This article covers running a member group: creating it, deciding who can join, handling join requests, managing members and admins, and changing the group's settings. To browse, join, or leave a group, see the article on joining member groups.
Creating a group requires the Create Member Group permission. Community Admins and Community Leaders have it by default. Residents don't.
Group admins can manage their own group: approve requests, add and remove members, and change its settings. Group admins don't need a special role, so a resident can be one. Whoever creates a group becomes its first admin.
Anyone with the Manage Member Groups permission can manage every group in the community, including private groups they don't belong to. They see an Admin tag on every group card.
Deleting a group requires the Delete Member Group permission. Group admins and people with Manage Member Groups find Delete Group on the group's Settings tab. Anyone else with Delete Member Group finds it as a trash icon on the group's card on the Member Groups page.
Some options may be unavailable or appear differently depending on your level of account access.
In the main navigation menu, expand Members & Groups and click Member Groups.
Click New Group in the top-right corner.
Enter a Group Name and a Short Description. Both are required, and the name can't match another group in your community. The short description appears on the group's card.
Optionally, add Group Details: a longer description shown on the group's page.
Under Group Visibility, choose Public (anyone in the community can join right away) or Private (listed in the community, but only members can open it). Private is selected by default.
If you chose Private, check Allow members to request to join if residents should be able to ask to join. Leave it unchecked to keep the group invitation only.
Click Create Group.
A new group lets members leave on their own, lets every member post to its bulletin board without approval, allows likes and comments, lets non-members message it, and limits file uploads to group admins. Change any of these on the group's Settings tab.
When someone asks to join a group you manage, its card on the Groups page shows a pending count, such as 3 pending. The group's admins also get a notification in Communitrak and an email. If the group has no admins, everyone with the Manage Member Groups permission gets them instead.
Click the pending count on the group's card to open the Pending Requests dialog.
Click Approve or Reject next to each request.
You can also open the group and go to its Members tab. Pending requests are listed at the top under Pending Join Requests, with a check mark to approve and an X to reject. Either way, the person gets a notification in Communitrak and an email. Once approved, the group moves into their Your Groups list.
Open the group and click the Members tab. From there you can:
Click Add Members to add people directly, without a request. This is how members get into an invitation-only group, and it's how someone with Manage Member Groups adds themselves to one.
Click the crown icon in a member's row to make them a group admin (Make Admin), or click it on an admin's row to take admin access away (Remove Admin).
Click the X icon in a member's row to remove them (Remove from Group). To remove several at once, check the boxes next to their names and click Remove from Group.
Click Export to download the member list.
You can't remove your own admin access unless you have the Manage Member Groups permission. Make someone else an admin first and ask them to do it. A group admin can still leave the group, even if a setting stops other members from leaving. If the last admin leaves, the group has no admin until someone with Manage Member Groups makes a new one.
Open the group and click the Settings tab. Only group admins and people with the Manage Member Groups permission see this tab.
Change the group's name, color, short description, and full description, then click Update Basic Info.
Each section below saves on its own. Click its Update button before moving on to the next one.
Group Visibility: Public groups can be seen and joined by anyone in the community. Private groups are listed in the community, but only members can open them or see their posts, files, and activity.
Allow members to request to join: for private groups. When it's off, the group is invitation only and an admin adds each member. When it's on, residents can send a request for an admin to approve.
Allow members to leave the group: when it's off, members can't leave on their own and an admin has to remove them.
Allow non-members to message this group: when it's off, only members can message the group. Community Leaders and anyone with permission to message all community members can still reach it.
Allow non-members to see who's in this group: for private groups. Lets any community member view the member list without joining, which is useful for a group like an HOA Board.
Share message history with current members: messages sent only to the group stay with the group, under Group Inboxes in Messages. New members can read past conversations, and people who leave lose access to them. Useful for a board, so each new board inherits the record.
Click Update Privacy Settings.
Who can post to the bulletin board?: All Members lets any group member post. Admins Only limits posting to group admins.
Require post approval: new posts from members wait for a group admin to approve them before they appear. Posts from group admins, and from anyone with Manage Member Groups or Create Bulletin Board Post without Approval, skip approval.
Allow members to like posts and Allow members to comment on posts turn likes and comments on or off for posts shared with the group, whatever members' roles allow. Posts the group shares with the whole community follow role permissions instead.
Click Update Bulletin Board Settings.
Under Who can upload files?, choose Admins Only or All Members, then click Update Files Settings. Either way, only group admins can create, rename, and delete the group's folders.
These aren't settings, but they work differently from the rest of the group:
Adding an event on the group's Calendar tab needs the Create Calendar Event permission. Being a group admin isn't enough on its own, and any group member with that permission can add events.
Any group member can add photos and create albums on the Photos tab.
Shows the group's Group Statistics (members, posts, events, and when it was created) and its list of Group Administrators. You can remove an admin from here too.
If you have the Delete Member Group permission, the group's Settings tab ends with a Delete Group section. If you can't see the Settings tab, click the trash icon on the group's card on the Member Groups page instead, and skip to step 2.
Click Delete Group.
Check each box to confirm what will happen: the group's bulletin board posts, calendar events, photos and albums, and documents are archived and hidden, and all members are removed.
Click Delete Group in the dialog.
You can't undo deleting a group.
If you have questions or need help, chat with Communitrak Support from any page using the messenger icon in the bottom-right corner.
