Group Manager is a multi-tool module that allows you to organize and segment constituents into an unlimited number of groups in meaningful ways. This article will help you understand why and when you would use Group Manager, as well as how to perform some of its main tasks.
In this Article
- What is Group Manager?
- Groups vs Lists
- Step 1: Determine which groups you need
- Step 2: Name and place your new group
- Step 3: Add members to your group
- Optional: Change membership from dynamic to static
- Real World Example
What is Group Manager?
Group Manager is frequently used for:
- populating mailing Lists for Messages and Messages XR
- accessing / giving access to private areas of the site
- using Posts and Resources
- organizing a directory on a page with a Constituent element
Navigate to Group Manager by clicking on the People icon in your left navigation.
Groups vs Lists
There are different ways to segment the people who will receive your messaging. It's easy to confuse Groups with the Lists feature as both are used often here at Finalsite. This article will focus on how Groups work but often the most important use of groups is when they are collected to create a List.
Step 1: Determine which groups you need
One of the benefits of Group Manager is that you can break down Roles into smaller, more manageable groups. Think through which groups you need to create. Here are a few examples:
- Example #1: Faculty --> Departments. Organize all members of your Faculty Role into smaller Department groups.
- Example #2: Students --> Grade Level groups. Organize your students into more manageable and targeted groups by grade level or class or clubs.
- Example #3: Parents --> Their students' grades. Organize parents into a group that represents all of their students in a particular group.
- Other Examples: PTA, Alumni by Graduation Year
Important Note
A group member must exist in a Role in Constituent Manager before being placed into a group.
Step 2: Name and place your new group
Click the green Add Group button in the left column to create your first group!
- Group Name: Give your group a name.
- Group Placement: Decide where you'd like your group to be.
Step 3: Add members to your group
After you have strategized which groups you need in Group Manager, you are now ready to add constituents to the Members tab of each group you have created. Check out our Knowledge Base article, "Add members to a group" to see all of the options and choose which one works best for you!
Optional: Change membership from dynamic to static
What does the star in the Members tab mean?
Whenever a member has been added to a group dynamically, a yellow star icon will appear next to the name. Clicking on the star gives you an option to make this person "an explicit member" of the group, meaning no dynamic filters or syncs will override or affect this person's membership.
Real World Example
For example, a group called "10th Graders" with explicit members (those where the star was deselected) will always contain the same students, year after year. When those students progress to the 11th grade, the list would need to be reconstructed, as it would no longer accurately describe the students it contains.
If the same list were constructed using a Dynamic Filter whose criteria were set to "Students in Grade 10," then the list would never have to be updated. As students moved out of Grade 10 (as reflected by the information in Constituent Manager) they would fall off the list, while new students who move into Grade 10 would be automatically added.
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