---
title: Recommendations
sidebarTitle: Introduction
description: >-
  Share the books, podcasts, teachers and places you love with your community,
  each with a note on why.
audience: luminary
feature: recommendations
type: introduction
availability: live
last_verified: '2026-10-13'
keywords:
  - recommendations
  - recommend books
  - favorite podcasts
  - resources list
  - share teachers
  - reading list
  - curated resources
url: 'https://help.bringsoul.life/luminaries/audience/recommendations'
---

# Recommendations

> Share the books, podcasts, teachers and places you love with your community, each with a note on why.

[Audience → Recommendations](https://portal.bringsoul.life/recommendations): _"Share helpful resources with your community."_ A Recommendation points to something someone else made: a book, a podcast, an article, a retreat center, another practitioner. Your note on why you love it is what makes it valuable.

The dashboard puts it this way: _"Recommendations is your curated hub of resources for your community. Think trusted practitioners, books, articles, activities, events and more that you feel your community would benefit from."_

## When to use recommendations

| If you want…                                                   | Use                                                                          |
| -------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Point people to someone else's book, podcast, app or retreat   | A Recommendation                                                             |
| Share your own recording, video, article or PDF                | A [Content Library](https://help.bringsoul.life/luminaries/offerings/content-library/introduction) item |
| Mention a resource once, in your news                          | An [announcement](https://help.bringsoul.life/luminaries/audience/announcements) with a link            |
| Add a plain link card to your portal                           | [Links and header buttons](https://help.bringsoul.life/luminaries/portal/add-links-and-buttons)         |
| Partner with another Luminary on something you create together | [Co-Creation](https://help.bringsoul.life/luminaries/audience/co-creation)                              |

A simple test: if you made it and host it, it's content. If someone else made it and you're vouching for it, it's a recommendation.

## Anatomy of a recommendation

| Field           | What it does                                                                                                                              |
| --------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Title           | The name of the resource. Required.                                                                                                       |
| Description     | Why you recommend it, in your own words. Required, and the part members actually read.                                                    |
| Type            | Article, Video, Podcast, Book, Other, Course, Practice, Practitioner, Event, Place, Activity or Retreat Center. Used to filter your list. |
| URL             | Where people find it: the publisher's page, Spotify, the retreat's website. Required.                                                     |
| Thumbnail Image | The picture on the card, by Image URL or Upload Image (16:9). Add one: the card needs it.                                                 |
| Visibility      | Public: _"Recommendation will be publicly visible to everyone."_ Private: _"Recommendation only for subscribers."_                        |

Every recommendation is free to open. There's no price, ticket or checkout attached to it.

## Where it lives

- [Audience → Recommendations](https://portal.bringsoul.life/recommendations) is your list: a card per recommendation, newest first, with a search box (_"Search recommendations…"_) and type filters (All, plus each type you've used).
- Each recommendation also has its own page in the dashboard with its image, Created date, Description and Link. Open it from dashboard search (<kbd>⌘</kbd> <kbd>K</kbd>).
- On your portal, recommendations show in the Recommendations section, and each one has its own page you can share.

## What members experience

1. A member sees your recommendations as cards in the Recommendations section of your portal, with the image, title and your note.
2. Your portal's Recommendations page lists them all under _"Things worth your time, chosen by hand."_
3. Opening one shows the image, the title with its type, your full description and a Visit button that opens the resource in a new tab.

Private recommendations are for your subscribers: anyone else may still see the card, but not the full link. See [Members-only recommendations](https://help.bringsoul.life/luminaries/audience/recommendations/members-only-recommendations).

## Good to know

- Recommendations stay on your portal. They don't appear in Soul's wider discovery or on other Luminaries' portals.
- There's no approval step. A recommendation is live as soon as you save it, as long as its portal section is on.
- The dashboard doesn't show views or clicks for recommendations.
- [Soul AI](https://help.bringsoul.life/luminaries/soul-ai) can add, edit and delete recommendations for you. You confirm each change, and it asks you for a real image rather than inventing one.

## Guides

- [Add a recommendation](https://help.bringsoul.life/luminaries/audience/recommendations/add-a-recommendation): 
Every field, step by step, and what trips people up.

- [Build a curated list](https://help.bringsoul.life/luminaries/audience/recommendations/build-a-curated-list): 
A themed reading list, a podcast shelf or a directory of practitioners you trust.

- [Show them on your portal](https://help.bringsoul.life/luminaries/audience/recommendations/show-recommendations-on-your-portal): 
Turn on the section, place it, and check the member view.

- [Members-only recommendations](https://help.bringsoul.life/luminaries/audience/recommendations/members-only-recommendations): 
Keep some of your favourites as a perk for subscribers.

- [Edit, share and remove](https://help.bringsoul.life/luminaries/audience/recommendations/manage-and-share): 
Change details, switch visibility, copy a link, delete.

- [Move them into your Content Library](https://help.bringsoul.life/luminaries/audience/recommendations/move-to-content-library): 
Convert recommendations into content items or a collection.

## Related

- [Your audience](https://help.bringsoul.life/luminaries/audience/introduction): 
Everything in the Audience pillar.

- [Your portal](https://help.bringsoul.life/luminaries/portal/overview): 
Sections, visibility and design.

- [Content Library](https://help.bringsoul.life/luminaries/offerings/content-library/introduction): 
For things you made and host yourself.

- [Soul AI](https://help.bringsoul.life/luminaries/soul-ai): 
Add several recommendations in one conversation.