Do I need Private Groups?
| Your situation | Use |
|---|---|
| A committee needs a space to collaborate | Private Group |
| A project team needs task tracking and file sharing | Private Group with Issues enabled |
| Members want to form interest-based communities (Photography, Hiking) | Private Group with “joinable” enabled |
| You’re planning a specific event and the team needs a workspace | Private Group — archive it when the event is done |
| A board needs a confidential discussion space | Private Group — restrict to board members only |
| You want a space that auto-includes all members of a type | Role Group instead |
| You need geographic branches | Local Center instead |
Creating a Private Group
Any member with permission can create a group. Click + New Group in the sidebar, or go to Groups → Create Group.Name and description
Give the group a clear name that explains its purpose. “Q4 Marketing Campaign” is better than “Marketing Group”. Add a description so members know what to expect.
Choose visibility
Private — only members can see the group and its content. Joinable — any member can discover the group and join without an invitation.
Select a category (optional)
If your organization uses group categories, pick one: Working Group, Committee, Interest Group, Project Team, etc. This helps members find groups.
Enable features
Toggle on only what you need:
| Feature | Enable when |
|---|---|
| Discussions | The group needs conversations — updates, decisions, Q&A |
| Events | The group schedules meetings or activities |
| Files | The group shares documents, presentations, or resources |
| Issues | The group tracks tasks, action items, or deliverables |
Private vs. joinable
This is the key decision when creating a group:| Mode | How members join | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Private | Invited by the group owner or admin only | Committees, boards, sensitive projects — you control exactly who’s in |
| Joinable | Any member can find and join on their own | Interest groups, social clubs, open communities — members self-organize |
Managing members
Adding members
- Go to the group → Members tab
- Click Add Members
- Search by name and select people
- They’re added immediately
Group roles
| Role | What they can do |
|---|---|
| Owner | Full control — manage members, settings, and features. Can delete the group. The person who created the group is the owner. |
| Admin | Can manage members and settings, but cannot delete the group. Promote trusted members to admin for shared management. |
| Member | Can participate based on group permission settings (post, upload, create events — unless restricted to admins only). |
Removing members
Go to Members tab → find the member → remove. Removed members lose access to all group content immediately.Issue tracking
Private Groups with Issues enabled become lightweight project management spaces. This is one of the most powerful features for teams that need to track work.Creating issues
Go to the group → Issues tab → Create Issue Each issue can have:| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Title | What needs to be done |
| Description | Details, context, acceptance criteria |
| Assignee | Who’s responsible |
| Priority | High, Medium, Low (if enabled) |
| Due date | Deadline (if enabled) |
| Type | Task, Bug, Feature, Question (if enabled) |
| Status | Open → In Progress → Done |
Configure issue tracking
When enabling Issues on a group, you can toggle:| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Priority levels | Allow High/Medium/Low priority on issues |
| Due dates | Allow setting deadlines |
| Issue types | Categorize issues (Task, Bug, Feature, etc.) |
| Status tracking | Track progress through workflow stages |
Controlling who can do what
| Setting | ON | OFF |
|---|---|---|
| Only admins can post | Group is announcement-only — admins post, members read | Any member can start discussions |
| Only admins can create events | Admins schedule all meetings and activities | Any member can create events |
| Only admins can upload files | Document management is controlled | Any member can share files |
| Only admins can add members | Only admins invite new people | Any member can invite others |
Group lifecycle
Private Groups are often temporary. Here’s how to manage them through their lifecycle:| Phase | What to do |
|---|---|
| Create | Set up the group, invite members, enable features |
| Active use | Members collaborate — discussions, files, issues, events |
| Wind down | When the project ends or the committee finishes its work |
| Archive | Archive the group — content is preserved for reference, but the group is hidden from the sidebar. Members are removed from the active roster. |
| Delete | If the content isn’t worth preserving, delete the group entirely. This is permanent. |
Always prefer archiving over deleting. Archived groups preserve institutional knowledge — meeting notes, decisions, files. You can always delete later, but you can’t un-delete.
Common scenarios
Members want to create interest groups (Photography Club, Book Club) — should I let them?
Members want to create interest groups (Photography Club, Book Club) — should I let them?
Yes — this is exactly what joinable Private Groups are for. Members create the group, set it as joinable, and others discover and join on their own. You get organic community building with zero admin work. If you want some oversight, require a group category and review new groups occasionally.
A project finished — what do I do with the group?
A project finished — what do I do with the group?
Archive it. The group disappears from the sidebar but all content (discussions, files, issues) is preserved. If someone needs to reference old project files or decisions six months later, an admin can find the archived group.
Can I convert a Private Group into a Role Group?
Can I convert a Private Group into a Role Group?
No — they’re fundamentally different. Private Groups have manual membership; Role Groups have criteria-based automatic membership. If you realize the membership should be automatic (e.g., “all people with User Type = Board Member”), create a new Role Group and archive the Private Group.
Too many groups — members can't find the right one
Too many groups — members can't find the right one
Enable Group Categories to organize groups by type (Working Group, Committee, Interest Group, etc.). Also consider archiving inactive groups — a clean list is easier to navigate than a cluttered one.
A group owner left the organization — who controls the group now?
A group owner left the organization — who controls the group now?
A national admin can access any group and reassign ownership. Go to the group settings and promote another member to owner.
I want a group visible to everyone but only admins can post
I want a group visible to everyone but only admins can post
Create the group as joinable (so everyone can find and join it), then enable “Only admins can post”. This gives you a broadcast channel where admins share updates and members can read — similar to a Slack announcement channel.
Related
- Groups Overview — All group types and when to use each
- Issues — Task tracking within groups
- Role Groups — For automatic, criteria-based membership
- Local Centers — For geographic branches