Subgroups

Subgroups are like mini-Crowdstack sites within your overall Crowdstack community. All content within a Subgroup is siloed from the rest of the main community content, so each Subgroup can focus on its own mission. All members of a Subgroup must also be members of the larger community. You manage your subgroups via Manage > Settings > Subgroups.

The Settings page for Subgroups allows you, as an Administrator, to configure how Subgroups work in general on your Crowdstack.

The "Manage" page for Subgroups is where you create, edit, and manage the Subgroups for your Crowdstack.

Creating Subgroups

To create Subgroups, navigate to Manage > Settings > Subgroups > Manage. On that page, click on the "Create Subgroup" link. Provide all of the information for your new Subgroup, including Subgroup type (public, private, or hidden), name, header, and theme.

Let's review the Subgroup types in more detail:

• Public - Accessible/available to anyone who has general access to your Crowdstack.
• Private - Listed in the Subgroup directory for your Crowdstack, but access is restricted to invitees/approved members only.
• Hidden - Like a Private Subgroup, but not listed/included in the Subgroups directory (unless you belong to the Subgroup). This way only members of Private Subgroups are aware of their existence.

Subgroup Management

Each Subgroup has its own Management area, available only to the Administrators of the Subgroup. This managment area is very similar to the management area for your Crowdstack, with a similar set of management tools and settings.

Inviting Members to a Subgroup

There are several ways to invite members to a subgroup.

• (1) Enable Auto-Join: Admins can configure a site so that members who visit a public Subgroup will auto-join it. On your Subgroup, go to Manage > Settings > General > Member Settings. On that page, choose "Permit New Members." With this option enabled, when a member clicks the name of a public Subgroup to view the content, he/she will automatically be a member of that Subgroup.
• (2) Use Permissions and Smart Widget (Crowdstack Pro Version 2) Go to Manage > Settings > General > Permissions and in the General Tab, find "Invite Members" and update the role to "All Members". This will enable the smart widget in the Welcome Message to enable the "Invite Others" button to appear on the main Subgroup page. Note: If you are on Crowdstack Pro Version 1: You can still use permission to enable members to invite others to join but members will need to access via Your Settings (hover over the avatar) verses the Smart Widget.
• (3) Use An Automated Rule: You can set up an Automated rule to auto join a subgroup. For example, if you have a Subgroup for members from the State of California, you can set up an automated rule to auto-join a Subgroup for new registrations coming from California. (Note you will need to have a Registration profile settings include location or state). More on Automated Rules is found here. Invitations to join the site will be sent via email with a link to the community.

Removing Members from Subgroup

In your Subgroup, navigate to Manage > Settings > Members > Manage/Search and search for the member(s) you wish to remove.

Use the dropdown menu at the bottom of the page called "Perform this Action on the Selected Member" and select "Remove Member from Subgroup."

You will see a popup that says "Are you sure you want to remove the selected members from this subgroup?" Click "Remove Now," and the member(s) will be removed.

Note that Subgroup Administrators can remove members from their subgroup, but this action doesn’t impact the individual’s membership in the overall Crowdstack or in other subgroups. However, banning or deletions at the top level by the SuperAdmin DO affect members in the Subgroup (e.g., if a member is banned by a Crowdstack Administrator, he will no longer be able to participate in any Subgroups, either).