Get ready to create your community
Gather the details you want to share and choose what to manage first. Open Communities is Australian software for community organisations. It gives you a public website and tools to run events and other activities.
Use this page to plan your next step. Creating your community, publishing its website and running it over time are separate tasks.
Gather what you want visitors to know
Start with the details that help people learn about your organisation. You could gather:
- Your organisation’s name and a few words about its purpose.
- Your approved logo, brand colours and photos you have permission to publish.
- Details visitors should find first, such as what you do and how to contact you.
These are ideas to help you plan, not required signup fields. Talk with your committee about what to do first. You might start by telling people about your group or getting an event ready.
Choose your website’s name, look and address
Your name, brand colours, photos and words help people know who you are. Think about how you want your site to look and what it should say.
You can use an Open Communities subdomain or your own domain. A subdomain is a web address under the Open Communities domain. Your own domain uses the web address chosen for your organisation.
Read about website content and domain choices before you decide.
AI can help prepare a website for you to review. Learn about AI website creation and review for more on that process.
Discuss who will manage each task
Think about who will keep the site up to date, run events and review payment details. Your committee may share these tasks among different people.
Read about member details, groups and who can manage each task before you choose who needs access.
A practical starting example
Your committee might gather a short introduction and brand images for the public site. Then you could choose who will run your first event and manage its registrations. This is one way to plan, not a set of required launch steps.
Plan what comes after you create your community
Your organisation has its own community area. It holds your name and branding, public content, people’s details and records for your group. People with the right access can manage it.
Within that area, you can publish your website, run events and manage registrations. Creating your account and community is separate from getting your site ready and publishing it.
Once the site is in use, your committee can keep its content up to date and manage activities. For the fuller picture, see how the website and organiser tools fit together.
Compare plans and ask your questions
Compare plans to see current costs and terms before you decide.
Have questions about what your group needs? Send an enquiry before you start.
For a written guide to the platform, visit Help and overview. You can also learn about Open Communities and its purpose.
Ready to create your community?
Take the next step when you and your committee are ready.