Community Launch Prep Checklist - HL Vanilla Community
<main> <article class="userContent"> <p>As you prepare to launch your <strong>Higher Logic Vanilla</strong> (<strong>Vanilla</strong>) community, there are a few settings that you should review and adjust (as necessary) for your community.</p><p>This checklist details these settings, and guides you through the steps to configure them to ensure that your community launch goes smoothly.</p><p>📝 <strong>NOTE</strong>: These settings are more technical than the more high-level steps that are described in <a href="https://success.vanillaforums.com/kb/articles/345" rel="nofollow noreferrer ugc">Community Launch Checklist</a>.</p><p>📝 <strong>NOTE</strong>: All of these settings are managed in <strong>your community Dashboard</strong>.</p><p>✔️ <strong>TIP</strong>: The <strong>Manage Roles & Permissions page</strong> is the access point for the <em>Private vs. Public Community</em>, <em>Sign-in Permissions</em>, and <em>User Registration Method</em> steps; consider doing these successively (as applicable) to prevent back-&-forth navigation.</p><h2 data-id="custom-domain">Custom Domain</h2><p>Update this setting so that you can use your own domain name for your Vanilla community.</p><p>✔️ <strong>TIP</strong>: To learn more, see <a href="https://success.vanillaforums.com/kb/articles/3" rel="nofollow noreferrer ugc">Setting up your Custom Domain</a>.</p><p>📝 <strong>NOTE</strong>: If you are using Cloudflare, turn off the proxy on your end because Vanilla also uses Cloudflare.</p><p>1. Navigate to <strong>Settings > Appearance > Custom Domain</strong>.</p><p>2. On the Custom Domain Name page, follow the instructions to add your custom domain name and click <strong>Apply</strong>.</p><div class="embedExternal embedImage display-large float-none"> <div class="embedExternal-content"> <a class="embedImage-link" href="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/4SSO00H0A0N1/custom-domain.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener ugc" target="_blank"> <img class="embedImage-img" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/4SSO00H0A0N1/custom-domain.jpg" alt="Custom Domain.jpg" height="558" width="1020" loading="lazy" data-display-size="large" data-float="none"></img></a> </div> </div> <h2 data-id="private-vs.-public-community">Private vs. Public Community</h2><p>If your community is intended to be <em>public</em>, you might have to disable the setting that makes it private.</p><p>✔️ <strong>TIP</strong>: To learn more, see <a href="https://success.vanillaforums.com/kb/articles/99" rel="nofollow noreferrer ugc">Private Communities</a>.</p><p>📝 <strong>NOTE</strong>: Communities are often set to "private" during the implementation process in order to limit access to the community while it's being set up.</p><p>1. Navigate to <strong>Settings > Membership > Roles & Permissions</strong>.</p><p>2. On the Manage Roles & Permissions page, click the <strong>settings</strong> icon.</p><div class="embedExternal embedImage display-large float-none"> <div class="embedExternal-content"> <a class="embedImage-link" href="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/M8EEU2UXOEWQ/permissions-settings.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener ugc" target="_blank"> <img class="embedImage-img" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/M8EEU2UXOEWQ/permissions-settings.jpg" alt="Permissions-settings.jpg" height="320" width="864" loading="lazy" data-display-size="large" data-float="none"></img></a> </div> </div> <p>3. On the Advanced Settings dialog, slide the toggle to the left (OFF) to disable the "private community" setting.</p><div class="embedExternal embedImage display-large float-none"> <div class="embedExternal-content"> <a class="embedImage-link" href="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/I5BFSP0K3AGP/permissions-settings-disable-private.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener ugc" target="_blank"> <img class="embedImage-img" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/I5BFSP0K3AGP/permissions-settings-disable-private.jpg" alt="Permissions-settings-disable private.jpg" height="257" width="734" loading="lazy" data-display-size="large" data-float="none"></img></a> </div> </div> <p>4. Click <strong>Save</strong>.</p><h2 data-id="sign-in-permissions">Sign-in Permissions</h2><p>It's possible that some Roles had been restricted from signing in to your community while it was being set up. If so, be sure to re-enable the sign-in permission for those Roles.</p><p>✔️ <strong>TIP</strong>: To learn more, see <a href="https://success.vanillaforums.com/kb/articles/39" rel="nofollow noreferrer ugc">Roles & Permissions</a>.