In this article, we'll walk through the process of transitioning an AMS-managed community to an HL-managed community.
Before we begin...
Let's examine the difference between AMS-managed communities and HL-managed communities so you understand how each functions and is managed:
- AMS-managed (or integrated) communities are created in your membership database (e.g., NetForum, Aptify, Personify, etc.). Higher Logic refers to this database as an AMS. This means that community membership is based on a classification that is sourced from your membership database, and that classification pulls over your Higher Logic site and puts users in a specific community based on the member's record in your membership database. For example, if you have a Board of Directors community that is AMS-managed, your database admin would have to add a code or classification - like BOD - in a user's member record for the system to pull them into that community.
- HL-managed communities are communities that don't interact with your membership database, or AMS, at all. They are created solely on the Higher Logic side, and membership is managed through the community settings on our platform only. You can manually add users to this type of community, or set up Automation Rules to add specific user groups.
Transition from AMS-managed to HL-managed
Because the structure of HL-managed and AMS-managed communities is fundamentally different, there is no way to simply "flip a switch" to instantly change one to another. However, you can follow the process below to transition from one to the other.
1. Create your HL-managed community
- Access the Admin Interface.
- Navigate to Community > Communities > List.
- Click the (+) to create a community.
- In the dialog, begin by giving your community a name and description. Note that all communities require unique names, so if you're trying to title it the same name as your AMS-managed community, we recommend changing the name of your AMS-managed community to something slightly different so you can use that name for your new community.
- Configure the rest of the community's settings, including it's view and join permissions to determine the community's visibility to users and how users can join, and its features. To learn more about these configuration settings, see Create and Manage Your Communities.
- Click Save to create your HL-managed community.
2. Decide what content to migrate from your AMS-managed community
Higher Logic can bulk-migrate data from one community to another.
- We can migrate all library entries, discussions, blogs, etc., from one community to another free of charge, but there may be a fee if you'd like to only migrate specific files, discussions, or blogs.
- If you decide to migrate content from your AMS-managed community to your new, HL-managed community, create a case and include the links to both the old and the new community and let us know what you'd like migrated; this information will expedite the migration process.
3. Add users to your HL-managed community
Higher Logic can migrate content from one community to another, but not users. Users can be added manually or in bulk by requesting our help.
- To manually add users to your new HL-managed community, follow the instructions in Add Users.
- To bulk-add users, create a case to have Higher Logic do this for you. When requesting our help, we will need .csv Excel file containing one column titled "Email" and all the desired users' email addresses. In addition, let us know whether you'd like these users subscribed to Real Time, Daily Digest, or No Email to start.
4. Archive your AMS-managed community
NOTE: In many cases, Higher Logic recommends archiving communities instead of deleting them. This way, they are still available in the future, if needed.
- Navigate to the home page of your AMS-managed community and click Settings > Settings.
- Then, click the Type dropdown and select the hidden Community Type (naming conventions may vary).
- Save the change to archive and hide your HL-managed community.