Software package

Professional community package

A members-only home for a professional community: applications vetted against your criteria, profiles with specialisms, spaces by topic, questions routed to the members who know, a library with owners and versions, events and webinars, introductions with consent and a conduct process with a record.

Custom build Concept demo

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Who it is for

Built for

A good fit

Professional networks, peer groups, practitioner communities, industry communities run by publishers or event organisers, and member networks run alongside a consultancy or training business, from a few dozen members to several thousand. It suits communities that admit members on criteria rather than letting anyone join, that value a searchable archive of answers over a scrolling chat, that want members to contribute resources with someone accountable for them, and that need a conduct process which does not depend on one person's memory. Daily users are the community lead working the application queue and watching which spaces are alive, moderators handling reports, members asking and answering questions, contributing to the library and booking events, and applicants waiting to hear.

Not the right fit

It is not for open public forums with anonymous accounts and reputation scores, which have the community forum package, nor for associations with membership grades, committees and an AGM, which have the association membership package. Communities that need role-gated spaces across many sectors or sign-on with an employer system need the custom route for those parts.

The operational problem it solves

How it runs, step by step

Wednesday, half past eight.

The community lead opens the application queue: nine new applications, each showing the role, sector and two referrals the applicant named.
Two referrals are already confirmed by existing members overnight.
The lead ticks the criteria met on six applications, records a reason against each decision and sends the welcomes; two go back for more information and one is declined with the reason stored.
In the activity view the procurement space has gone quiet for three weeks while the people-and-culture space has eighty replies since Monday, so she schedules a question for the quiet one.

A member posts a question about transfer pricing in the questions area and tags it with the right specialism; the three members marked as experts in that area receive it directly and one answers within the hour.

The asker marks it accepted and the thread joins the knowledge base, findable in a year.
Another member uploads a revised contract template to the library; it sits with the library moderator until approved, then replaces the previous version with both kept and the owner named.
A moderator opens a report about a condescending reply: the case shows the post, a warning given eight months ago to the same member, and the actions the code allows; she issues a second warning and the member sees it privately.
At noon the webinar registration for next week stands at 140 with the recording set to file in the library afterwards.
The introductions screen suggests two members in the same city who both work on pensions; the lead proposes it, both accept and the platform connects them.
In the partner area a software offer has been redeemed twenty-two times this quarter, and the renewal report shows paid membership is due for 310 members next month.

Features

What the package does

The package ships as modules that mirror how a professional community runs: joining and profiles, spaces and questions, the library, events and introductions, conduct and partners, and membership billing where the community is paid. Each module below lists what it does; the comparison table shows which package variant includes it.

Memberships

Vetted applications and referralsApplicants answer your questions, name referrers and are assessed against your vetting criteria with each decision recorded.
Conduct reports as casesReports handled as cases with the member's history, warnings, suspensions and removal.
Paid membership and renewalsMembership fees and renewals collected through a connected provider.
Partner offers with redemption trackingAn area for partner offers that records when members redeem them.
Role-gated spacesSpaces open only to chosen roles, such as a senior-only area.

Directory and reviews

Professional profiles with field visibilityProfiles with role, sector and specialisms, where each member decides which fields others can see.
Member introductionsIntroductions suggested from profiles that go ahead only when both sides agree.

Messaging and notifications

Discussion spaces by topicSpaces with their own membership rules, threads, attachments and full search.
Expert-routed questionsQuestions routed to members tagged as experts, with accepted answers building into a knowledge base.

Content and editorial

Moderated resource libraryResources with an owner, versions and tags, which pass a moderation step before publication.
Events and webinarsEvents and webinars with member pricing, and recordings filed to the library afterwards.
Digest and segment emailA digest and targeted email by sector, specialism and activity.

Roles and permissions

Who does what

Community lead
- Set application questions and vetting criteria and work the queue with reasons recorded
- Create spaces with membership rules and appoint space hosts
- Tag experts by specialism and route questions
- Propose introductions and manage partner offers
- See activity by space, renewals due and engagement by sector
Moderator
- See reports as cases with member history
- Issue private notes, warnings, suspensions and removals under the code of conduct
- Approve or return library contributions
- Cannot change vetting criteria or billing
Space host
- Pin, organise and summarise threads in their own space
- Invite members who meet the space rules
- Cannot see cases or other spaces they do not belong to
Member
- Keep a profile with role, sector and specialisms and choose what others see
- Join spaces, post, reply and ask questions
- Contribute resources and download the library
- Book events, accept introductions and redeem partner offers
- Report content or behaviour
Applicant
- Submit an application with referrals
- See its status and respond to requests for more information
- Cannot see spaces, members or the library

Example screen

Concept demo

Concept demo of a professional community dashboard showing an application queue with referrals, space activity levels and a question routed to tagged experts.

