Personalizing the Community

The first time you log in to the end user interface as an administrator, you'll be prompted to get the site going. After adding a little information about yourself, setting a visual theme and basic structure for your community, you can invite others to join. All of the settings you make here are things you can change later.

When you first arrive, you'll see a "Welcome back" page. Click Personalize your site to get started.

Completing Your Profile

By adding profile information, you start to give the new community a face. Your completed profile can also be a great example for other people who are creating their own profiles.

Add the photo that will be displayed on your profile page. This can be anything, but it's best to pick something that looks like you.
Pick an avatar, which is the little image that will be displayed next to things you're associated with, such as content you create. Keep in mind that some images look better at a small size than others.
Add information about yourself. Keep in mind that people will be able to find yours and others' profiles when they search. So it's a good idea to use words in your biography and expertise that people might search for.

Click Continue to see a preview of your profile. At the preview, you'll get a chance to go back and change things. If you've got something that works, click continue to site theming.

Creating a Site Structure

Starting a structure for content is one of the most important things you'll do to get started. Most space lists tend to reflect interests or structure of the communities they serve. The spaces for a company site, for example, might be organized to reflect the organization of the company itself. A public site, on the other hand, might reflect areas of interest.

Note: The included spaces, such as Getting Started, are created automatically. In a new community, it's good to have a place for people to ask questions about the community. But you can delete these later if you want to.

It's a good idea to have thought through your space list before creating actual spaces. Once people start adding content, changing things might confuse your users or slow your site's adoption. If you've got a list of the spaces you think you'll want, pick the two that are most likely to help get things started. For example, you could create two spaces that are sure to provoke people to read and add content.

Note: For more on editing your space list, see Creating and Arranging Spaces, Designing Space Hierarchies, and Creating a New Space.

Click Continue to go on to where you can invite people to join.