community, you will be in a fantastic position to pivot.

Final Thoughts: The Power of a Clear Focus 

For all the talk about multitasking, the truth is most people are more productive when they’re able to focus on one thing at a time. That’s just as true in your community as it is everywhere else. And when that “one thing” is easy to understand and execute, more members will participate. A lack of engagement doesn’t always mean people don’t want to engage. It could mean they don’t know how to engage. Bringing their focus to that "one thing" makes it easier to start becoming an active member of your community.    

So, take a moment today to reflect: “What is the one thing I want my members to do?”

Already know the "one thing" for your community or have a story about how you found it? Let us know below!