The community lead's morning view: nine applications with referral status and vetting criteria to tick, the activity-by-space panel showing a quiet procurement space beside a busy people-and-culture space, and the expert routing of a transfer pricing question to three tagged members.

Scope and options

What is included and what is extra

In the base package

Applications with your questions, referrals from members, vetting criteria and recorded decisions
Professional profiles with role, sector, specialisms and per-field visibility
Discussion spaces by topic with membership rules, threads, attachments and full search
Questions routed to tagged experts with accepted answers forming a knowledge base
Resource library with ownership, versions, tags and a moderation step
Events and webinars with member pricing and recordings filed to the library
Conduct reports as cases with member history, warnings, suspensions and removal
Digest and segment email by sector, specialism and activity

Common add-ons

Member-to-member introductions suggested from profiles with both-sides consent
Partner offers area with redemption tracking
Paid membership with renewals through a connected provider
Role-gated spaces such as senior-only areas

Needs custom work

Single sign-on with an employer, publisher or association system
Conduct process with appeals and several moderator tiers
Migration of a large thread and document archive from a chat workspace
Public-facing knowledge base drawn from member answers with consent

See the custom development service

Ownership, maintenance and pricing

After the build

Deployment and ownership

Runs on your own hosting or on hosting we manage; the choice is made in the proposal and can change later. You own the code and your data in both cases. Members, profiles, threads, library resources, cases and payment records can be exported at any time in standard formats, and nothing in the package stops a move to another provider.

Maintenance

Maintenance is optional and scoped separately from the build. When taken, it covers security updates, monitoring of email digests, notifications and payment callbacks, backups, and a monthly window for small changes such as a new space, a revised application question or an updated code of conduct text. Larger changes are quoted as change requests.

Pricing model

Priced per proposal.

Sold as a one-off setup and customisation with optional monthly maintenance and hosting as separate recurring lines. The setup figure depends on the application and vetting design, the number of spaces and their rules, the add-ons selected, whether membership is paid and through which provider, and the members and resources migrated. The proposal itemises each line so recurring costs are never hidden in the build.

Software package

Custom build Concept demo

Variants

Custom Platform : quote for this variant

Applications with your questions, referrals from members, vetting criteria and recorded decisions
Professional profiles with role, sector, specialisms and per-field visibility
Discussion spaces by topic with membership rules, threads, attachments and full search
Questions routed to tagged experts with accepted answers forming a knowledge base

Priced per proposal. A written proposal is the only binding figure.

Get a quote for this package Prefer a fully custom build?

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

How does vetting work?

You define the application questions and the criteria. Applicants name referrals from existing members, who confirm or not; the community lead ticks the criteria met and records a decision with a reason. Applicants see their status and nothing else until admitted.

Can we restrict some spaces to certain roles?

Spaces have membership rules: open to all members, by invitation of the host, or gated by profile fields such as role or sector with the role-gated spaces add-on. Members see only the spaces they belong to or may join.

How do questions reach the right people?

Members are tagged as experts in specialisms by the community lead or by opting in. A question tagged with a specialism notifies those experts directly; the asker marks the best answer as accepted and the thread becomes part of the searchable knowledge base.

Who is accountable for a resource in the library?

Each resource has a named owner, a version history and tags. Contributions pass a moderation step before publication, and a revised upload replaces the current version while keeping the earlier ones.

What happens when someone breaks the code of conduct?

A report opens a case visible to moderators only, showing the content, the member's previous cases and the actions your code allows. Warnings are delivered privately and kept on record; suspensions and removals are logged with the reason. The code itself is yours to write.

Can membership be paid?

With the paid membership add-on, yes: a joining fee or renewal through a connected provider, with renewals due and lapses shown to the community lead. Complimentary and paid members can coexist.

Can we migrate our chat workspace history?

Selected threads and files can be imported during setup. A large archive, or sign-on with an employer or association system, is custom work through custom professional community development.

Is this a finished product I can see running?

Not yet. The readiness badge shows the real state: the package is a custom build assembled from our memberships, messaging, documents, directory and bookings modules for each community, and the dashboard on this page is a labelled concept demo rather than a live client system.

Get a quote for Professional community package

Tell us about your locations, the people who will use it and the add-ons you need. We reply with a clear, competitive proposal.