What is Higher logic vanilla?
Pros from reviewers
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Effective API for app integrations: The software boasts a fantastic API that allows users to create exciting app integrations and software extensions. This feature enhances the functionality of the software and allows for greater customization and integration with other software.
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Excellent customer support: Higher Logic Vanilla provides first-rate customer support, with a team always ready to answer questions and assist with implementing various ideas. This ensures that users have the necessary support to effectively use the software and maximize its potential.
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Seamless Single Sign-On feature: The software provides a Single Sign-On feature that ensures a smooth transition for users from the main platform to the community. This feature enhances the user experience by providing a seamless interaction between different platforms.
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Customizable platform: Higher Logic Vanilla offers a highly customizable platform that allows users to create a community experience that matches their branding. This includes theming architecture, content organization, moderation, addition of new spaces, and gamification features.
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Active development and open source: Higher Logic Vanilla is actively developed and open source, allowing users to openly track its development and propose feature ideas. This ensures that the software is constantly improving and adapting to the needs of its users.
Cons from reviewers
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Inadequate analytics: Some users have found the analytics somewhat lacking, as the advanced analytics dashboard doesn't allow any form of filtering or side by side comparisons of different user groups or content sets
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Inflexible technology: Some of the technology seems a bit outdated and inflexible, for example, the migration from staging to live is also manual and prone to user error
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Hidden costs: As a managed service, there can be some hidden costs, particularly with migrations, and some users have reported that changing simple headings is a manual task done by the account manager
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Cumbersome functionalities: Some users have found that certain functionalities can be a bit cumbersome and certain workflows are difficult to maintain with high volume, especially when moderating a community as a team.
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Limited customization options: Despite the platform's overall flexibility, some users have reported that making changes can be challenging as the HTML isn't accessible to forum owners, requiring an entire section to be written for changes beyond the landing page
Main features
Starting Price
Free Plan
Customizability
User-friendly platform
Content versatility
Cloud-based system
Integration capabilities
Starting Price
N/A
Free Plan
No
Customizability
User-friendly platform
Content versatility
Cloud-based system
Integration capabilities
How Higher logic vanilla compare to similar software?
Product
Price
N/A
Free plan
No
Main features
Pros
Cons
Alternatives
Deal
No available deal at the moment
Who is Higher logic vanilla best for according to our reviewers?
Fast-Paced Companies: These users need to quickly set up and customize their forums. They find the software user-friendly and appreciate the variety of useful plugins to enhance the forum's capabilities. They also value the ease of managing categories and forum groups, and the minimal training required for new staff members
Support Community Managers: These users manage a support community. They find the software user-friendly and appreciate the strong API for customization. They value the responsiveness and knowledge of their account manager, but note that some functionalities can be a bit cumbersome and certain workflows are difficult to maintain with high volume.
Market Leaders: These users aim to offer the best community experience for their users. They appreciate the basic features like discussions and comments, the ability to customize their community platform with their own theme, and the Single Sign-On feature that ensures a seamless experience for their users
Community Management Agencies: These users help other companies manage and build online communities. They value the high customizability of Vanilla, particularly its theming architecture, and its open source nature that allows them to track its development and propose feature ideas. They also appreciate the API that enables exciting app integrations and software extensions
Community Managers: These users manage large communities and create engaging ecosystems for their customers. They find the software clear and easy to navigate, allowing them to manage all aspects effortlessly. They appreciate the ability to customize almost every aspect of their Community experience, from content organization and moderation to the addition of new spaces and gamification
Higher logic vanilla Reviews
4.5
Higher logic vanilla rating
4.5
Ease of use
5.0
Customer service
4.5
Value for money
4.3
Likelihood to recommend
4.2
Features
19 Higher logic vanilla Reviews
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Richard B
Staying Connected: Impressive Updates and Engagement with Higher Logic
it allows us to stay connected and engaged with our community anytime, anywhere. Lastly, the regular updates and improvements made by the Higher Logic team are impressive
August 13, 2024
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Martinez
Positive Experience with Vanilla: Robust API and Excellent Account Management
I find the software, higher-logic-vanilla, quite user-friendly. Once I understood the basics, I realized there's a lot of room for customization to fit my needs. We needed a solution with a strong API and Vanilla has excelled in this aspect. My account manager is easy to work with, responsive, and knowledgeable. She's always willing to connect me with her team for further insights. I would recommend Vanilla for managing a support community. However, some functionalities can be a bit cumbersome and certain workflows are difficult to maintain with high volume. When moderating our community as a team, we sometimes duplicate work as it's hard to see where team members are working in the community.