</p><p>📝 <strong>NOTE</strong>: This is done <em>per Role</em> so you might have to do it multiple times.</p><p>1. Navigate to <strong>Settings > Membership > Roles & Permissions</strong>.</p><p>2. On the Manage Roles & Permissions page, click the <strong>pencil</strong> icon for the Role that you want to edit.</p><p>3. On the Edit Role page, scroll down to the <strong>Check all permissions...</strong> section and check the <strong>Allow</strong> box for <strong>Sign In</strong>.</p><div class="embedExternal embedImage display-large float-none"> <div class="embedExternal-content"> <a class="embedImage-link" href="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/OIH0YD23H4XW/sign-in-allow.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener ugc" target="_blank"> <img class="embedImage-img" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/OIH0YD23H4XW/sign-in-allow.jpg" alt="Sign in-Allow.jpg" height="365" width="815" loading="lazy" data-display-size="large" data-float="none"></img></a> </div> </div> <p>4. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click <strong>Save</strong>.</p><h2 data-id="invisibility-cloak">Invisibility Cloak</h2><p>Your community might have been "hidden" during set up. You should disable the associated addon to "unhide" your community and allow search engines to crawl your community pages.</p><p>✔️ <strong>TIP</strong>: To learn more, see <a href="https://success.vanillaforums.com/kb/articles/310" rel="nofollow noreferrer ugc">Invisibility Cloak</a>.</p><p>1. Navigate to <strong>Settings > Addons > Addons</strong>.</p><p>2. On the Vanilla Addons page, scroll down to the Invisibility Cloak addon and slide the toggle to the left (OFF) to disable it.</p><div class="embedExternal embedImage display-large float-none"> <div class="embedExternal-content"> <a class="embedImage-link" href="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/WCBT8EZJ2HMA/invisibility-cloak.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener ugc" target="_blank"> <img class="embedImage-img" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/WCBT8EZJ2HMA/invisibility-cloak.png" alt="Invisibility Cloak.png" height="472" width="1810" loading="lazy" data-display-size="large" data-float="none"></img></a> </div> </div> <h2 data-id="delete-test-content">Delete Test Content</h2><p>Your community is probably populated with "test" and "demo" content as part of set up and implementation. It's a good idea to clear out this content before you launch your community.</p><p>✔️ <strong>TIP</strong>: To learn more, see <a href="https://success.vanillaforums.com/kb/articles/110" rel="nofollow noreferrer ugc">Delete Discussions & Comments</a>.</p><p>You can enable checkboxes on discussions and on comments in order to simultaneously select more than one (discussion or comment) and then perform actions on them as a single batch.</p><p>1. Navigate to <strong>Settings > Discussions > Posting</strong>.</p><p>2. On the Posting Settings page, slide the toggle to the right (ON) to enable checkboxes on discussions and comments.</p><div class="embedExternal embedImage display-large float-none"> <div class="embedExternal-content"> <a class="embedImage-link" href="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/28K2MCCBGFPC/discussions-enable-checkboxes.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener ugc" target="_blank"> <img class="embedImage-img" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/28K2MCCBGFPC/discussions-enable-checkboxes.png" alt="Discussions-enable checkboxes.png" height="124" width="777" loading="lazy" data-display-size="large" data-float="none"></img></a> </div> </div> <p>3. In your community, access the Discussions page.</p><p>4. Check the boxes for the discussions and comments that you want to delete.</p><p>5. In the action popup that displays in the lower left, click <strong>Delete</strong>.</p><div class="embedExternal embedImage display-large float-none"> <div class="embedExternal-content"> <a class="embedImage-link" href="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/8BB0LWI5H11V/discussions-checkboxes.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener ugc" target="_blank"> <img class="embedImage-img" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/8BB0LWI5H11V/discussions-checkboxes.png" alt="Discussions-checkboxes.png" height="1032" width="1931" loading="lazy" data-display-size="large" data-float="none"></img></a> </div> </div> <p>6. At the confirmation prompt, click <strong>Delete</strong> and then click <strong>Close</strong>.