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Local Centers are your organization’s geographic branches — cities, regions, chapters, districts. Each center has its own discussions, events, files, members, and local administrators, while staying connected to the national organization. If your organization has geographic structure of any kind, Local Centers are how you model it. Local Centers list with interactive map showing pins across the US, member counts, towns, and action buttons Click on any center to open its detail view with quick actions for Members, Fees, Events, and Discussions: Local Center detail page showing center name, location, founding date, quick actions for Members, Fees, Events, and Discussions

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Do I need Local Centers?

Your situationRecommendation
Members are spread across cities or regionsYes — Local Centers let each area run independently
You have chapters, branches, or districtsYes — each becomes a Local Center
You want local events alongside national onesYes — each center has its own event calendar
Your organization is a single locationNo — use Private Groups for teams instead
You’re a fully online community with no geographic structureNo — use Role Groups or Private Groups

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How Local Centers fit in

Local Centers sit between the Main Group (everyone) and Private Groups (manual teams): 
National Organization
├── Main Group (all members, org-wide announcements)
├── Local Centers (geographic — assigned per member)
│   ├── New York Chapter
│   │   ├── Discussions, Events, Files
│   │   └── Local admins manage independently
│   ├── London Branch
│   └── Berlin Division
├── Role Groups (automatic — by criteria)
└── Private Groups (manual — project teams)
Each member belongs to one Local Center (assigned during registration or by an admin). They see their center’s content in the sidebar alongside the Main Group.

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Setting up Local Centers

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Enable the module

Settings → Groups → Module Settings → enable Groups & Teams Local Centers are available by default when Groups are enabled.

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Create a center

Settings → Local Centers → Create Local Center
1

Name and location

Enter the center name and select the town/city. If you’ve enabled regions, assign the center to its parent region.
2

Contact details

Add the center’s contact email, phone, and contact person. This information is visible to members and on the public map (if enabled).
3

Address

Enter the office address and postal address. Add GPS coordinates if you want the center to appear on the public map.
4

Optional: social links and banking

Add Facebook, Instagram, website URLs. If the center collects fees, configure bank details and Stripe account.

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Organize with regions (optional)

For organizations with many centers, group them under regions: 
National Organization
├── Northeast Region
│   ├── New York
│   ├── Boston
│   └── Philadelphia
├── Southeast Region
│   ├── Atlanta
│   ├── Miami
│   └── Charlotte
└── West Region
    ├── Los Angeles
    ├── San Francisco
    └── Seattle
Enable regions in Settings → Groups → Module Settings → Units. Then assign each Local Center to a region when creating it. Regional grouping gives you Parent Local admin roles — admins who oversee all centers in their region without needing national-level permissions.

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How members get assigned

MethodHow it works
During registrationThe registration form includes a Local Center field. Members select their branch when signing up.
Admin assignmentAn admin edits the member’s profile and assigns them to a center.
TransferAn admin moves a member from one center to another. The member’s content stays in the original center.
Members can only belong to one Local Center at a time. If they need access to multiple geographic communities, use Private Groups for the cross-center collaboration.

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What each center can do

Every Local Center functions as a full group with these features:
FeatureLocal use case
DiscussionsLocal announcements, community conversations, area-specific topics
EventsLocal meetups, chapter meetings, regional activities
FilesLocal documents, meeting minutes, branch-specific resources
MembersBrowse and search members in this center
IssuesTrack local tasks and action items (if enabled)
Each center’s content is separate from other centers. Members only see discussions, events, and files from their own center (and the Main Group).

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Local administration

One of the most powerful aspects of Local Centers is delegated administration. You don’t need national admins managing every branch — each center can have its own team.

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Local admin roles

RoleWhat they can do
ADMIN_LOCALFull control of the center — manage members, settings, content, events, files
HR_LOCALMember management within the center — edit profiles, manage assignments
FINANCIAL_LOCALFinancial management — process local fees, view payment reports

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Parent Local roles (for regions)

If you use regions, you also get:
RoleWhat they can do
ADMIN_PARENT_LOCALOversee all centers in a region
HR_PARENT_LOCALMember management across a region
FINANCIAL_PARENT_LOCALFinancial oversight for a region
To assign local roles: go to Members → select a member → Permissions tab → assign the role scoped to their center.

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Center statuses

StatusWhat it means
ActiveFully operational — members can see and interact with the center
Pending CloseCenter is being wound down — visible but marked for closure
SuspendedTemporarily inactive — hidden from members but data preserved
ClosedPermanently closed — archived, no longer visible

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Local fees

If your organization collects fees at the branch level (local membership dues, chapter fees), each center can have its own fee configuration:
  • Assign a fee product to the center
  • Set a default price (can differ from national fees)
  • Enable online payment via Stripe (requires a connected Stripe account for the center)
  • Local financial admins can process and track payments
See Local Group Fees for the full setup.

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Waitlist per center

Popular centers can become full. Enable capacity limits to manage this:
SettingWhat it does
CapacityMaximum number of members for this center. New registrations go to the waitlist when full.
Auto-approveAutomatically approve waitlisted members when a spot opens
Processing rateHow many waitlisted members to process at once
This works with the Waitlist feature — the center-level waitlist feeds into the same admin management interface.

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Public map

If you enable the public map, active centers appear on an interactive map that prospective members can browse — helping them find the nearest branch before joining. Each center shows its location, contact information, and a map description. Configure GPS coordinates and the map description when editing the center.

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Controlling who can post

Same as other groups, each center has permission controls:
SettingRecommended for
Only admins can post — ONCenters where local admins control announcements
Only admins can post — OFFCenters where members freely discuss and share
Only admins can create events — ONWhen event planning should be coordinated centrally
Only admins can upload files — ONWhen document management needs oversight
Most organizations let members post freely in their Local Center while restricting the Main Group to admin-only announcements. This gives members a local community for discussion while keeping org-wide communications clean.

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Common scenarios

Go to the member’s profile → edit → change their Local Center assignment. Their discussions and contributions stay in the original center. They’ll now see content from their new center.
Assign them the ADMIN_PARENT_LOCAL role scoped to the region containing those centers. Or, if they only need access to 2-3 specific centers, assign ADMIN_LOCAL separately for each center.
No — members belong to one Local Center. If they need to collaborate across centers, create a Private Group with members from multiple centers. Or use a Role Group that spans all centers.
Set the center status to Pending Close first to signal the upcoming change. Transfer members to other centers. Once all members are transferred, set the status to Closed. The center’s content is archived.
Enable Units in Settings → Groups → Module Settings. Then create regions at Settings → Local Centers → Regions. Assign existing centers to their region.
Ensure each center has active local admins posting regularly. Start with events — a local meetup is the easiest way to build engagement. Keep the Main Group for announcements only, pushing discussion into Local Centers.