By default, when groups are created, the status is set to Hidden and Closed, which means people can't see or join them from the group page in Church Center.
To enable people to view and join groups from Church Center, Administrators can set the status to Published and Open from the group Settings tab or in bulk from the main Groups page. You can also set a date for a group to close and specify a maximum enrollment.
Set a group to Published if you want people to be able to view the group from Church Center.
Set a group to Hidden if you don't want it to be visible to the public. Groups that you set as hidden to the public will still be accessible to members of the group.
From the Group Page Settings, groups can be made Published or Hidden.
You might also want to set all groups to be published at the same time. For example, you can keep groups hidden while you are setting them up, and then publish them all at once on the main groups page.
Hidden groups are only visible to Administrators, the group's leaders, and the members of the group.
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The URL of a hidden group page will redirect someone not logged in to Groups. However, if members of that group are logged in, they'll be able to get to the group page directly.
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On the Groups on Church Center Page, members of the hidden group can see their group in the My Groups section, but non-members will not be able to find the group, even in a search.
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If all the groups in a given group type are hidden, the whole group type will be hidden from the Groups on Church Center page.
From the Group Page Settings, group enrollment can be set to Open or Closed.
There are two types of open groups:
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Open: request to join - When a person requests to join this group, an email is sent to the group leader, who must approve the request before the person is added to the group.
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Open: open signup - When a person requests to join this type of group, they are automatically added as a member.
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Closing a group just prevents any additional people from joining. All current members of the group will still be active.
From Group Settings Enrollment, a group can be set to automatically close at a specified date or be considered full when it reaches a specified enrollment number.
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Check and add a date when you want the group to automatically close. When that date is reached, the group will be shown as Closed.
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Check and add the maximum number of people for the group. Once that number is reached, the group will be shown as Full.
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Check and add the number of people that you want to trigger a notification to the Administrator.
If a group is closed or full, leaders and administrators can still add new members to this group.
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Group Leaders are also members, so they are counted toward the total number enrolled.
Each group image will have an Open, Closed, or Full label on it in the Group Type page on Church Center.
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Check the box above the groups list if you want to see closed and full groups. If the box isn't checked, groups with these statuses will be hidden. If all groups in a Group Type are closed, the box will be checked by default.
On the group page for a Closed or Full group, the Join This Group button will be missing, and the group will have a message in its place.
If the person viewing the group page is logged in as a member of the group, the message will not show, whether the group is open or closed.