Higher Logic

Pros

Ease of use for Open Forum communications is great
We have used extensively in our governance and it really organized and standardized our committee work.
Ability to integrate with Abila product
Abiilty to aid our chapters

Cons

I wish the libraries were easier to use - like Windows Explorer (does that show I'm old and not yet used to Sharepoint?)
Wish you could duplicate "events" in the calendar like committee meetings.
Wish the libraries were like google docs/share point and could be worked on collaboratively.

Pros

We've been live about a year and our staff and customers love the Qualifacts Community powered by Higher Logic. The system is head and shoulders above our previous system. We have created communities by user persona and state. It's our central documentation and resource site. Customers are engaged, and have started doing a lot of self-support.

Cons

The CMS is capable, but quirky. I still get confused trying to arrange content blocks and creating content. The email/automation rule process isn't well designed for sending one-off messages, or even recurring, but unscheduled messages like system status updats.

Pros

We've been using Higher Logic's online community software for a few years now and have been very happy with our results so far. Our members took to the forum pretty quickly and we now have a fairly active community. We've also created additional forums for our monthly journal and have allowed members to create specialty groups as well. This increased engagement with our members has definitely helped out with our member retention.

Cons

There's a bit of a learning curve when you first start using the software, especially when setting up the automation. Their support is pretty good though so don't be afraid to reach out when you get confused.

Pros

This software is so easy to use. It is feature rich and offers multiple modules that suit our association needs. So far, the customer service has been extremely good. Our website partner vetted other online communities for us and felt Higher Logic is the best solution for our membership. As I said, they are feature rich and the reporting is excellent.

Cons

The implantation time is longer than I expected. However, I understand the need to take time to get it implemented to suit our needs and so we don't have to redo the install again.

Pros

The fact that it is a tool that can help me run an advocacy program.

Cons

There have been lots of bugs that I have caught and have had to escalate to the Higher Logic support team. I just keep finding them and I can't launch my program because of it. Bugs have also negatively impacted my customers' experience in the 2nd program I launched. Also, the support team is not one person who knows my platform, goals, and agenda when I need assistance/have a problem, but it's multiple people who get back to me within long periods of time, often not resolving the root cause, but just the symptom, meaning the problem will probably happen again... I have communicated my dissatisfaction, and more Higher Logic people are thrown at my concerns, which only adds more chefs over the pot, and no one takes direct responsibility to resolve it=takes longer to resolve the issues. I am sure Higher Logic's intentions are good, but when it comes down to it, I can't depend on them to be there, to do things quickly, or even really fix the bugs I am finding; it has taken LOTS of time to get things resolved if we even do. My colleague had the same experience. To add: as a new user, the platform is not very straightforward to use, and I have to look for their materials, which are all over the place, or watch long videos to find the one thing I am looking for. The advocacy platform is very basic in look and feel, unless I hire someone for lots of $$ to help design it up.