Groups setup

Overview

Groups extension allows users to create and join groups around shared topics, interests, etc., and increase user interaction on your site. This document provides instructions on how to setup Groups extension.

Contents

• Settings
  • Extensions settings
  • Profile Menu settings
  • Pages settings
• User Role settings
• Manage groups
  • Add a new group
  • A group settings
    • Settings section
    • Invites settings section
    • Add new members section
    • Manage members section
• Group page on the frontend
• Notifications
  • Email notifications
  • Real-time notifications

Settings #

Extensions settings #

Once you activate the extension, you will see the Groups tab on the page wp-admin > Ultimate Member > Settings > Extensions. On this page, you can find the following options:

• Edit Groups slug, Category slug & Tag
• Turn on/off group avatars "Show group avatars"
• Setup the number of displayed posts for the mobile/desktop view
• Setup comments order
• Setup number of initial comments/replies to display per post

Image - Settings on wp-admin > Ultimate Member > Settings > Extensions > Groups

Profile Menu settings #

The extension adds settings to the page wp-admin > Ultimate Member > Settings > Appearance > Profile Menu. These settings allow you to manage the "Groups" item in the profile menu:

• Groups Tab – Allows enabling/disabling the "Groups" item in the Profile menu.
• Who can see Groups Tab? – Manage access to the "Groups" tab in the Profile menu

Pages settings #

The extension adds settings to the page wp-admin > Ultimate Member > Settings > General > Pages. These settings allow you to manage required pages:

• Groups - Displays all public and private groups
• My Groups - Displays current user groups
• Create New Group - Displays a form to create a group

Page Groups contains the [ultimatemember_groups] shortcode that shows a list of groups. Members can use this page to search a group, see a group info, join a group.

Page My Groups contains the [ultimatemember_my_groups] shortcode that shows a list of groups, which current member has joined.

Page Create New Group contains the [ultimatemember_group_new] shortcode that gives members the opportunity to create a group. The user, who created the group, is the first group member and the group "Administrator".

The extension creates pages automatically. You can recreate pages manually if they were lost in wp-admin > Pages. Once pages are created, you should configure them using options on wp-admin > Ultimate Member > Settings > General > Pages.

User Role settings #

The extension adds the Groups section to the user role settings. Go to wp-admin > Ultimate Member > User Roles, choose the user role and scroll down to see this section. You'll see these settings:

• Turn off creation group? - turn on this setting to deny creating groups for this role.

Image - The Groups section in the user role settings.

Manage groups #

The extension adds the Groups section to the WordPress admin menu where you can view existing groups, add a new group or edit group settings.

You can view and manage group categories on wp-admin > Groups > Group Categories.

You can view and manage group tags on wp-admin > Groups > Group Tags.

Image - The Groups section in the WordPress admin menu and Groups table.

Add a new group #

Click the Add New Group button above the Groups table to add a new group. Configure a group settings and click the Add Group button.

A group settings #

Group settings are divided into 4 main widgets: Settings, Invites settings, Add New Members, Manage Members.

Settings section #

• Privacy - set privacy settings for your group. Options:
  • Public - Any site member can join this group. Group content and discussions are visible to any site member.
  • Public for Role - Members with specific role(s) can join this group. Group content and discussions are visible to members with specific role(s).
  • Private - Only members who request membership and are accepted can join the group. Group content and discussions are visible to members of the group.
  • Hidden - Only members who are invited can join the group. Group content and discussions are visible to members of the group. This group is not listed in the groups' directory or search results.
• Role list - (optional, appears if "Public for Role" is chosen in the Privacy) limit access by user role.
• Post Moderation - enable/disable post moderation by admins or group moderators.

Invites settings section #

• Enable Invites feature - enable/disable invites for the group.
• Who can invite members to the group? - select who can invite new group members. Options.
  • All Group Members
  • Group Administrators & Moderators only
  • Group Administrators only
• Enable Invites search - enable/disable searching tool.
• Enable Invites filters - enable/disable filtering tool.
• Choose field(s) to enable in search - select fields for filtering if "Enable Invites filters" is enabled.

How it looks like on the group page:

Add new members section #

You can add new members to the group by searching for registered users and clicking on the "Add member" button.

Step 1 - Search a member

Step 2 - Add a member

Manage members section #

Manage members section allows you to manage group members:

• Change member status - Hover over the status of the member to select the following status from the drop-down menu: Pending Admin Review, Pending Member Review, Approved, Rejected, and Blocked
• Assign/change member role - Hover over the group role of the member to select the following group role from the drop-down menu: Administrator, Moderator, Member and Banned.
• Send invite or expel members from the group

Group page on the frontend #

On the group page on the frontend 3 main sections are available:

• Discussions tab represents the main group discussion feed
• Members tab displays all group members
• Send invites tab can be used to send invites to other members

Image - A group page example.

Admin users or group moderators can access group settings on the frontend by clicking the "gear" icon on the upper right side of the group page. All group settings can be changed on the frontend by group admins or moderators.

Image - A group frontend settings example.

Notifications #

The extension has email notifications and real-time* notifications.

Note: Real-time notifications require the extension Ultimate Member - Real-time Notifications.

Email notifications #

Email templates:

• Groups - Approve Member Email - Send the user an email when the user is approved to a group
• Groups - Join Request Email - Send the user an email when the user has requested to join their group
• Groups - Invite Member Email - Send the user an email when the user has been invited to join a group
• Groups - New post - Send the user an email when someone posts on the group wall
• Groups - New comment - Send the user an email when someone comments on the group wall

The Administrator can edit email templates: enable, disable, change subject or body. Go to wp-admin > Ultimate Member > Settings > Email, find the needed email template, and click the button "Edit" (gear icon). You'll see email template settings. Change what you want and save changes.

Image - Screen wp-admin > Ultimate Member > Settings > Email.

Each member can enable or disable email notifications Groups - New post and Groups - New comment using settings on the page Account > Notifications. These settings are disabled by default.

Real-time notifications #

Real-time templates:

• Groups - Approve Member - When my group requests have been approved
• Groups - Join Request - When a user requested to join their group
• Groups - Invite Member - When a member has been invited to join a group
• Groups - Change Group Role - When my group roles have been changed

Image - Real-time notification example.

Each member can enable or disable real-time notifications using settings on the page Account > Web notifications.