What's changed in Aurora from Community Classic
This article captures some of the high-level changes (terminology, features, and concepts) that have changed (or will be changing) in Aurora from Community Classic. Terminology changes For Aurora, we have updated several terms that were previously used in Community Classic. Kudos are now called Likes. Subscriptions are now called Follows. Discussion Styles are now called Content Types. Content Types is the collective term used to describe the different types of boards community supports (forums, knowledge bases, blogs, etc.). Group Hubs are now called Groups. Tags and labels have been combined are now just all called Tags. There are two types of tags (preset and freeform). Tool changes and enhancements The site-building tool Studio has been replaced with Designer and Dev Tools. In Aurora Designer, you can edit your site’s Theme and manage Page Templates. In a future release, you'll also use this area to manage Email Templates and text strings. In the Dev Tools, you will find the tools needed to develop and customize your site. The Content Editor has been enhanced with several new features and meets accessibility requirements. Auto-save is enabled by default for all content types. Members have access to full version history of content with the ability to Delete, Edit, Compare, and Restore versions. Integration with Unsplash image libraries for Blog cover images and Page Template sections. Community Analytics is no longer a separate tool and now is built into the Community application. Where did it go? Not sure where something moved to? Here’s a list of some of the bigger things that have moved to a new place in Aurora: Admin Settings: Several of the settings pages have been simplified (or removed) and grouped differently. Settings pages that used to be in the “Community Admin” or “Admin” area are now available under Settings. Each card (tab) groups related settings into a new page. As we continue to build out more Aurora features, more cards/tabs will be added to the Settings area. Content Management Areas: Most content-related management tasks (find and edit drafts, review and manage reported abusive content, Spam Quarantine, and Moderation) are now performed from the Manage Content space: Developer Experience Aurora is built on the philosophy that internal and external developers should have access to the same development tools, empowering everyone involved with your community's user experience while providing a seamless, simple, and powerful SDK to help you get the most our of Khoros Communities. Why React? We chose React to power the web layer of our technology stack because of its ubiquitous nature and powerful built-in toolset. React, coupled with React Bootstrap, offers developers the ability to create powerful customizations to the user interface without losing out on the popular Bootstrap DLS that has been a part of the success of Khoros Communities over the years. Add the powerful Apollo Client state management library makes takes the communication between your React components and your community's data to the next level. It provides GraphQL call management, a catchable data store that monitors and responds to data updates. This update gives developers a better toolkit without taking away some of the most popular time-saving capabilities our developer community has come to appreciate. Why GraphQL? GraphQL is the query language for all of Aurora's APIs. This solution is consistent across our entire user interface, giving external developers the same backend experience we use to create Aurora's built-in features. REST API served us well in Khoros Communities for many years, but in Aurora, we wanted to give developers access to a more precise, flexible, and capable API to make data more accessible across the board. Where communities once relied on custom REST endpoints or multiple individual calls to retrieve necessary data, GraphQL can handle multiple operations at one time, and return only the data you need when you need it.Aurora recommended font and image file types and sizes
Throughout the Aurora community, you’ll find many different features that support images, such as page templates, ranks, and badges. Below, you'll find required and/or recommended sizes and file types for various features. Avatars Admins: SVG, JPG, or PNG format Square image required Minimum recommended dimensions: 300px square Badges PNG or SVG format Note: SVG images might not currently load properly in email notifications. Minimum recommended dimensions: 240 px square Custom fonts TTF, WOFF, or WOFF2 format Favicon PNG format Minimum dimensions: 512 px square Hero banner image JPG or PNG format Maximum recommended size: 2000 x 600 px or a similar ratio An image without text or logos is best; the hero area is designed responsively and the visible area may change based on viewport. Logo PNG or SVG format Size is flexible; you can update Logo Height within Designer > Page Templates > Header & Footer. Content images Blog banner images Otherwise, use a large, quality image and it will be resized for you. JPG or PNG Recommended dimensions: 800 x 500px Post images JPG or PNG Member has a choice on size; image will be resized on upload. Place avatars SVG format 400px square Ranks PNG or SVG format Uploaded images are converted to 16 pixels in height and up to 100 pixels in width wherever they appear in the community (square images will be 16 px by 16 px). Note: Your image will be scaled to fit the supported dimensions, so we don’t recommend using a really tall image as it will be difficult to see when it’s scaled to 16 pixels high.Take a tour of Aurora
Welcome to Aurora. We've put together this video training course to help you get familiar with key features and concepts about Khoros' re-imagined Community Experience. This 12-video series is grouped by four community roles: Managers Moderators Developers Members The entire course takes about 1 hourto complete. Note: We will be updating these videos and adding new ones as we continue to roll out new Aurora features. Subscribe to this article to be notified when new videos are available. Community Managers Community Overview Building your community structure Designing your site Configuring feature settings Roles and permissions Gamification Measuring success Community overview (3:49) Building your community structure (6:03) Designing your site (7:54) Configuring feature settings (4:52) Roles and permissions (4:51) Gamification (4:23) Measuring success (3:08) Community Moderators Moderating your community (9:14) Community Developers Getting Started as a Developer Getting Started with Handlebars Creating Handlebars GraphQL API Getting Started as a Developer(4:58) Getting Started with Handlebars(6:56) Creating Handlebars(4:20) GraphQL API (3:54) Community Members Personalize your community experience Getting around and finding the content you want Contributing to the community Using your inbox Personalize your community experience (3:45) Getting around and finding the content you want (1:54) Contributing to the community (4:55) Using your inbox (2:46) What to read next: Getting Started as an Administrator Getting Started as a Community Manager Getting Started as a Site DesignerAurora Accessibility Support
