Set Up and Manage a Sparkforge Community

Sparkforge Communities is a branded hub where your audience joins groups, takes courses, attends events, and engages with each other. This walks through the full setup — creation, branding, custom domain, channels, courses, and gamification.

What You Get

• Centralized discussion in groups and channels
• Custom domain and branding
• Roles and permissions for moderation
• Linked courses and events inside the group
• Connected to your CRM, automations, and email

Create a Community

1. Open Communities in your Sparkforge dashboard.
2. Click Create New Community.
3. Add a name, URL, and short description.
4. Save to begin customizing.

Email Notifications

Configure under Sites > Client Portal > Memberships > Settings > Email Settings > Communities. The notification categories:

Group Invitation

• Joined the Group — sent when a user is added.

Group Membership Status

• Approved / Declined — user-side approval result.
• New Member Request — admin notification of join requests.
• Declined/Removed by Admin — admin record of removals.
• Added to Private Channel — user-side notice.

General Group

New comment, reply, like, tag (post or comment), reported content, new calendar event.

Learning (Courses)

New course added, join group learning, time-based course release, course subscription cancelled, course payment successful.

Role Changes

Member role upgraded in channel, group ownership changed.

Each email type has a default template you can preview and edit. Notification emails send from the default email address in Email Services under sub-account settings.

Branding

In Community Settings > Branding, upload your favicon, cover image, and logo. Match the recommended dimensions for clean display. Update anytime.

Custom Domain

1. Go to Memberships > Communities > Settings.
2. Open the custom domain section.
3. Enter your desired domain.
4. Update your DNS records as instructed.
5. Click Update Domain and wait for DNS to propagate.

Members and Roles

Open the Members tab and click Invite Members. Toggle Give Administrative Privileges before sending if the invitee should be an admin. Roles:

• Admin — full control
• Contributor — limited permissions
• Member — basic access

Update roles anytime via the three-dot menu next to the member’s name.

Groups and Channels

Groups segment your community by topic or interest. From the community panel, open Groups, click Create Group, set name, description, privacy, and (optional) moderators. Save to publish.

Channels structure conversations inside a group. Click + Add Channel in the left panel. Common patterns: Announcements, SOPs, VIP, plus topic-specific channels.

Courses

In the Learning tab, click + Add Course to attach an existing course (or create a new one). Set visibility — all members, restricted tiers, paid via Buy Now, or released by time or milestones. Courses linked here only show inside this community group.

Events

Open the Events tab and click Create Event. Add title, description, banner, and a meeting link (Zoom or otherwise). Set one-time, weekly, or monthly recurrence. Enable reminders to boost attendance.

Gamification

Configure member levels (Bronze, Silver, Gold, etc.) under Leaderboard, then assign rewards under Gamification & Rewards in settings — course access, promo discounts, exclusive roles. Use workflows to grant points or rewards based on actions like form submission or course completion.