Community
Create circles: open, invite-only or for paying members
Give a cohort, topic or season its own room inside your community, and decide exactly who can come in.
A Circle is a smaller room inside your community: "for a topic, a season, or a closer cohort." Each circle has its own members, posts, questions, gatherings, materials and chat spaces.
When to use this
- You run a cohort or program and want those people together in one room.
- You want a space for one topic (grief, motherhood, morning practice) inside a broader community.
- You want a free community with a paid inner room.
Choose your access
Two settings decide who gets in. They work together.
| You want… | Access | Hold for a paid tier |
|---|---|---|
| Anyone in the community can walk in | Open | Off |
| Members ask, you approve each one | Invite only | Off |
| Paying members walk straight in | Open | On |
| Paying members ask, you approve each one | Invite only | On |
Open: "Any member can join, unless you hold it for a tier below." Invite only: "Members ask to join; you approve each request." Hold for a paid tier: "Only members on the right tier can enter. Others see an upgrade prompt." This means an active paid membership on your portal.
Create the circle
Go to Community → Circles and click New Circle.
Name and describe it
Give it a Name (for example "Morning Reflections") and a Description: "A short, gentle line about what this circle is for." Add a square image if you like. Without one, the circle shows the first letter of its name.
Set who can come in
Choose Open or Invite only under Access, and turn Hold for a paid tier on or off. Click Create circle.
Bring people in
Open the circle and click Add Member to place existing community members in it directly. For an invite-only circle, you can also click Generate invite link and share it.
Approve requests (invite-only circles)
Requests appear under Requests to join at the top of Community → Circles, and the count shows next to Circles in the sidebar. Click Approve or Deny on each one.
Fill the room
Inside the circle you can add materials (Attach a material), link chat spaces, and see the circle's gatherings, questions and posts. When you post, schedule a gathering or upload materials, choose this circle to keep it inside.
Invite links
On an invite-only circle, "Anyone with this link joins [the circle] directly, no request to approve."
- Copy link copies it.
- Rotate makes a new link and stops the old one working.
- Revoke turns the link off entirely.
Treat an invite link like a key. If it travels further than you meant, rotate it.
Tips
- Give every circle a clear purpose that members understand before they join.
- Invite-only is for curation, not payment. If the circle is a paid benefit, turn on Hold for a paid tier.
- Keep sensitive material in the smallest room that fits it.
- Tightening access doesn't evict anyone. Switching to invite-only or turning on the paid hold affects future joins. Remove people by hand if you need to.
- Adding someone directly notifies them. They get a message in their community inbox and by email that their access is live. Members who join on their own, or whose request you deny, aren't notified.
- Archive instead of delete. From the circle's ⋯ menu, Archive hides it from members and keeps its posts and members. Unarchive brings it back. There's no permanent delete.
Circles need a Soul plan. If you see "Circles come with a plan," choose a plan in Your Soul subscription. Everything else on your portal stays as it is.
What your members see
Members find circles in your community. They click Join circle for an open circle, or Request to join for an invite-only one ("Request sent. You'll be notified if approved."). A circle held for paying members shows Upgrade to join to people without a paid membership.