Some online course platforms like to start the year strong and some others like to finish it big!
New Zenler announced a long awaited new feature and a total rebrand of their platform.
What's Going On With New Zenler?
New Zenler came into the industry with a bang when it launched its Beta back in 2019.
For a long while it was even challenging the main players like Kajabi, Kartra, Teachable,etc.
But over the past couple of years, the platform has not been the cool kid it used to be…
The platform shortcomings, which were easier to forget when they launched, were not really fixed and new big features took too long to come out.
The excitement around New Zenler faded and it joined the list of “just another LMS platform”.
With these new changes and big announcements, the company is hoping to break the spell.
In a 1.5 hour announcements webinar, the platform announced 2 major updates.
1. A brand new Community feature:
This is a bit late compared to other all-in-one platforms but better late than never!
Platforms like Teachable and Kajabi have been offering this for over a year now and it’s probably one of the most important features new users are asking for.
It gave new coming platforms like Skool a gap to fill before the big guys started adding it as a core feature.
2) A complete rebrand of New Zenler
This has been long overdue and is hopefully going to help New Zenler get back on top of its game and increase brand awareness.
The new branding will also have an impact on the UX, but more on that later.
What’s The New Zenler Community Feature?
Let’s take a look at this new feature and what you can expect to be able to do there.
This is very much in line with what you can expect from a Community feature for an LMS.
Think of it as like your very own Facebook group.
Create feeds/channels where members can post.
Posts can include text, video, photo and a link.
And of course, just like on any social platform, each post has its own thread with comments, likes/reactions,etc.
New posts can be put through an approval process before they’re live.
You can also pin some features at the top to make them more prominent, this is used for timely announcements or things like Community Guidelines.
Note that videos are not hosted on New Zenler and have to be imported from YouTube or other video host.
Each member will have the opportunity to build their name a little in your community with their own profile.
New Zenler Community is very simple and doesn’t really have anything exceptional.
But if you were already using the platform or considering it, this new feature could tip the scale.
Most course creators use Community to add more interactiveness to their programs.
Others make it the core component of their offer and promise an environment of mutual help and networking with like minded individuals.
It’s worth noting that keeping a private Community alive and engaged is a lot of work.
If you’re really serious about creating something like a membership, New Zenler might not be the best place.
What’s The Rebrand All About?
“Oh another SaaS that changes its colors and logo… cool”
If you’re wondering about how this can affect you or make the platform any better, let’s put some context around this.
One of the main criticisms we have in our New Zenler review and of the platform in general (we even had a chat with their management about it) is their poor UX.
Again this is something that could have been excused in the early days of the platform, but not years into its existence…
It made the whole experience of using the platform poor and a steeper learning curve.
Now with this new rebrand, New Zenler actually looks like a platform you’d want to spend time in.
It starts with the website:
Simpler logo, simpler design and colors.
And then this bleeds into the back-end of the platform once you have an account:
Menus are easier to understand, the iconography doesn’t look as cheap.
You can also now login using Google, Facebook or Twitter…
It’s not much but it makes a significant difference.
New Zenler Community FAQ
Let’s finish off with a rapid fire response to your most burning questions around these new changes for the platform:
Can you create free communities?
Yes you can allow people to join a community without a payment.
Can you schedule posts?
As of now you cannot schedule post in the community yet.
Can you go live in the community?
Not right now.
But since New Zenler has worked on their own native live tool, we can imagine that this might be available soon.
Is there any extra cost?
No, anyone with a paid New Zenler account can create communities.
Can you message other people in the community?
For now members cannot direct message each other.
