Salesforce Community Cloud for Beginners: A Complete Step-by-Step Guide

If you have been asked to set up a Salesforce community and are not sure where to start, this guide is for you. It is written for people who are new to Salesforce Community Cloud, no developer background required. By the time you reach the end, you will know how to create a community from scratch, brand it, add pages and components, surface Salesforce data, manage members, and publish content.

A quick note on terminology: Salesforce Community Cloud was rebranded to Experience Cloud in 2021. The two names refer to the same product. This guide uses both terms where appropriate: Experience Cloud in the general sense, and Community Cloud where the original interface label still applies, but you will not be jumping back and forth between them unnecessarily.

What Is Salesforce Community Cloud?

Salesforce Community Cloud (now Experience Cloud) is a platform that lets you build branded digital spaces like portals, communities, and sites that connect your customers, partners, and employees to each other and to the data in your Salesforce org.

Unlike a regular website, a community is tightly integrated with your CRM. Users can log in, view their cases, collaborate with other members, access knowledge articles, see products, fill out forms, and interact with Salesforce objects – all within a single branded experience you control.

Communities are useful whenever you need to:

• Provide a self-service support portal for customers
• Give partners access to leads, opportunities, and deal registration tools
• Build an internal knowledge base for employees
• Create a public-facing site backed by Salesforce data

You can have multiple communities in a single Salesforce org, each with its own URL, template, branding, and access rules.

Before You Start: What You Need to Know

Before you create your first community, it helps to understand a few concepts that will come up throughout this guide.

Templates

When creating a site, Salesforce asks you to select a template. Templates define the basic layout, navigation style, and components available in the site.

As of 2026, the main templates include:

• Build Your Own (LWR) – the most flexible and modern option
• Customer Account Portal
• Customer Service
• Help Center
• Partner Central
• Salesforce Tabs + Visualforce (legacy)

For most new implementations, Salesforce recommends Build Your Own (LWR) because it provides:

• faster page load times
• better scalability
• modern component architecture

Experience Builder vs. Administration Workspaces

You will mainly work in two areas:

Experience Builder: The visual editor used to design your site. Here you can:

• Create and manage pages
• Drag and drop components
• Configure layouts and navigation
• Apply branding (colors, fonts, logos)

Administration Workspaces: Used to manage operational aspects of the site, including:

• Members and access permissions
• Login and registration settings
• Moderation and reputation
• CMS and content management

Both can be accessed from:
Setup → Digital Experiences → All Sites.

Domain

When you enable communities in your org, you set a shared domain. This domain is used for all communities in your org, you cannot change it later. Each community gets its own unique URL path within that domain. If you need a fully custom domain (e.g., community.yourcompany.com), that can be configured separately.

Step 1. Enable Communities and Create Your First Community

The first step is enabling Experience Cloud in your Salesforce org. In Setup, navigate to Digital Experiences Settings and activate the feature. Salesforce will ask you to define your domain before continuing.

Once Experience Cloud is enabled, you can create a site by navigating to Setup → Digital Experiences → All Sites and clicking New. Salesforce will present a list of templates. After choosing one, you’ll be prompted to provide a site name and URL.

Salesforce then generates the site and gives you access to two important areas: Builder and Workspaces. Builder is where you design the interface and layout of your site, while Workspaces provide administrative tools for managing users, content, and moderation.

At this stage the site exists only in preview mode. It will not be visible to users until you publish it.

Step 2. Brand Your Community and Build Navigation

Most of the visual work happens inside Experience Builder.

Set Colors, Fonts, and Images

When you open Builder, you’ll see a visual canvas that represents your site. To set branding, open the Theme panel. From here you can configure your brand colors, upload your logo, and adjust typography. Salesforce provides a theme panel that allows you to define the visual style of navigation menus, links, buttons, and headers. Builder can even generate a color palette automatically based on the colors in your logo.

Create Your First Page

You can create new pages from the Pages menu in Builder. A typical site might include a home page, support page, resources page, or partner dashboard. Each page has its own layout, URL, and set of components.

To create one:

1. Open the Pages menu
2. Click New Page
3. Select Standard Page
4. Choose a layout
5. Enter a name and URL

Click Create.

Add the Page to Navigation

Navigation is configured directly within the Builder interface. Once a page is created, you can add it to the navigation menu so users can access it from the site header.

To add the Page to Navigation, click the navigation menu in Builder.

In the properties panel:

• click Add Menu Item
• select Community Page
• choose your page

If you want guest users to see the page, enable Publicly Available.

Preview on Different Devices

Builder also includes a preview mode that allows you to test how the site appears on desktop, tablet, and mobile devices. This is useful because certain components behave differently depending on screen size.

Step 3. Add Essential Components to Your Pages

Components are the building blocks of pages.

To add one:

1. Open the Components panel
2. Drag the component onto the page
3. Configure properties

Here are the most useful components to start with:

Rich Content Editor

The easiest way to add text, images, and video to any page. It works like a standard text editor:  choose fonts, formats, and colors, embed images, and add links. If you prefer to work directly in HTML, use the HTML Editor component instead.

