A fresh coat of paint and some new features coming to the Community Forums

👋🏼 Hey everyone!

Along with the new brand campaign that was launched earlier this month, I’ve been working behind the scenes to bring a fresh coat of paint and a few new features to the Community Forums. There's a lot changing and nearly all of it is focused on one thing: bringing the community together and giving this space the care and attention it deserves, in a way that's actually felt and sustainable.
 

The current targeted date for these changes is October 6th. You should not see any downtime while I make these changes, but I will be around - so please do not hesitate to reach out to me directly or mention me in a topic/comment should something go sideways.  

Here are the details: 
 

Threaded Replies 💬

Just like Reddit. You'll be able to reply directly to each other and have side conversations within topics instead of everything living in one long flat thread. This one has been a long time coming and I think it's going to change the feel of conversations here in the best way. It also opens the platform up to new style of posts and content. (We can actually do proper AMA’s!) 
 

A Refreshed Front Page 📰

We're simplifying the front page so that anyone who walks through the front door, gets value and direction right away. Less clutter, clearer paths to the good stuff.
 

Community Rituals 🎙

Regular platform events and content made specifically for this community. Office Hours (think AMAs) are coming to the Community, along with regular "state of the business" style posts from our CEO, Tom Conrad. You've asked for more direct lines to the people building at Sonos. This is the start of that.
 

Global Translations 🌐

One of my personal favorites. The entire site will translate into your local language automatically (based on your IP address), and you can switch it to any other language on the site whenever you want.

One important note here: Global Translations will make the separate German and Dutch Communities redundant. We're working with Gainsight to solidify the plan to merge those communities into the new Global Community instance without losing any content. That history matters and we're treating it as such. This isn’t an overnight thing and will likely take some time to complete. My current target for everything to be merged and in one global community is Jan 2027. As this develops, I will be sure to post in those respective communities and here as well.

Location-Based Groups 🗣

With everything coming together under one global roof, we're revamping Groups to be location based. There will be groups for the US, UK, Australia, Germany, Netherlands and Mexico. That's where all the location-specific stuff lives: local finds, sales, concerts, whatever's happening in your corner of the world. While we’re bringing everyone together, we still want to give space for local, neighborhood style conversation. 

Request Line is Open 📬

Have a good idea or feature request? Want to share it with the team? On the request line, you will be able to make your case and have the community vote for it. Top voted requests will be shared directly with the team here at Sonos and followed up with in our Community Rituals. 

Looking Ahead 👀

Beyond October, a few more things I'm working on:

• More Sonos folks on the platform. I'll be bringing people from across Sonos (software, hardware, and more) into the Community so you're hearing directly from the teams doing the work.
• More helping hands. We're planning to add a couple of people focused on engagement here on the Community Forums.
• The moderation team stays. To be clear, the mod team isn't going anywhere. Absolutely needed, absolutely staying.

As always, I want to hear what you think. Questions, concerns, things you're excited about, things you're skeptical of. Drop ‘em below 👇🏼