Community platform selection

Start with the conversations members need, the access rules the business must enforce and the work the team can sustain. A polished trial space fails if staff cannot handle reports, customers reach the wrong areas or the organisation cannot retrieve its records.

Write the requirements before comparing products

Describe three likely member tasks: finding an answer to a recurring question, comparing experience with peers, and raising a sensitive account problem in private support. For each, specify who may read, start, reply to and moderate the exchange. Decide whether an answer must remain findable and current.

Separate essential requirements from preferences. Treat access rules as essential where the business must restrict entry; assess visual themes as preferences.

Match the product to the main exchange

Forum software can give a lasting question its own topic and category. A hosted group built around channels may suit quicker discussion; some group services also offer forum-like areas. Check the chosen product rather than assuming its label determines what it can do.

Keep discussion format separate from hosting. Discourse lists hosted plans with tiered limits; check the chosen plan and product rather than assuming either settles the format. If members need enduring answers and live conversation, choose a primary home and check how a useful exchange will be found later.

Check controls that protect the promise

Assess whether the platform can enforce the access rules the business needs, including a private route for sensitive account details where required. Check that the team can review reports and take follow-up action.

For an organisation covered by the Australian Privacy Principles, APP 11 requires reasonable steps in the circumstances to protect personal information it holds.

For an APP entity, APP 11 also requires reasonable steps in the circumstances to destroy or de-identify personal information once it is no longer needed for a permitted purpose. The exceptions include information that is part of a Commonwealth record or must be retained under Australian law or a court or tribunal order. Include retention and deletion duties when assessing the platform's fit.

Australian Privacy Principles (APP) – Key Compliance Points for Platforms

Prove the exit route

Confirm that the organisation can retrieve its data in a usable form. A member list, database backup and portable archive serve different purposes. Record whether the chosen plan provides an export route the team can use.

Discourse's hosted guide: an administrator can create a database-only backup that excludes uploads, while a full site backup including uploads is requested through the hosted guide's process. A backup that can restore a Discourse site does not establish that another product can import it.

Hosted infrastructure backups should not be confused with copies the organisation can access and manage. Discourse says its automated infrastructure backups are taken every 12 hours, but are not accessible on demand and are not a substitute for downloadable site-level backups. Record which backup tasks remain the organisation's responsibility.

Compare plan limits with expected use

Compare the plan's limits and included services against the team's expected use, and record the exact plan being assessed so a feature available only on a higher tier is not treated as confirmed.

Discourse's listed hosted tiers: the $100-per-month tier includes five staff seats and 20 GB of upload storage; the $500-per-month tier includes 15 staff seats and 100 GB. Both list unlimited members and categories, and 500,000 monthly page views; the listed monthly email limits are 100,000 and 300,000 respectively.

Discourse states that its listed prices are in USD. Keep the currency explicit in the decision record and compare limits such as staff seats, storage, page views and email volume, rather than treating a monthly price alone as evidence that a plan suits the organisation.

Discourse Hosted Plan Comparison (AUD)

Decide from a bounded trial

Give each candidate the same fictional, non-sensitive tasks: publish and find a question, and inspect an available export. Record whether the requirements identified earlier—including any required access and moderation controls—can be demonstrated. If a required export or control cannot be demonstrated, keep it open in the decision record.

Make the decision record specific enough to revisit: note the selected plan, the limits checked, the controls demonstrated and any unresolved requirement. Before inviting customers, recheck any tier-dependent limits identified during the trial.