Feeds 

Social components such as Feeds allow members to post updates, ask questions, and participate in discussions. This functionality is often used in customer or partner communities where peer-to-peer collaboration is valuable.

Record List

The Record List component displays Salesforce records directly inside the site. For example, a support portal may show a list of cases so customers can track issues they’ve reported. The records displayed are based on the selected object and list view, and they automatically respect Salesforce permissions and sharing settings. Layout and fields are controlled through Salesforce list views and page layouts, and the component automatically adjusts for mobile devices.

Featured Topics

The Featured Topics component highlights selected topics to help users quickly discover the most relevant discussions or content areas within the site. Topics can be assigned to posts, articles, or other content, allowing members to browse conversations by subject. Administrators can manually select which topics appear in the component, while the Trending Topics component displays topics that are currently most active in the community.

Reputation Leaderboard

Shows the community members with the highest reputation scores. To use this component, you first need to enable reputation in Administration (covered in Step 6). Once enabled, you can configure reputation levels and point thresholds, then drop the Leaderboard component onto any page to display member rankings.

Step 4. Use Object Pages to Show Salesforce Data

One of the most powerful aspects of Experience Cloud is the ability to surface Salesforce data directly within your site. This is typically done through object pages. When you create an object page, Salesforce automatically generates the layouts needed to display records from a specific object. For example, if you create an object page for Cases, Salesforce generates views that allow users to browse a list of cases, open individual case records, and navigate related information. Object pages behave similarly to standard Salesforce record pages but are tailored for external users. Access to the data is governed by the same permissions and sharing rules that exist inside your Salesforce org.

When you create an Object page, Salesforce generates three connected pages at once:

• Record List: shows all records for the object (like a contact list)
• Record Detail: shows the fields and related information for a single record
• Record Related List: shows related records associated with a selected record

How to Create an Object Page

1. In Builder open Pages
2. Click New Page
3. Select Object Page
4. Choose the object (Case, Product, Contact, Custom Object)
5. Publish your changes.

Then add the object to navigation using Salesforce Object as the menu item type.

To make an object accessible from the navigation bar, open the navigation menu in Experience Builder and select Add Menu Item. Choose the option for Object (or Salesforce Object, depending on the template), then select the object you want to display and optionally choose a default list view.

Adding the object to the navigation allows users to access a list of records and navigate to individual record pages from there. These pages behave similarly to standard Salesforce list views and record detail pages, but they are presented within the Experience Cloud site and respect the permissions assigned to community users.

The fields and layout displayed on these pages are typically controlled through Salesforce list views, page layouts, or Lightning record pages, rather than directly in Experience Builder. Any changes made to those configurations in Salesforce are automatically reflected in the Experience Cloud site.

Step 5. Configure Community Administration and Member Access

Every Experience Cloud site has its own membership and access settings. These settings are managed from the Administration section within the site’s Workspaces area. Here you define who can access the site and configure operational settings such as login behavior, moderation options, and notifications.

Settings

The Settings tab contains general configuration options for the site. From here you can activate or deactivate the site and update basic details such as the site name and description. Activation controls whether the site is visible to users or remains in preview mode.

Preferences

Preferences allow administrators to control how the community behaves. These settings include options such as displaying nicknames instead of full names, enabling direct messages and discussion threads, allowing members to flag or upvote content, and configuring reputation features that reward engagement.

Members

The Members section defines who can access the site. Access is granted by assigning profiles or permission sets that allow users to log in. Only users with one of the permitted profiles or permission sets will be able to access the site.

Login and Registration

Login and registration settings allow you to configure how users authenticate. Many organizations enable self-registration, allowing new users to create accounts directly from the site. Others integrate single sign-on (SSO) or external identity providers to manage authentication.

Emails

Salesforce provides tools for customizing automated emails sent by the site, including welcome emails and password reset notifications. These templates can be branded to match the look and feel of your Experience Cloud site.

Pages

The Pages section allows administrators to configure standard system pages such as login, registration, and error pages. These pages can be customized to match the branding and navigation of the site, ensuring a consistent user experience.

Step 6. Set Up Reputation and Gamification

Communities often benefit from mechanisms that encourage participation. Experience Cloud includes a built-in reputation system that rewards users for contributing.

Enable it here: Administration → Preferences → Reputation Settings

Reputation Levels and Points

Once enabled, administrators can define reputation levels and assign points to specific activities such as posting, answering questions, or receiving likes from other members. As users accumulate points, they move through reputation levels that signal their contributions to the community. These rankings can be displayed on pages using components like the Reputation Leaderboard (described in Step 3), which helps highlight active and knowledgeable members.

Gamification and Recognition Badges

Badges are not a standard built-in feature anymore. If you want badges, achievements or gamified journeys, you need to implement them through custom development, Experience Cloud apps or Salesforce Partner apps from AppExchange.

