Features
Everything Champ can do
There is one plan, and every feature on this page is included in it. You do not pay extra for anything.
The forum
Forums and categories
Create as many forums as you like and group them under headings. Each forum has its own description and its own rules for who can see it.
Topics and replies
A topic is one conversation: a first post and the replies under it. You can pin a topic to the top, lock it to stop replies, move it, hide it or delete it.
Polls
Turn on polls for a forum, and members can add a question with several answers to a topic. Each member can vote once.
Reactions and upvotes
Members can react to posts with emoji. You can also let them upvote the posts and topics they find useful.
Tags
Label topics by subject, such as a product name, from a list of tags you set up. Each tag has its own page listing every topic with that label.
Search
Members can search every topic and reply. You turn search on in the dashboard.
Latest and Unread
Two pages that show what is new across all forums, so returning members see what changed since their last visit. You can also mark unread posts so they stand out.
Text formatting
Members can add bold text, links, lists and more to their posts using simple symbols (called Markdown).
Members
Customers sign in with their store account
Forum members are your Shopify customers. They sign in with the account they already use at your store. There is no second sign-up form or password.
Nicknames and profiles
Members can pick a nickname and fill in a short profile and signature. They set these on their own profile page.
Profile pictures
Members get a picture with their initial automatically. They can also use Gravatar or upload their own.
Private messages
Members can send each other private messages in a chat window on the forum pages.
@mentions
Type @ and a member’s name to mention them. They get an email telling them.
Members-only forums
Make a forum only some customers can see, such as VIPs, wholesale buyers or course students. You choose who gets in by adding a tag to those customers in your Shopify admin.
Who is online
Show a list of members reading the forum right now.
Posting without an account
You decide: let visitors post without signing in, or require sign-in for everything, even reading.
Moderation and spam
Moderators
Make a customer a moderator by adding a tag to them in your Shopify admin. They can manage posts right on the forum, without access to your Shopify admin.
Approve posts first
Choose forums where new posts wait for your approval before anyone else can see them.
Built-in spam protection
Champ checks every new post for spam and takes spam down automatically. It watches for known spammers, suspicious links and spam bots, and stops anyone posting too fast.
Akismet spam filter
For extra protection, connect Akismet, a separate spam-filtering service. It needs an Akismet account and key.
Posting speed limits
Set how long members must wait between posts, so no one can flood the forum.
Email log
See every forum email Champ tried to send, and whether it was sent.
Password protection
Hide the whole forum behind a password while you set it up.
Design
Looks like your store
The forum appears inside your store’s theme, with your header, menu and footer, on your store’s own website address.
Colours and fonts
Pick colours for the header, background, headings, text and links, and pick a font.
Logo and icon
Add your own logo and choose how tall it is.
Custom CSS (optional)
If you or a developer know CSS, you can add your own styles. Champ checks them before saving, so a mistake cannot break the forum.
Menu links
Add your own links to the forum’s menu.
Change any wording
Every word the forum shows can be changed. Use this to translate the forum into another language, or just to reword it.
Google and social previews
Set the description Google shows for your forum, and the title shown when someone shares a link on social media.
Sitemap
Champ creates a sitemap (a list of every forum page) so Google can find all your topics.
Follow topics and forums
Members can follow a topic or forum and get an email when there are new posts.
Alerts for you
Get an email when something needs your attention, such as a post waiting for approval.
Send from your own email address
Enter your email provider’s settings, and forum emails come from your address instead of ours.
Edit the emails
Change the wording of the emails members receive.
Rewards, data and developers
Points
Members earn points for posting, starting topics, getting upvotes and filling in their profile.
Leaderboard
A page ranking your most active members. You choose how names and pictures appear.
Download your content
Download all your forums, topics, posts and members as a file whenever you like.
Photo uploads
Let members attach photos and PDFs to posts. This needs a free Cloudinary account, where the files are stored.
Webhooks (for developers)
Automatically send a message to another tool, such as Slack, each time someone starts a topic or posts a reply.
API (for developers)
Lets a developer connect other software to your forum: read your forums, and read, create and update topics and posts.
Example
A conversation, as your customers see it
Profile pictures, points, reactions, upvotes and a reply box, all inside your store’s design and on your store’s website.
Every feature, one price
Free for 14 days, then $29 a month on your Shopify bill.