Hi all,
Following on from the post the other day about some sort of chat platform (whatsapp etc), I found that the system I use for memberships actually has a built-in feature that would allow people to chat here on the website, rather than somewhere else. The issue with platforms elsewhere was highlighter by the responses, so keeping the feature on-site seems like it might be the best idea.
But, before I do it, I just wanted to get an idea of what people thought – you can see it here: https://memberpress.com/features/premium-community-forums/ and in more detail here: https://memberpress.com/addons/clubcircles/
Excuse the fact that it’s all a bit sales-y and business-y – you have to look past all that at the actual features demo’d in the videos
This does come with a couple of hurdles – mostly financial, annoyingly. The first is going to be the cost of the product itself, which is $699 USD a year. I am already paying about half that for the level of service I have from them already, it is just going to hit hard when I have to find it all in one it in January when the money comes out in one go. Despite my nagging for the last few weeks, they also won’t do me a monthly subscription. The second, is that I will need to get a quote from the tech guys to add this to the website – so that might put a stop to it for a bit anyway.
But, the most important thing is “sign-off” so to speak from you guys – if you think it looks good, then I can start working on the next steps…
Let me know thoughts
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Michael Zwicky-Ross on Potential Members Area Features (for chatting, profiles etc)
Comment posted: 22/06/2026
Comment posted: 22/06/2026
Walter Reumkens on Potential Members Area Features (for chatting, profiles etc)
Comment posted: 22/06/2026
Also, I’ve got my doubts in general – I wouldn’t know what to chat about. I’d be more interested in being able to get in touch with individual members more easily. My friends here live in five different time zones, some of which are quite different. How is the chat supposed to work? I actually find the current form of communication quite helpful, but I’d like to see more active contributors writing articles. I’m afraid the standard might drop a bit with questions like ‘Which lens would you buy for an M3?’. I don’t know – I’m certainly not a key figure here on the blog. At 78, I’m perhaps too old for chats, and I do other things during the day besides sitting in front of my iPhone. Taking photos, for example...
Thanks for your efforts, Hamish.
Comment posted: 22/06/2026
Comment posted: 22/06/2026
vzzdor on Potential Members Area Features (for chatting, profiles etc)
Comment posted: 22/06/2026
Comment posted: 22/06/2026
DeeDee Yelverton on Potential Members Area Features (for chatting, profiles etc)
Comment posted: 22/06/2026
CHRISTOF RAMPITSCH on Potential Members Area Features (for chatting, profiles etc)
Comment posted: 22/06/2026
Bob Janes on Potential Members Area Features (for chatting, profiles etc)
Comment posted: 22/06/2026
At Dyxum we kept very high standards and were viewed as being OTT. You can also have problems in an international forum where expectations can be very different... for instance some European communities can tend towards quite biting sarcasm, which doesn't always go down briliantly with other nationalities - however, once you have a community that knows what is expected of it, things can be pretty much self-moderating, but it takes time to get there.
You will know from DPR that sometimes forums can get out of hand, it is not something to get into without your eyes being wide open.
Gary Smith on Potential Members Area Features (for chatting, profiles etc)
Comment posted: 22/06/2026
I would hate for you to incur additional time and money for marginal benefits.
Ken Davis on Potential Members Area Features (for chatting, profiles etc)
Comment posted: 22/06/2026