When you create channels in the community, you can set them as public or private. This determines whether people can join them freely, or whether they need to request to join and be approved.
Public Channels: Anyone can join
When you create a public channel, you can set it as default or non-default. Default means that every person in your school with an account will be automatically added to the channel. New users will be added to default channels when creating an app account.
Figure 1: You can designate a public channel as default or non-default, which controls whether students are automatically added to the channel.
Things to keep in mind
- When you create a default channel, app users in your school are added to the new channel
- If you update a channel (by changing it to discoverable), current users will not be transferred into the channel. However, future users will be added to the channel.
- If your school has multiple campuses, users will be added to default channels if they change from one campus to another (unless they have already left those channels in the past)
Private Channels: Need to be Invited
When you create a private channel, you can set it as discoverable or non-discoverable. Discoverable means people can search for a channel, find it, and request to join. Non-discoverable means people will not find your channel if you search for it. For people to join, they need to be invited.
Figure 2: You can designate a private channel as discoverable or non-discoverable, which affects whether users can search for your channel with Find a Channel.
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