Managing communities as an Admin

Communities tie together Members, Helpers and Staffers. When you set up or edit a community, you're shaping who is connected to whom. This article covers the administrative side: creating communities, controlling who can reach them, assigning Staffers, and archiving communities you no longer need.

Before you start

Before reviewing this article, please ensure you meet these prerequisites:

You have the correct access permissions: Community access & Roles permission set to Always allow. This covers creating and editing communities as well as assigning Staffers to them.
Your access reach is set to Full - access to every community, no assignment needed.

If you're missing access, the Staffer who manages roles and permissions in your organisation can adjust it.

New to communities? Start with our Communities: an overview article - what they are, why organisations use them, and how they affect what people see day to day.

Step-by-step instructions

Creating a community

From the main navigation menu, select Communities.
Select the + New Community button in the top right-hand corner.
Give it a name and, optionally, a description.
Set your community access: open or restricted.
Select Save. Your new community will appear in the list, where you can see at a glance how many Members, helpers, and staff it contains.

Create a community

Reminder: Every community is either Open or Restricted. You choose this when you create a community, and you can change it at any time by editing.

For more information on community access, please review our Communities: overview article.

Search/ view a community

From the main navigation menu, select Communities.
All of your active communities will appear as cards with their name and key stats.
A search bar is available to find a specific community if needed.
To view a community, click its name or, alternatively, on the community's card, click the ellipsis button (…).
This will display a short options menu, where you can select View community.
You'll see tabs for Members, Helpers, and Staffers, which you can click to view who is in this community, as well as any custom attribute values you've recorded.
You can also view Communities by navigating to Members from the main navigation menu and selecting the Communities tab.

Edit/ update an existing community

From the main navigation menu, select Communities.
You'll see each active community shown as a card with its name and key stats.
On the community's card, click the ellipsis button (…).
From the options menu, select Edit community name.
This will load the community's edit page, where you can update key information like it's name or community access.
1. To update the name: in the "Name" field, type the new or corrected name for the community.
2. To change community access: choose between Open or Restricted.
If at any time you decide to cancel your updates, click the Cancel button to leave without saving and revert the community back to its previous state.
When ready, click the blue Save button in the top right-hand corner to save your changes.
A green banner will confirm that your changes have been successfully completed, and you will return to the main Communities page.

How to archive an existing community

Archiving hides the community from everyday use, but doesn't permanently delete it. You can unarchive a community after archiving if need be.

From the main navigation menu, select Communities.
All of your active communities will appear as cards with their name and key stats.
A search bar is available to find a specific community if needed.
On the community's card, click the ellipsis button (…).
From the options menu, select Archive. This option will show in red because it's a retiring action.
This opens the archive screen.
1. If the community has no active Members, you'll be asked if you want to continue archiving this community.
2. If the community has active Members, the system won't let you archive just yet. You must choose a new destination community to move these active memberships to first.

Important: Members are never left stranded. The requirement to pick a destination community means active Members always end up somewhere before their old community is retired.

If at any time you change your mind and do not wish to archive this community anymore, click the Cancel button to leave without making changes.
When ready, click the Archive button. While it processes, the button shows as "Archiving...". The affected Members are moved to your chosen community (if any), the community is retired, and its staff assignments are cleared.
Once complete, you'll see a green banner display indicating your community was successfully archived, and you will return to the main Communities page.

Please note: When a community is archived, the staff assigned to it are also unassigned. If you unarchive it later, you'll need to reassign staff.

Unarchiving a community

To restore a community later, switch to the Archived tab within the Communities page.
They will appear as cards with their name and key stats.
A search bar is available to find a specific community if needed.
On the community's card, click the reverse arrows button to unarchive.
Confirm your actions, and a green banner will appear confirming you have successfully unarchived your community. It will now appear in the Active tab within the Communities page.

Please note: When a community is archived, the staff assigned to it are also unassigned. If you unarchive it later, you'll need to reassign staff.

Add profiles to a community

There are three different profile roles that can exist in a community. These are Members, Helpers and Staffers. Please view our dedicated articles to learn more:

→ Managing Members in a community

→ Managing Helpers in a community

→ Managing Staffers in a community

Troubleshooting

Why won't the system let me archive a community?

A likely cause is that the community still has active Members in it. The system has a built-in safeguard: it will not archive a community that still has active Members until you first choose another community to move them into.

On the archive screen, select a replacement community from the list, then archive. The Members are automatically transferred, and the community's staff roles are cleared as part of the process.

Please note: You can only pick a replacement community that you personally have access to.

Why am I getting an error when I try to rename (or create) a community?

It is possible that the name is already being used by another community. Every community name must be unique across your organisation. If you try to save a name that's already taken, the system rejects the change and flags the problem.

Choose a different, unique name. Remember that an archived community can still be holding onto a name — if you're reusing a name from an old community, you may need to check your archived list.

Why can't I see (or edit) a community that I know exists?

Your access level or community assignments may not include it. What you can see and change depends on two things: your overall access level, and which communities you've been personally assigned to.

Ask your team member with the right permissions to either assign you to that community, change its visibility to Open, or adjust your access level.

I can view a community, but why can't I make changes to it?

You may have viewing access but not managing rights. Seeing a community and changing it are two separate permissions.

Confirm with an administrator that you hold the "manage communities" permission and that your assignment to that community grants full (not restricted) rights.

Why don't I see the option to add or edit custom information (custom fields) on a community?

You likely don't have the permissions required to unlock custom attributes. The ability to edit custom fields on a community is controlled by a separate permission. Staff without it simply won't see the option - it's hidden rather than shown as an error.

Ask an administrator to grant you permission to write custom attributes.