Managing small group visibility

Managing the visibility of individual groups

You can manage each group's visibility in My ChurchSuite, Connect (in the Group List application running on a device at your weekend service Information point) and Embed (for group lists and maps on your website) on a group-by-group basis.

Working within the Groups section of the Small Groups module select to Edit a group in the list.

On the Edit group pop-up, scroll down to the Visibility section and tick to show the group in My ChurchSuite, Embed and Connect as appropriate. Save the changes.

When viewing a group's Details, the current visibility settings are shown.

The Groups section of the module also shows a helpful at-a-glance visual indicator of group Visibility.

Glossary:

• Visible in My ChurchSuite. The group will be visible to the group members. If sign-up is active the group will also be visible in the Sign-Up section in My ChurchSuite. Unlike Embed which can show groups regardless of whether sign-up is enabled, My ChurchSuite only shows groups you already belong to and groups that have sign-up enabled.
• Visible in Embed i.e. visible on an embedded small group List or Map on your website. All Active groups (and Future groups, if enabled in the module's settings) show in the embed, even if sign-up is not yet open.
  
• Visible in Connect. The Connect Group List application shows a list and/or map of your Active small groups (and Future groups if enabled in the module's options) on a device running at your in-person meetings and events. This can be especially helpful for those without My ChurchSuite access and those unable to access your website at home.

Finally in this section, the Small Groups module settings contain additional My ChurchSuite options, Connect options and Embed options that control whether Active groups only or Active & Future groups are shown in these places. See the related support articles for instructions on enabling small group sign-up through My ChurchSuite, Connect and Embed.

Making visibility changes to multiple groups

You can use batch Actions to make bulk changes to the visibility of multiple selected groups. Working in the Groups section, select the groups and then select Edit from the drop-down batch Actions menu.

On the Edit pop-up, tick and select the Visibility options as required. Note that batch edit actions also extend to other group Details, Sign Up settings, and group Custom Fields. Click Save to process the changes for the selected groups.

Managing the visibility of small group details

In addition to managing the visibility of small groups, you can also control the visibility of each group's meeting details, running/active dates and group description and group custom fields that are shown on the member/public-facing group pages that people will see in My ChurchSuite, Connect and Embed.

Note: The visibility settings for these group details is a module setting that applies to all groups that are visible in My ChurchSuite, Connect and Embed; it's not possible to control the visibility of group meeting details, group active dates, group description and custom fields on a group-by-group basis.

To change the visibility settings for these group fields of information, head into the Small Groups module settings via the cogwheel icon in the top right corner of the module. Working within each tab in turn for My ChurchSuite Options, then the Connect Options and finally the Embed Options, complete the steps outlined below. On each tab, locate the Details Visible section and click Edit and make changes as appropriate, choosing which group details to show. Note that the group details for Embed are set within an embed Configuration.

Meeting Details - if set visible will show the group's meeting day and frequency, the meeting time, the meeting location name (if specified, or the meeting postcode if the location name is blank), and any group custom fields set to "Show" in My ChurchSuite, Connect or Embed.

Active dates - if set visible will show the group's start date, end date (if specified), and the future sign-up start date where applicable. Precisely what dates are shown will depend on whether Active only, or Active & Future groups are shown, and whether sign-up is active for the group. Once a group end date has passed it will cease to be visible in My ChurchSuite, Connect or Embed.

Description - if set visible will show the group's description. The group description is a great place to tell potential sign-ups about the group's vision, purpose or theme, and who the group might be suitable for.

Promoting small groups using the group page URL

Each small group has a member/public-facing Group Page with a unique URL. You can preview the group page at any time - click the Go to group page button.

For groups set to be visible in My ChurchSuite, Connect and Embed - regardless of whether group sign-up is enabled - the Group Page is what people will see when they click through to the group, and it's this same group page URL that can easily be distributed in your communications.

The most obvious use of the Group Page URL is to copy and paste the URL (or embed the URL link) into your email communications and social media pages. In the example below, the HTML Insert/edit link tool is being used to embed the group page URL in an email, so that when the recipient of the email clicks "here" the group page is opened in a new browser window.

This paste/embed method has the distinct advantage of allowing those who may not be in your Address Book to access the group page (and sign-up where applicable) when you share it using an external email application outside of ChurchSuite. For example, the event page URL can just as easily be embedded into a MailChimp campaign communication or embedded behind a button or link on your website.

In addition to distributing the Group Page URL as described above, you can also share the group page on Facebook and Twitter - select as appropriate from the Share button menu at the top of the group 'View' page - or you can include the QR code in your emails or on your social media pages.