Outpost Community Demo

Power User Tips & Hidden Features

By top-outpost-ninja ·

Power User Tips & Hidden Features

Once you're comfortable with the basics, these tips will help you get the most out of Outpost.

Search Like a Pro

Outpost uses full-text search powered by PostgreSQL:

  • Search finds matches in both topic titles and post content
  • Title matches are weighted higher than content matches
  • Results are ranked by relevance, not just date
  • Use specific phrases for more targeted results

Keyboard-Friendly Navigation

The interface is designed to be fast for keyboard users. Navigate between topics, posts, and categories without reaching for the mouse.

Draft Auto-Save

Never lose your work! Outpost automatically saves drafts as you type:

  • Topic drafts — One per community, saved as you compose
  • Reply drafts — One per topic, saved as you write
  • Drafts persist across sessions — close the browser and come back later
  • Drafts are automatically deleted when you publish

Topic Controls for Mods

Moderators have powerful topic management tools:

  • Pin — Sticky a topic to the top for visibility
  • Lock — Allow reading but prevent new replies
  • Archive — Hide from the feed while preserving content
  • Move — Relocate a topic to a better-fitting category

@Mentions

Tag other members in your posts with . They'll receive a real-time notification, making it easy to loop people into conversations.

AI Thread Summary

For long discussions, click the Catch Up button to get an AI-generated summary of the conversation. This extracts the key points so you can quickly understand what's been discussed without reading every post.

Create invite links with fine-grained control:

  • Expiration date — Link becomes invalid after a set date
  • Usage limit — Only allow N people to use the link
  • Role assignment — New members get a specific role automatically

Data Export

Need your data? Admins can export community data in JSON or ZIP format from the admin panel, including all topics, posts, members, and statistics.

The Meta Tip

This entire demo community was built using the Outpost API — every category, tag, and post was created programmatically. If you want to seed content for your own community, check out the API & Integrations category to learn how.