Recommendations
Add a recommendation
Recommend a book, podcast, practitioner or place: every field in the Add Recommendation window, and what to write in each.
You'll end up with one recommendation in your list, with an image, a link and your personal note, ready to show on your portal.
When to use this
- A client asks what you're reading, and you want one place to send them.
- You trust another practitioner and want to point people to them.
- There's a retreat center, app or podcast you mention in every session.
Before you start
Have these ready:
- The link where people can find it (the publisher's page, Spotify or Apple Podcasts, the venue's website).
- An image: a book cover, podcast artwork or a photo of the place. You'll paste its address or upload it.
- One or two sentences on why you recommend it.
Add it
Open the window
Go to Audience → Recommendations and click Add Recommendation.
Choose who sees it
The switch at the top right sets visibility. On shows Public: "Recommendation will be publicly visible to everyone." Off shows Private: "Recommendation only for subscribers." Check it every time, so it's set the way you want.
Name it
Type the Title, for example "Daring Greatly by Brené Brown".
Say why
Write the Description. This is your voice: who it's for and why it helped you or your clients. Line breaks are kept.
Pick a type
Choose a Type: Article, Video, Podcast, Book, Other, Course, Practice, Practitioner, Event, Place, Activity or Retreat Center. Your list can be filtered by type, and members see the type on the recommendation's page.
Add the link
Paste the URL ("Enter website URL (e.g., google.com, example.com/article)"). You can leave off https://, it's added for you.
Add the image
Under Thumbnail Image, choose a tab:
- Image URL: paste the address of an image online. A preview appears underneath.
- Upload Image: pick a file from your device and crop it to 16:9.
Save
Click Create. You'll see "Recommendation created successfully" and the new card at the top of your list.
What happens next
- The recommendation is live straight away. There's no review or approval.
- It shows on your portal once the Recommendations section is on. See Show recommendations on your portal.
- No one is notified. To tell people about it, send an announcement with a link.
If something won't save
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| "Title is required" or "Description is required" | Fill in both. A recommendation without a note is just a link. |
| "Must be a valid URL with a proper domain (e.g., example.com, google.com)" | Use a full web address with a domain, such as example.com/book. Text without a dot won't work. |
| "Unable to load image from URL. Please check the URL and try again." | The image address doesn't open as an image. Copy the image address itself, or upload the file. |
| An error after clicking Create, with no field highlighted | Add a Thumbnail Image. A recommendation can't be saved without one. |
Tips
- Write the description first. A one-line personal note ("The book I hand every new client who's grieving") turns a link into your voice.
- Close the window by accident? What you typed is kept. Click Add Recommendation again to pick up where you left off.
- Use the Practitioner type for people you refer to, and Place or Retreat Center for venues. It makes filtering your list easier later.
- Link to the most useful page, not a home page: the book's page, the episode, the booking page.
- Recommending lots at once? Soul AI can add several in one go, for example "Add these five books as recommendations". You confirm each one.