This guide explains who can access your community and how different settings control what people can see and do. It covers access inside the Dashboard as well as on your live website, helping you understand how permissions, visibility, and participation work together.

Where to Find Settings

Go to: Community → Your Forum → Settings

There are 4 tabs:

1. General (Basic Info)

Fill in your forum details:

• Forum Name (required) → Shows in header & sidebar

• Forum Slug (required) → Used in URLs and Studio

• Forum Description (optional) → Shown on profile card

  

Click Save Changes after editing.

:octagonal_sign: Danger Zone: Deleting the forum removes everything:

• Posts

• Comments

• Members

• Categories

• Tags

2. Posts (How posts work)

You control how posts are handled:

• Auto-approve posts

  • OFF → Needs moderation

  • ON → Publishes instantly

• Moderation actions

  • Mods can hide/unpublish posts (not delete)

• Who can create posts

  • Enable / Disable

• Post visibility

  • Members only

  • Public

Changes save automatically.

3. Comments (How comments work)

Same controls as posts:

• Auto-approve comments (ON/OFF)

• Mods can hide comments

• Set comment visibility (Members / Public)

4. Access (Who can join)

Controls who can enter your community:

• Open

  • Anyone can join

• Invite Only

  • Only approved or added users can join

• Allow Join Requests

  • Users can request access (only for Invite Only)

    

Who Can Access Your Forum

Open Forum

• Staff → Full access

• Logged-in users → Full access

• Visitors (not logged in) → Can view if content is public

:check_mark: No approval needed

Invite Only Forum

• Staff → Full access

• Added members → Access

• Approved users → Access

• Others → No access unless approved

What Restricted Users See

When a user does not have permission to view the community or its content, the experience is restricted based on your access settings.

Default Behavior

• The user sees a locked screen instead of the actual content.

If Join Requests Are Enabled

• The user has the option to request access.

• After submitting a request, their status changes to “Request Pending” until it is approved.

If Join Requests Are Disabled

• The user will only see a locked message.

• No option to request access is shown.

Scope of Restrictions

These access rules apply to:

• Posts

• Comments

Visibility Rules (Important)

Visibility controls who can see content, even if they are not members.

Even in Invite Only:

• Public content = anyone can read

• Only members can interact (post, comment)