Flashes of brilliance, but subpar overall
I used this community platform as a freelance community strategist/manager for a client in 2016. I've completed the organizational demographics fields for the organization I worked for, not my consultancy.
The good: Overall it has a nice, simple user interface. I really loved the type-ahead and faceted search features, but unfortunately, the results weren't reliably accurate. The group functionality was simple and straightforward -- that's a good thing for most communities, but mature communities may find this to be limiting. The window in which you compose forum posts is pretty slick. It easily embeds PDFs, videos, images, and other media directly into posts, but unfortunately those elements don't translate well into email alerts. Simple admin interface, with just a few configuration options.
The bad: The software was pretty buggy. I mentioned earlier that search results weren't reliable. I also encountered issues with members finding their groups, and the feature that would allow you to add a video directly to the site by way of a flash plugin was very inconsistent. Customer service was inconsistent, with a lot of turnover on the staff. When my client (the CEO) reached his wit's end with some issues they were grappling with, he phoned the CEO and only received a return call a week later. The price also seemed high for what I considered to be a relatively immature software product compared to others I've worked with.
Bottom line: Bloomfire is a simple product with a lot of potential. It might be good for a new community, but not for a mature community. However, the price point might be a bit high for a new community.