</p><h2 data-id="user-registration-method">User Registration Method</h2><p>You can choose how new members register for your community.</p><p>✔️ <strong>TIP</strong>: The options are described in <a href="https://success.vanillaforums.com/kb/articles/303" rel="nofollow noreferrer ugc">Registration Methods</a>.</p><p>1. Navigate to <strong>Settings > Membership > Registration</strong>.</p><p>2. On the User Registration Settings page, choose the preferred method for your community and click <strong>Save</strong>.</p><div class="embedExternal embedImage display-large float-none"> <div class="embedExternal-content"> <a class="embedImage-link" href="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/H1CKDIIF9NP5/registration-options.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener ugc" target="_blank"> <img class="embedImage-img" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/H1CKDIIF9NP5/registration-options.png" alt="Registration options.png" height="373" width="793" loading="lazy" data-display-size="large" data-float="none"></img></a> </div> </div> <p>📝 <strong>NOTE</strong>: If you're using SSO, be sure to make it the default login option in the SSO type configuration.</p><h2 data-id="default-sign-in">Default Sign-in</h2><p>Set a default sign-in method (either <strong>OAuth2</strong> or <strong>SAML</strong>) for your community.</p><h3 data-id="oauth2-as-default-sign-in-method">OAuth2 as default sign-in method</h3><p>1. Navigate to <strong>Settings > Connections > OAuth2</strong>.</p><p>2. On the OAuth Connections page, click a <strong>pencil</strong> icon to edit the oauth2 connection.</p><div class="embedExternal embedImage display-large float-none"> <div class="embedExternal-content"> <a class="embedImage-link" href="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/9MAO6J6U1NOT/oauth2-edit.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener ugc" target="_blank"> <img class="embedImage-img" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/9MAO6J6U1NOT/oauth2-edit.png" alt="OAuth2 edit.png" height="125" width="792" loading="lazy" data-display-size="large" data-float="none"></img></a> </div> </div> <p>3. On the OAuth Connection dialog, click the <strong>General SSO Settings</strong> tab.</p><p>4. Scroll down to the Other Settings section, slide the <strong>Default</strong> toggle to the right (ON), and click <strong>Save</strong> to set this as the default sign-in method.</p><div class="embedExternal embedImage display-large float-none"> <div class="embedExternal-content"> <a class="embedImage-link" href="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/0XCC17DNIIA8/oauth2-edit-default.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener ugc" target="_blank"> <img class="embedImage-img" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/0XCC17DNIIA8/oauth2-edit-default.png" alt="OAuth2 edit-Default.png" height="462" width="711" loading="lazy" data-display-size="large" data-float="none"></img></a> </div> </div> <h3 data-id="saml-as-default-sign-in-method">SAML as default sign-in method</h3><p>1. Navigate to <strong>Settings > Addons > Addons</strong>.</p><p>2. On the Vanilla Addons page, locate the SAML SSO addon and click its <strong>settings</strong> icon.</p><div class="embedExternal embedImage display-large float-none"> <div class="embedExternal-content"> <a class="embedImage-link" href="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/FYIW9LCIIRWQ/saml-sso-addon.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener ugc" target="_blank"> <img class="embedImage-img" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/FYIW9LCIIRWQ/saml-sso-addon.png" alt="SAML SSO Addon.png" height="356" width="822" loading="lazy" data-display-size="large" data-float="none"></img></a> </div> </div> <p>3. On the SAML SSO Settings page, click <strong>Add Connection</strong> in the upper right.</p><p>4. Configure the connection settings on the SAML Connection page.</p><p>5. Under the <strong>Identifier Format</strong> field, check the box to set this as the default sign-in method; then click <strong>Save</strong>.</p><div class="embedExternal embedImage display-large float-none"> <div class="embedExternal-content"> <a class="embedImage-link" href="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/0YFPZIG4KPME/saml-sso-addon-default.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener ugc" target="_blank"> <img class="embedImage-img" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/0YFPZIG4KPME/saml-sso-addon-default.png" alt="SAML SSO Addon-Default.png" height="732" width="815" loading="lazy" data-display-size="large" data-float="none"></img></a> </div> </div> <p><br></p> </article> </main>