Contents

Introduction

Configuring the Online Member Directory

• Step 1: Enable the Online Member Directory and set permissions
• Step 2: Set group visibility
• Step 3: Add People To The Directory

What it looks like for members

• Directory Settings for Members

Restrict Access For Guests

• Create a group with your full members: 
• Prevent Guests From Being Listed In The Member Directory:

Introduction

The Online Member Directory allows your members to see each other, in a dedicated section of their ChMeetings account. 

Configuring the Online Member Directory

Here are the steps to take to configure this feature.

Step 1: Enable the Online Member Directory and set permissions

• Go to Member Portal and start from the Online Member Directory option, by clicking on Member role settings.

• Alternatively, go to Users & Roles > Roles & Permissions, and edit the Member Role.

• Turn on the Enable Member Directory toggle. 

• Set the Visibility for the Online Member Directory. If you choose to allow visibility within the same account, then all members will be visible to each other by default. IF you choose to allow visibility within the same group, then only members who are part of the same group will see each other. Please note that the group’s visibility will need to be set to `Members` for the feature to enable correctly. More details below.
• Select the Visible Fields that will be accessible within the Members’ Profiles, when they are visible in the Member Directory. Fields that you don’t select will not be displayed.

Step 2: Set group visibility

If you want to allow members to see each other within the same group, please ensure that you edit that group, and enable Allow Members to View The Group.  

Step 3: Add People To The Directory

You can automatically add new members to the Member Directory, by going to Settings > Account Settings > Security. This option lets you choose whether to add people to your printed and Online Member Directory, immediately upon registration. If you disable this option, you must add people manually, from their profiles. People will still be able to hide their entire profile or parts of it.

What it looks like for members

The Member Directory is available as a separate module, within the Member View. You can switch to it yourself and take a look.

The Member Directory comes with a Search field (by name, email, mobile, phone number and address line); and the option to view it by Individuals or Families. The information displayed at-a-glance includes the profile photo, mobile and home phone, and email address. If members choose to hide any fields, they will not be displayed within the Directory. When viewing Families, individual photos are replaced with the Family Photo.

Directory Settings for Members

Your members have the option to select what fields to display on their Online Member Directory profile, or whether they want to hide themselves altogether. 

To access these settings, Members need to go to My Profile > Directory Settings. 

Here is where they will have the option to select which fields they want to display, or whether they want to completely hide their profile.

Note: Any Member can also hide themselves from the Member Directory by editing their personal profile and switching on the Hide me from the Member Directory toggle. 

 

Restrict Access For Guests

This section is for you if your church chooses to create People profiles for guests, and mark them as such using the Member Status Field. 

Actual guests in ChMeetings are available within the Events Module, under the event they attended and don’t have full profiles; just basic contact information. People profiles that are marked as guests using the Member Status field are not considered actual guests by ChMeetings, but are considered members with a full profile. This means that they can have access to the Member Portal and Online Member Directory. They also count towards your plan. 

If this setup suits your church, but you want to prevent people marked as guests/visitors from accessing the member directory or being listed in it, here are the steps to follow:

 

Create a group with your full members: 

To achieve this you must: 

1. Create a group that serves the specific purpose of granting people access to the Online Member Directory. )e.g.: Online Directory Members). Set this group’s visibility to Members. 
2. Select all people with the Member Status set to Member, for example, and add them to that group. You can filter by member status using the advanced search feature within the People module. 
3. Set Member Directory Access to the Group:
   1. Go to Users & Roles > Roles & Permissions.
   2. Select Member.
   3. Enable the Online Member Directory if it’s not enabled already.
   4. Allow members to see other members in the Same Group with visibility set to "Members".
      
      
      
      
   5. Save your changes to the Member permissions.
      
      Note that every time a new member joins, they must be added to the group to have access to the Member Directory.

Prevent Guests From Being Listed In The Member Directory:

You might also want to prevent guests from being listed in the Member Directory. Here is what you need to do to achieve this for your existing members at the time of setup:

1. Go to People.
2. Filter by Member Status.
3. Select all results.
4. Go to More Actions.
5. Select Bulk Update.
6. Find the field called Hide me from the member directory and toggle it on. 
7. Approve your update.

 

This hides all selected members from the Member Directory. 

To hide new members from the directory, access their profiles in View mode after creating them, and go to Directory Settings. Here is where you can fully hide their information by toggling on Hide me from the member directory.

 

This is all you need to do to prevent guests from accessing the Online Member Directory. 

Keep in mind; however, that this does not prevent them from accessing the Member Portal. To achieve this, you must approve registrations manually and reject registrations from people who are not full members of your church. If you don’t mind guests accessing portal content, then you can just allow general access and restrict the Directory as shown above.