Step 7. Add and Organize Content in Your Community

Content within Experience Cloud sites is typically managed through Salesforce CMS.

From the Content workspace, administrators can create articles, announcements, images, and other media assets. Content items can then be organized into collections that appear dynamically on site pages. For example, a help center might display a collection of the latest articles or featured resources. CMS components in Experience Builder allow these collections to be presented in card layouts, lists, or other visual formats. This approach separates content management from page design, making it easier for non-technical users to maintain the site.

Access it via Workspaces → Content Management

CMS Content vs Salesforce Data

Experience Cloud allows you to display two main types of content: CMS-managed content and data from Salesforce objects. 

CMS content is managed through Salesforce CMS, where administrators and editors create and publish content such as blog posts, announcements, images, and documents. Content is typically created inside a CMS workspace and then surfaced in Experience Builder using CMS components such as CMS Single Item or CMS Collection. This type of content works well for marketing materials, news updates, or knowledge-style content that needs editorial control.

In contrast, Salesforce data refers to records stored in your CRM, such as cases, products, accounts, or custom objects. These records can be displayed in Experience Cloud using standard components like Record Lists, Record Detail pages, or object-based navigation. Because the data comes directly from Salesforce objects, it stays synchronized with the CRM and respects existing permissions and sharing rules.

In practice, most Experience Cloud sites combine both approaches: CMS for editorial content and Salesforce objects for operational data.

Collections and Topics

Collections allow you to group content so it can be displayed dynamically in your Experience Cloud site. In Salesforce CMS, you can create manual collections, where you choose exactly which content items appear, or dynamic collections, where content is automatically included based on rules such as tags, topics, or publication dates. These collections can then be surfaced in Experience Builder using components like CMS Collection, making it easy to display curated or automatically updated content on your pages.

Topics provide another way to organize content and improve navigation. You can assign topics to CMS content, knowledge articles, and community discussions, allowing members to browse content by subject area. Topics can also be highlighted in the site using components such as Featured Topics or Topic Navigation, helping users quickly discover the most relevant information.

Displaying Content with CMS Components

Once your content and collections are ready, you can display them in your Experience Cloud site using CMS components in Experience Builder.

Open the page you want to edit, then add a CMS component from the Components panel.

The two most commonly used components are CMS Single Item and CMS Collection:

• The CMS Single Item component allows you to display a single piece of CMS content, such as an announcement, article, or promotional banner. 
• The CMS Collection component displays a group of content items from a CMS collection, making it useful for showing lists such as recent news, featured articles, or curated resources.

You can configure how the collection appears directly in the component’s properties panel. Layout options typically include different display formats such as cards, tiles, or list views, allowing you to match the visual style of your site. It is important to note that CMS components are designed to display content managed through Salesforce CMS. If you want to display Salesforce records such as cases, products, or custom objects, you would typically use object components like Record List, Record Detail, or object-based pages instead.

Step 8. Understand Access and User Licenses

Experience Cloud sites support two types of users: guest users and authenticated users.

Guest users can browse public pages without logging in, although their access is limited. Authenticated users log in and interact with Salesforce data, which typically requires an Experience Cloud license.

Do You Need Experience Cloud Licenses?

You can create multiple Experience Cloud sites within a single Salesforce org without purchasing additional licenses for the sites themselves. Public sites, such as knowledge bases or marketing-style portals, can be accessed by guest users, which means visitors can view public pages without needing a Salesforce license. However, licenses are required for external users who need to log in to the site. Authenticated users must be assigned an appropriate Experience Cloud license, which determines what Salesforce data and functionality they can access.

Common Experience Cloud license types include:

• External Identity for authentication-only access
• Customer Community for basic self-service portals
• Customer Community Plus for more advanced object access and automation
• Partner Community for partner portals with leads, opportunities, and deal registration

These licenses can be purchased either per user or as login-based licenses, depending on how frequently users access the site.

Login-Based Licensing

Experience Cloud licenses are typically available in two models: named user licenses and login-based licenses.

With named user licensing, each external user has a dedicated license assigned to their account.

With login-based licensing, you purchase a pool of monthly logins that can be shared across many users. A login is counted when a user successfully authenticates to an Experience Cloud site. Multiple logins by the same user within a 24-hour period generally count as a single login.

This model works well for communities where users access the site occasionally rather than every day, such as customer support portals or partner resources that are used periodically.

Final Take

Launching an Experience Cloud site does not require configuring everything at once.

For beginners, the most important steps are:

1. Enable Experience Cloud
2. Choose a template
3. Configure branding
4. Create a few useful pages
5. Grant user access

Advanced features such as reputation, gamification, and complex content strategies can be added later. 

The real power of Experience Cloud lies in its tight integration with Salesforce CRM. Data remains live, permissions remain consistent, and the experience stays connected to the rest of your Salesforce ecosystem.

If you need help designing or scaling an Experience Cloud implementation, the team at Advanced Communities specialises in building powerful Experience Cloud sites across a wide range of industries and use cases. Contact us today.