❖ Heads up! This article is intended for site managers. Only site managers can create user groups.
User Groups are a great way for you to categorize volunteers who share similar interests or are from the same church, school, or workplace! You can add User Groups to a Need response or create them as a way to group volunteers who share special skills or training—like doctors, skilled trades, veterinarians, etc. Does your organization or one of your agencies manage court-mandated community services? If so, a User Group is a great way to manage discreet information about those volunteers and the associated Needs! In this article, we cover:
- How to create a User Group
- How to add or remove users from a User Group
- How to add Needs to User Groups
- How to add join questions
How to create a User Group
You can create and add User Groups in bulk! Here are the steps to create and add User Groups on your site:
1. Go to Volunteerism > User Groups:
2. Click Add New User Group: 
- You'll be taken to the Create User Group page where you can personalize the User Group's settings:
- Here, you can set the Status of the group to Active, Pending, or Inactive.
- Active means the User Group is ready to be shared publicly.
- Pending means the User Group won't be made public until you're ready.
- Inactive is for when you want to remove a User Group.
- The Public Description is displayed in the User Group banner.
- If you leave this field blank, then a banner won't display for the User Group.
- The Private Description is great for keeping private records or managing discreet information—like court-mandated User Groups. This information isn't shared publicly.
- You can designate Allowed Domains to automatically assign new users to a User Group.
- This means that users who join the site with an allowed domain are automatically enrolled in the User Group.
- For example, if the allowed domain is @example.com, then every user that joins your site with an email ending in @example.com, is automatically added to the User Group.
- You can customize the look of the User Group by selecting a color and icon.
- This is displayed in the User Group banner:
How to add or remove users from a User Group
How to add individual users to a User Group
Once you've created a User Group, it's time to add users to it!
1. Go to Volunteerism > User Groups.
2. Select the User Group. 
3. Scroll to the User Group Members section.
4. Type the name of the user you want to add in the field by Add New Member. 
5. Select the user from the dropdown and click Add New Member.
- The user's name only appears in the dropdown if they're registered on your site.
Allowed Domains
Users are also added automatically to a User Group if they register on your site with an email address domain that matches an email domain added to the Allowed Domains for a User Group. Allowed Domains can be set up when the User Group is created or by editing an existing User Group.
What if the user doesn't have an account?
Volunteers must have a registered account on your site to be added to a User Group. You can go ahead and add the new user and then copy the invitation join link to share with them! Click here for more information about adding new users to your site!
1. Go to Volunteerism > User Groups.
2. Be sure to include the Join Link column with the Table Filter, if it isn't already displayed. 
- You can also find the invitation join link by clicking on the User Group and then copying it from the top of the page.
3. Copy the link and share it with those new users! 
How do I remove individual users from a User Group?
To get started:
1. Go to Volunteerism > User Groups.
2. Select the User Group.
3. Scroll to the User Group Members section.
4. Click the (X) icon under the Options column for the user or users you want to remove. 
Can I bulk add or remove users to a User Group?
You can quickly add or remove users from a User Group with the User Filter!
1. Go to Volunteerism > Users. 
2. Click User Filter. 
3. Filter for the users you want to add to or remove from a user group. 
4. Beside Actions, use the Select An Action dropdown to select Add/Remove User Group.
5. Select either Add to or Remove from the following user group. 
6. Select the User Group. 
7. Click Update User Groups.
How do I make someone a User Group leader?
You can assign a user group member as a leader at any time.
1. Go to Volunteerism > User Groups.
2. Select the User Group.
3. Scroll to the User Group Members section.
4. Check the box under the Leader column for the member. 
ⓘ So you know: User Group leaders can:
- Add or remove user group members
- Export and review a user group members list
- Copy and share the join link
- View the user group resume
How to add Needs to User Groups
You can add Needs to User Groups in bulk!
1. Go to Volunteerism > Needs. 
2. Select a Need from the table. 
3. Either select the View User Groups link under the Need Link or scroll until you see the User Groups section.
- Clicking View User Groups jumps to the section to save you time scrolling.
4. Select a User Group from the dropdown menu beside the blue Add User Group button. 
5. Click Add User Group.
- Repeat to add as many User Groups as you'd like!
How to add join questions
Would you like to add join questions for potential members to respond to before being added to the user group? You can after you create the user group! This is a great option if your organization or agencies offer volunteer Needs for court-mandated community service hours. After you've created the user group, you can go back and create join questions at any time.
1. Go to Volunteerism > User Groups.
2. Select the User Group Title from the table. 
3. Scroll until you see Join Questions and click Add Join Question. 
4. Select the Status. 
- Active: Select this when you're ready for the question to be live on your site.
- Pending: Select this if you aren't ready for the question to be live on your site
5. Select the Type. 
- Small and Large Text Fields: These provide the user with an empty text field to type their individual responses in. A small text field is used for smaller replies and a large text field is used when you want to allow users to respond to the question more in-depth.
- Dropdown: With this question type, you provide a list of possible answers for the user to choose from. When you select this option, an Options field appears for you to type the answers in. Be sure to type each answer on a separate line.
- Only one answer can be selected with this type.
- Checkbox: With this question type, you provide a list of possible answers for the user to choose from. When you select this option, an Options field appears for you to type the answers in. Be sure to type each answer on a separate line.
- Multiple answers can be selected with this type.
- Radio Button: With this question type, you provide a list of possible answers for the user to choose from. When you select this option, an Options field appears for you to type the answers in. Be sure to type each answer on a separate line.
- Only one answer can be selected with this type.
- File Upload: This type lets users submit a file when responding to a question. This is great if you want them to submit important documentation or onboarding paperwork, etc. when they respond to the join question.
6. Type out the Question you want to ask. 
7. Decide if it should be Required or not.
- To make this question required, toggle the button to On.
- To leave this question optional, toggle the button to Off.
8. Click Save Custom Question to finish.
How to view answers to join questions
You can view the answers user group members have submitted to your join questions from the User Group page.
1. Go to Volunteerism > User Groups.
2. Select the User Group Title.
3. On the Update User Group page, scroll to the User Group Members section and click Export Members.
- This downloads the User Group member list to a .CSV that includes each user's answer(s) to the join question(s).