Accessibility is a critical component for communities that want to ensure their web content is accessible to people with disabilities. Aurora strives for a WCAG AA level of compliance for all the major community features. To ensure that we meet these standards, we have rigorous internal testing (automated and manual) that are part of the standard Aurora development process. Each release, we test keyboard navigation, heading levels, field labels, and interactive page elements to make sure that content is accessible and being read out correctly by screen readers.We also use a third-party vendor to manually assess the user flows, identifying and resolving accessibility violations. As part of the Aurora site-creation experience, we have also added several accessibility features. Alt Text for Images Members can add alt text while uploading images to the content on the community. Screen-reader friendly headings Admins can add headings for widgets that are visible only to screen readers. Color Contrast Verification The Theme editor's contrast-checker ensures that there is sufficient contrast between the background colors and foreground colors you choose. Skip to Content link on navigation bar From the navigation bar, you have the option to skip past repetitive content and go directly to the main content. When you navigate with the keyboard, a control appears that enables you to navigate beyond the repeated content.Flood controls for Aurora communities
With Khoros, there are limits on how often people are allowed to post, upload images, videos, and attachments, tag content, send private messages, and other community actions before triggering flood controls. Flood controls are in place to help combat potential spam. Note: Those with the Administrator and Moderator role are exempt from flood control restrictions; these thresholds affect only regular members. The following table lists the default flood rate settings for various actions performed by the member within a specified period of time. Actions Flood Controls Post content A member can't post more than: 3 posts in 30 seconds 15 posts in 10 minutes 50 posts in an hour Send Private Messages A member can't send more than: 1 private message in 30 seconds 5 private messages in 10 minutes 20 private messages in an hour Upload Images A member can't upload more than: 100 images at a time 1000 images per day 1000 images in the community Upload Videos A member can’t upload more than 50 videos per day in the community. Upload Attachments Members can’t upload more than 100 attachments per post per day. Like content A member can't give more than: 50 likes per minute 500 likes per hour 5000 likes per day Tag content A member can’t add more than: 20 tags per minute 500 tags per hour 5000 tags per day Mention people A member can’t mention more than 10 members in a single post. To configure these flood controls, contact the Support team.Building your first site on Aurora
Most of the basic concepts and approaches you take to designing and build your community site are the same in Khoros Community Classic as they are in Aurora. Aurora just makes them easier, faster, and more fun. When building your first site, we recommend the following approach. Basics Goals (think before you build): Community Managers are the face of the community. They own the day-to-day management and implementation of the brand’s digital community strategy. As the Community Manager, you are primarily responsible for building and leading your community to align with your company's goals. Apart from these, in support of your company goals, you’ll be working to increase user engagement and advocacy, accelerating innovation, driving sales, and reducing sales costs. Before you start building your community, you must: Understand the audience: Who is the intended audience? What are they looking for? What is their level of experience? Decide the type of content that best: meets the audience needs drives site traffic improves peer-peer communication keeps users engaged Understand the stakeholders or internal audiences, including: Marketing team Product team Support team Analysts Legal team The answers to these questions help you develop a community strategy that connects members and your brand content, leading to the structure of your community. Before you start building your community structure, you must understand what your business is trying to accomplish with your community. Hence, the structure of the community must align with the community's goals and objectives. Site Structure: When you have figured out the overall purpose and goals for your site and a general idea of the categories and boards you want to launch your site with, it's time to build the skeleton for your site. Check out these Community Structure Best Practices, and when you're ready, start building out the structure of your site. Site look and feel: Your site should reflect the colors and personality of your brand. With Aurora Themes, you can create the look and feel for all the visual components of your site. Review your company's brand style guide, and when you're ready to start designing your site's visual theme, head over to the Theme editor in Designer. Page design: Aurora includes a complete set of page templates so that all your category, forum, blog, knowledge base, event, idea, and group pages are consistent. You also have complete control over your Community Home Page and Member Profile Page. Start designing how each page on your site should look. Must-haves Roles and permissions: Roles and permissions control what parts of the community members can access and the actions they can perform. Aurora provides some common roles (admin, moderator, new member) out-of-the-box, but you can also create custom roles to mix permissions and give different members elevated capabilities. Like your community structure, start small and focused. Only add more roles if and when you need them. Learn more about Roles and Permissions. Member and Feature defaults: When you launch your community, you can define precisely what the default settings are for the member experience and each product feature enabled for your community. Check out the Settings area and review the settings for each community area. Beyond the Basics Groups: Groups deliver an enhanced experience for Community members to engage around a common theme or purpose. Each group has its own configurable set of content types (forum, blog, knowledge base) to organize content and communication. Learn more about Groups. Using GraphQL: When you need a bit more power, you (or your community developers) can use GraphQL (Aurora's query language) to access all of Aurora's APIs.
