Community Group Leader's Guide to Online Community Groups

Community group leaders can build an online community for their users through their online Community group. Unlike other group types, any user can be a member of a Community group. Community groups can be used for things like your school's Board of Directors or your team of volunteers for an upcoming event. There are several different tools available to Community group leaders to build a dynamic online Community group which can be used to keep your Members focused and on task even when your Community group might be unable to meet in person.

Select Enter Edit Mode to edit your Community group's bulletin board by dragging and dropping content types onto the bulletin board. Your bulletin board can be populated with any content that pertains to your Community group and it's members. Content types include Links, Photos, Videos, Downloads, News, Audio, Announcements, and Events. You also have access to an Embed widget which you can use to include an RSS feed on your Bulletin board. Use Preview page to preview any changes you have made and select Publish layout changes or Publish layout & go to page when you have finished editing your bulletin board.

Topics allow you to create separate pages for content. In Academics, these are typically used for units of study but these can be used for meeting minutes, events, volunteer hours, etc. For example, if you have a Community group for volunteers. You could have a Topic about how to track volunteer hours and upcoming events that need volunteers.

To add a new Topic, use Create Topic and provide a title and cover photo for your topic as well as set the publishing, sharing, and import options for the topic. Once a Topic is created, use the Edit icon for the Topic to edit existing or add new content. To learn more about creating and importing topics, take a look at our help.

Under Roster, you can see your community group members. You can also:

  • Send communication to your members or All (members and community group leaders).

  • View user profiles.

  • Manage your roster to add or remove Members.

    Tip: Only available if your school allows Community Group Leaders to edit their own rosters.

    There are four different membership types for Community groups:

    • Listed Anyone: Constituents can join the community group without needing approval.

    • Listed with Permission: Constituents can request to join the community but their membership must be approved.

    • Un-listed Invite Only: Managers and leaders can invite selected constituents to join the community.

      Note: Constituents must respond.

    • Smart Group: Managers and leaders can query the database to add a large number of constituents (e.g. all upper school parents) to the community.