Chat Spaces - Soul Help Center

A Chat Space is a group chat room that lives on your portal. Members join, then talk with you and with each other in real time: they send messages, share files, reply in threads and see what you've pinned. Use it for ongoing connection between sessions, a cohort that wants to stay in touch, or a paid inner circle.

You'll find chat spaces under Offerings → Chat Spaces: "Host real-time conversations, organize topics, and engage your community." Chats that belong to your Community live under Community → Chat Spaces.

When to use a chat space

If you want…	Use
An ongoing, real-time group conversation	A Chat Space
A chat only your paying subscribers can join	A chat space set to Private
To sell access to a chat on its own	A Paid chat space
A chat for the people registered for one event	The event's Chat Space tab
A chat inside your Community, or inside one Circle	A Community chat space
Slower, threaded discussion: reflections, announcements, questions you answer	Community Posts and Questions
A private one-to-one conversation with a member	Messages
A one-off update to everyone	An announcement

Chat spaces, Community and Messages

These three are often confused. They're separate tools:

	Chat Spaces	Community (Posts, Questions)	Messages
Shape	Live group chat, newest messages at the bottom	A feed of posts and questions, each with its own replies	One-to-one conversation
Who's in it	Whoever joined that space	Everyone in your Community (or a Circle)	You and one member
Best for	Daily connection, quick back-and-forth, a cohort's "group chat"	Reflections, announcements, questions that deserve a considered answer	Personal support and follow-up
Can you charge for it?	Yes, per space	Through Community access or your membership	No
Where you manage it	Offerings → Chat Spaces or Community → Chat Spaces	Community → Posts / Questions	Your inbox on Home

A chat space can also be placed inside your Community. It's still the same chat space, but Community decides who can see it. See Add a chat to your Community or a Circle.

What members experience

On your portal, the Chat Spaces row shows the spaces they're allowed to see. Opening one shows the room's title, description, cover image and member count.

What the member sees	When
Join for Free	A free space they haven't joined yet
Join for $X	A paid space. They pay in an embedded checkout, then they're in.
Become a Subscriber	A Private space and they aren't subscribed to your portal: "This is a premium chat space exclusive to subscribers."
Complete Payment - $X	They started paying but didn't finish
"This chat space is archived"	You archived it. They can read, but "New messages cannot be posted."
"This community is read-only right now"	A Community chat while your Community is paused
Event chat	On their ticket page for the event, once their registration is confirmed

Once inside, members can:

Write messages (up to 5,000 characters) and attach files: images, video, audio, PDF, Word documents and plain text, up to 25MB each.
Reply to a message in a thread, and edit or delete their own messages.
Read the Pinned messages at the top of the room.
Open Members to see who's there, and search the conversation.
Leave a space they joined (Leave chat space…). The exceptions are event chats and Community chats, which they can't leave.

Members find the spaces they've joined under Chat spaces in their Messages, next to their direct messages. See Messages, chat and activity.

Anatomy

A chat space is made of three parts:

The space: its title, description, cover, visibility and price.
Members: the people who joined. You, the host, are always a member.
Messages: posts in the room, with optional attachments, thread replies and pins.

Every setting

You set these in the Create New Chat Space dialog, and change most of them later with Edit.

Setting	What it does	Can you change it later?
Cover Image (Optional)	A 16:9 banner on the card and at the top of the room	Yes
Title	The room's name, up to 100 characters	Yes
Description	What the room is for. Shown on the card and under the title, up to 500 characters.	Yes
Visibility	Who can find and join it (see below). The dialog starts on Public.	Yes, with one limit (see below)
Pricing	Free or Paid	No: "Pricing type cannot be changed for now"
Price (USD)	What a paid space costs. Minimum $0.50.	No. Contact support.
Billing Cycle	One-time payment, Monthly subscription or Yearly subscription	No. Contact support.
Message digest emails	"Send periodic message digest notifications to chat space members." On for new spaces. Only shown when you edit a space.	Yes
Community scope	Community chats only: Whole community or one Circle	Only to widen it

Visibility

Option	What the dialog says	What it means
Public	"Visible to everyone, can be joined by anyone"	Listed on your portal. Anyone with a Soul account can join.
Private	"Visible only to subscribers / members you approve"	Only your active portal subscribers see it and can join. Everyone else is asked to subscribe.
Unlisted	"Hidden from directory, accessible only via direct link"	Not listed anywhere. Anyone with the link can join.

Visibility and price are separate. A Private space can also be Paid, in which case subscribers still pay to join.

You can't switch a space to Private while anyone in it isn't a subscriber. Remove those members first, or keep the space Public or Unlisted.

Event chats and Community chats don't use these options. Their access comes from the event or the Community.

Where it lives in the dashboard

Offerings → Chat Spaces lists your standalone chat spaces, with Active and Archived tabs and a search box. Each card shows its status, price and billing cycle. From a card:

Click it to open the room.
Open the card menu for Edit or Copy Link, or use the share button.

Inside a room:

The header shows the visibility, price and member count.
The … menu holds Edit and Archive (or Unarchive).
Share lets you Copy Link or share to X, WhatsApp, Telegram or Email.
Members (N) opens the members drawer, where you can search members and remove someone.

Other places chat spaces show up:

Where	What you'll find
Community → Chat Spaces	Chats placed in your Community, each labelled Whole community or with its Circle's name
Community → Circles → a Circle	That Circle's Chat Spaces, with New Chat Space
Offerings → Events → an event → Chat Space tab	The chat for that event's registrants
My Portal → Design	The Chat Space section and Highlights

Event chats and Community chats don't appear in Offerings → Chat Spaces. Manage them from their own page.

Statuses

Status	Where you see it	Meaning
Public / Private / Unlisted	Card and room header	The space's visibility
Archived	Card, room header, Archived tab	Read-only. Nobody can post or join.
Active / Archived	Community → Chat Spaces	Whether a Community chat is open

Each member in the members drawer also has a status: active, unpaid (started a paid checkout but didn't finish), left or revoked (you removed them).

Limits and good to know

Price and billing are locked after creation. You can't switch between free and paid, or change the amount or cycle. Contact support@bringsoul.life if you need to.
Promo codes can't be used on chat spaces.
Deleting standalone chat spaces isn't available yet. Archive the space instead. See Archive or close a chat space.
Removed members can't rejoin. The exception is event chats: if someone re-registers for the event, their access comes back.
Threads are one level deep. You can reply to a message, but not to a reply.
Turning on the portal section is up to you. Creating a chat space doesn't switch on the Chat Space section of your portal. See Help members find your chat space.
Post first. Soul only suggests your chat space to people browsing other portals once you've written in it. Your own portal lists it either way.
Digest emails: after a burst of activity goes quiet, members get one summary email instead of a notification for every message. Community chats use your Community's notification settings instead.
If you've blocked someone, they can't join or post in your chat spaces.