August 4, 2024
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Scott Martinez
Vanilla: Meeting All Community Forum Needs for Over 5 Years
My experience managing a large community and creating an engaging ecosystem for our customers has been simplified by Higher Logic Vanilla. The software is clear and easy to navigate, allowing me to manage all aspects effortlessly. Even without prior knowledge or experience, I was able to start managing our company's Community Forum with ease, thanks to Vanilla. This has boosted my confidence in my ability to learn, grow, and excel as a Community Manager. However, I think Vanilla could improve their analytics system, which sometimes does not provide accurate data and seems to have some bugs. But considering this feature is relatively new, I'm confident they will improve it to their usual standard of flawless service.
July 27, 2024
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Barbara J
Positive Experience with Higher Logic Vanilla, Despite Technical Hurdles
I successfully replaced my user forums with Higher Logic Vanilla and found it easy to configure. My users were pleased with the upgrade, finding the product fully featured and relatively straightforward to set up. The integration with SSO was seamless and there are numerous plug-ins available for further customization. My forum moderators and most users found it simple and enjoyable to use. The account management has been efficient and responsive to issues. However, as a managed service, there were some hidden costs, particularly with migrations. Some of the technology seems a bit outdated and inflexible, for example, changing simple headings is a manual task done by the account manager. The migration from staging to live is also manual and prone to user error. We've had issues with image compression as our sites are very visual and performance has been affected. I am hopeful that the infrastructure changes they are making will improve this.
July 21, 2024
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Janet W
Valuable Insights and Seamless Integration: A Review of [Software Name]
they provide valuable insights into our community's activities. The software's seamless integration with other platforms is a major plus
July 15, 2024
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Betty D
Versatile Platform for Swift, Customized Community Launch
I appreciate that Vanilla allows us to customize almost every aspect of our Community experience, from content organization and moderation to the addition of new spaces and gamification. Even without coding experience, our team can develop and adjust these elements. Our developers can also make changes to the code for further customization. However, I find the analytics somewhat lacking. The advanced analytics dashboard offers some useful metrics but doesn't allow any form of filtering or side by side comparisons of different user groups or content sets. The analytics API provides slightly more useful information, but it's still challenging to fully understand the more complex aspects of the value the community is providing to our organization. Additionally, I find their documentation significantly lacking. Once I know how to do something on the platform, I realize it can probably do what I'm looking for, but often I have to rely on my CSM to help me find that information, which they are usually great at!
July 6, 2024
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Brandon
Tailored Platform and Responsive Support
they allow us to tailor the platform to our specific needs. The customer support team is always responsive and helpful
July 2, 2024
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Sarah
Vanilla: A Superior, User-Friendly and Flexible Forum Software Solution
I found the setup of Higher Logic Vanilla to be incredibly quick, which was essential for our company's fast-paced development. We were able to establish and fully customize our new forum in a very short time. The software is extremely user-friendly and offers a lot of customization options. It also provides a variety of useful plugins to enhance the forum's capabilities, including the 'Mark as Troll' plugin, which I think is the best feature of any forum I've used. Managing categories and forum groups is easy, and the features can be easily explained to new staff members, eliminating the need for a long training period. The only issue I've had with Vanilla is dealing with spam farms (not bots), as there's no option to enforce a captcha for posts. However, Vanilla makes spam cleanup quick and easy, and user roles and forum settings can be used to minimize the impact of spam, turning it from a problem into a minor inconvenience.
