Now that the administrative tasks are behind you, the Group Type Admin is ready to create Group Types. As you have noticed when creating groups previously, there are currently only two group types—People List and Temporary Groups.
Here’s your opportunity to create other types of groups! There are several significant advantages to group types. As the group type admin, you decide:
Any type of group! Home Teams, Small Groups, Life Groups, Women’s Groups, Care Groups, you name it! All of this behind the scenes work will be totally transparent to people who are connecting with your groups via your church website.
One way to begin planning is to think about the groups you have currently. Do some groups have different requirements or permissions than others? For example, for Home Teams, your group leaders and members may be allowed to see all group member household details – like family members. However, this may not be an ideal situation for recovery type groups or singles groups.
If all of the groups within your church have the same requirements or “rules,” then you may only need to create one Group Type. But if you have different rules for different kinds of groups, you may want to separate them by Group Type. It’s important to note that requirements or “rules” set at the Group Type level will flow down to every group created within that type.
When defining group types, you can decide whether or not to give leaders the following permissions:
| Group leaders can... | |
| Send email | Allows leaders to email all group members that have an email address |
| Invite Members | Permits group leaders to send an email invitation asking a person to join the group |
| Add Members | Permits group leaders to add a new group member. |
| Edit member details | Allows group leaders to edit the individual records for all group members |
| Edit group details | This option allows the group leader to edit the group name, description, demographic information and custom fields |
| Edit schedule and location | This option allows the group leaders to edit the group location and schedule |
| Take Attendance | Allows leaders to enter attendance for group members, or if the group did not meet, enter a note saying what the reason was for not meeting |
| View Roster | Allows leaders to see the group members |
| What information can leaders view? | |
| Limited | Allows group leaders to view basic information about people in their group. This includes address, communication, email, web address, and a map to the address |
| Basic | Allows group leaders to view all Limited settings plus all household members |
| Full | Allows group leaders to view all Basic settings plus other groups the member is member of |
Additionally, members can also have permission levels. Consult the following table for available options:
| Group members can... | |
| Send email | Allows group members to email all group members that have an email address |
| View Roster | Allows group members to view all the members of the group |
| What information can members view? | |
| Limited | Allows group members to view Basic information about people in their group. This includes address, communication, email, web address, and a map to the address |
| Basic | Allows group members to view all Limited settings plus all household members |
ACTION: As stated earlier, you get to decide what group leaders and group members can see and do – separately! Take some time to complete the following tables. They will help you as you begin to build out group types and groups later!
| Group Type | Send email | Invite Members | Add Members | Edit member details | Edit group details | Edit schedule & location | Take Attendance | View Roster |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group Type | Send email | View Roster |
|---|---|---|