ProfileGrid v3.0 – Multi-Group Users and Group Manager

What’s ProfileGrid v3.0 and what does it means for you?

From the beginning User Groups have been central to ProfileGrid. When we first envisaged the plugin, User Groups played the role of profile types. That meant, each group can have its own set of profile fields. It also meant, groups were mutually exclusive – a user can only exist in one group at a time. This allowed admins to create unique profile types (for site members) and independently control them.

But as ProfileGrid’s adoption grew, we constantly received feedback requesting multi-group feature. We gradually realized it was more important for admins to allow members on their sites to subscribe to more than one group, than creating mutually exclusive profile types. Finally, ProfileGrid 3.0 introduces this feature to the core plugin. Now every user can be member of multiple groups.

Additionally, Group Leader has been renamed as Group Manager. You can change the label based on your industry. For example, you can name the Group Manager as Admin, Captain, Leader or whatever else that suits you. ProfileGrid 3.0 creates a platform to expand this feature considerably. Launching concurrently, Frontend Group Manager extension allows Group Managers to manage their groups on Frontend. They can invite or suspend members, moderate posts, manage membership requests, etc.

Open vs. Closed Groups

ProfileGrid 3.0 introduces a new option in user group settings called Group Type. A User Group can now be either Open or Closed. Open Groups work just like how they do now – anyone can register and join the group directly (provided you have Auto Approval turned on). Also, all Open Groups will now have ‘Join’ button on Group Pages. This bypasses the form-filling process and provides instant membership to the Group. All your current User Groups will automatically convert to Open Type Groups upon upgrading to version 3.0.

This also shifts the focus of ProfileGrid from a user registration plugin to a more community-oriented plugin. It is a deliberate step, since in coming weeks new dedicated enhancements will be introduced to registration part.

Now what does Closed Group means? As the name implies, a Closed Group does not offers automatic membership. To join a Closed Group:

1. User membership request must be approved by you or the Group Manager OR
2. User is invited to the Group by the Group Manager OR
3. User is added to the Group by the Group Manager OR
4. You assign Group to the user by editing User in Dashboard à Multi-Select replaces Radio Options in the User Group field.

Membership requests can be sent by clicking Join Groupbutton on the Group Page. If you have Frontend Group Manager installed, a Group Manager can moderate incoming membership requests. If not, we are introducing a new section named Requestsin Dashboard area for you to manage Membership requests.

Changes to the User Profiles

With multi-group memberships now a thing, User Profiles have changed a bit.

Header Area

User Profile header area can now display multiple Group badges/ icons.

Groups Tab

A new profile tab Groups now appears among other tabs. It displays all the Groups current user is member of. This is publicly visible. Some Group related actions can also be performed right from the Groups tab.

New Notification

A new Group joining notification has been added. It appears when the User joins a Group.

Profile Fields

Profile fields continue to be attached to the Group. But now if a user is member of multiple Groups, fields and sections from all the Groups will appear in About tab.

Email Notifications

With addition of so many new workflows, we have added new set of email notification and pre-built email templates. You may want to set these up with custom content based on your site’s configuration.

Leaving Groups

Users can leave Groups by clicking Leave Group button on the Group page or from drop down menu inside Group card in Groups tab.

Group Managers

With Frontend Group Manager extension, Group Managers now have a lot more control. A new Settings tab on frontend now appears on Group page if the user is Manager of the Group. This provides a central area for moderating group related activities. These include, but are not limited to:

1. Suspending Users
2. Moderating membership requests
3. Moderating member posts pending approval
4. Changing post status
5. Appending notes to member posts
6. Broadcasting messages to members using in-built messaging system
7. Invite users not registered on the site to become members
8. Add members from other groups
9. Batch operations

Checkout our Multiple Group Manager extension to boost group membership functionality.