June 25, 2024
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Kayla Brown
Perfect Blend of Functionality and User-Friendliness
I value the ease of use of Higher-Logic-Vanilla as both an admin and a user. Its control panel is simple and while other forum software might have more features, I find them mostly unnecessary. I currently run five active forums with Vanilla and it remains my top choice despite having used other platforms like Invision and Drupal. I have no significant complaints.
June 15, 2024
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Lauren C
Excellent Bang for Your Buck with Higher-Logic-Vanilla
I find the higher-logic-vanilla software to be user-friendly and cost-effective, providing all the features that pricier alternatives offer. I value the dedicated Success Manager who is always responsive and helpful. After testing 10 different solutions, I chose this software. I appreciate the continuous addition of new features and the gamification aspect that keeps our customers engaged. Initially, I wished for better integrations with other products, but the new API v2 has addressed this concern.
June 9, 2024
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Charles A
Enhancing Collaboration and Efficiency: A Game-Changing Automation Feature
they facilitate productive conversations and idea sharing among users. The automation rules feature is a game-changer
June 2, 2024
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Denise R
Efficient Workflow Enhancement: Leveraging the Power of Discussion Forums
it has significantly streamlined our workflow. I find the discussion forums very useful
May 28, 2024
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Quintessa S
Prompt Issue Resolution and Robust Reporting with Higher Logic Vanilla
any issues or queries we have are promptly addressed. I appreciate the robust reporting tools that Higher Logic Vanilla offers
May 18, 2024
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Elijah Garcia
Customization Boosts Client Relationships
it has helped our team build stronger relationships with our clients. The customization options are a standout feature
May 14, 2024
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Quintessa D
Enhanced Community Management: Exceptional Mobile Responsiveness
it has greatly improved our community management process. The mobile responsiveness of the platform is excellent
May 5, 2024
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Blythe
Excellent Support and Easy Implementation with Higher Logic Vanilla
I find the Higher Logic Vanilla software user-friendly and I appreciate that my requests are taken seriously. If they can't accommodate a request, they add it to their Road Map. The communication from the project assistant is excellent, they're responsive and on top of things. However, making changes can be challenging as the HTML isn't accessible to forum owners, requiring an entire section to be written for changes beyond the landing page. While CSS customization is good, the odd naming makes it less straightforward. The scope of assistance from Vanilla Forums could be clearer from the outset. There are missing features, like Tagging in analytics, and there's no self-service option for simple tasks like pulling the user list, which would improve the admin experience. The services offered should be better structured in the package sell, as some feature requests incurred additional charges. These services should be included in the terms to enhance the admin experience. Lastly, a recent update was unclear, leaving me to discover any odd behaviors.
April 28, 2024
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Bryan Martinez
Efficient and Engaging Software
it's intuitive and easy to navigate, making my work more efficient. The software's ability to foster community engagement is commendable
April 21, 2024
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Diane R
Higher Logic Vanilla: Impressive User-Friendly Interface
I've been using Higher Logic Vanilla for a few months now and I'm impressed with its user-friendly interface
April 16, 2024
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Alexander M
Superior Forum Platform for Thriving Online Communities
I believe Higher Logic Vanilla is an outstanding tool for creating effective and visually pleasing forums, packed with excellent community management features. As an agency that helps other companies manage and build online communities, we've encountered many community platforms, but Vanilla is our preferred choice. It's highly customizable, particularly its theming architecture, allowing us to create forums that perfectly match our branding. It's also actively developed and open source, enabling us to openly track its development and propose feature ideas. It also boasts a fantastic API that lets us create exciting app integrations and software extensions. The company's support is also first-rate, with a team always ready to answer questions and assist with implementing various ideas. However, I do have a few minor issues, mostly technical, such as wishing it had nested "Smarty" tags in Pockets, and that "reactions" and other gamification features were available in the open source product. But these are minor issues.
April 14, 2024