How to Set Up, Customize, and Manage Communities
What Are Communities?
Communities in your CRM provide a dedicated space for your audience to connect, share content, and engage with one another. Whether you run a business, educational platform, or content channel, communities help foster interaction, deliver exclusive materials, and strengthen relationships with members. You can create public or private groups, manage access levels, customize branding, and set permissions to tailor the experience.
Key Benefits of Using Communities
- Centralized Engagement: Keep all discussions, announcements, and member interactions organized in one place.
- Custom Branding: Use a custom domain and design elements to align the community with your brand identity.
- Membership Management: Assign roles and permissions to control who can access content and participate.
- Scalability: Easily add or remove members as your community evolves.
- Integration: Connect with automation, email marketing, and other CRM features for a seamless workflow.
How to Set Up and Manage Communities
Setting up a community allows you to centralize conversations, share content, and drive engagement in a branded environment. Follow these steps to create, customize, and manage your community effectively.
Create a New Community
Navigate to the Communities section in your CRM dashboard. Click Create New Community to start building your space. This initial step establishes a hub where your audience can interact, learn, and collaborate. After creation, you can customize branding, structure, and membership settings.
Define Your Community Group
Provide a name, URL, and short description for your group. This information forms the foundation of your community and is visible to members upon joining. Ensure it is clear, inviting, and consistent with your brand or purpose. Save your group to proceed with customization and member invitations.
Smart Group Landing
Your CRM now directs users to the most relevant group upon entry, improving navigation efficiency. Users land either in a group they are already part of or one they recently accessed, reducing confusion in communities with multiple groups.
Email Notification Settings
Configure email notifications to keep members informed about updates, activities, and role changes. Admins can enable or disable these emails and customize their content.
To adjust settings, go to Sites → Client Portal → Memberships → Settings → Email Settings → Communities → Event Reminder Email.
Types of Email Notifications
- Group Invitation Email: Sent when a user is added to a group, notifying them of their inclusion.
- Group Membership Status Emails: Include approval notifications, rejection alerts, and private channel assignments.
- General Group Emails: Cover new comments, likes, tags, reported content, and calendar event announcements.
- Learning (Courses) Emails: Inform users about new courses, enrollment alerts, time-based unlocks, subscription changes, and payment confirmations.
- Role Change Notifications: Alert members about promotions or ownership changes within the group.
Customizing Email Templates
Each email type offers a default template that you can preview and customize to match your brand’s tone and style. Use the preview icon to review templates before making changes.