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Community Chat

General Information

The Community Chat feature is the equivalent of having WhatsApp, Slack, or Discord all within your App. Customer Profiles older than 1 hour can see the Community Chat.

The deep link to your Chat is https://clubname.podplay.app/community/chat.

The Community Chat feature is $100/month on the Basic(+) tier.

The Community Chat feature is included at no additional cost on the Pro/Autonomous tier.

Best Practices

There are good ideas and there are bad ideas when it comes to running a successful community chat feature.

  • Start with fewer channels to create a snowball effect of building community.

  • Once a new channel is created, select that channel from the list of channels in the left side panel, then click on the gear icon ⚙️ next to the channel name at the top.

  • Toggle off “Allow @all and @here mentions” to prevent customers from spamming everyone with push notifications.”

  • Update your marketing website with a button like [Connect With Other Players] using the link: https://clubname.podplay.app/community/chat.

    Add copy below or above the button: “New to the club? Sign Up for an account before joining our community” with the Sign Up link redirecting the Customer to create a Profile: https://clubname.podplay.app/.

  • You SHOULD update the settings of the “Ask the Team” channel to have the push notification “For all activity” by clicking on the gear icon near the channel name. In this way, the Staff will receive a notification when a Customer asks a question in this channel.

  • Send a variation of this drafted email to Customers introducing them to Community Chat.

  • Send a variation of this drafted first message to Customers inside the FAQ or Rules type channel.

  • Create lots of channels in the beginning.

  • Launch the Community Chat feature without having someone responsible for Chat (meaning they post a lot and engage with the community). The individual responsible for Chat should actively nurture the community.

Admins as Moderators

When your Community Chat is set up, we will assign the Moderator role to the staff Profiles of your choosing. As a Moderator in Community Chat, you can:

  • Create channels

  • Edit channels

  • Delete channels

  • Review total members

Pro Tip: Avoid creating too many default channels. Less is more when starting up your community, and if you create too many channels, it will be challenging to achieve a snowball effect or critical mass of conversations.

When an Admin is added as a Moderator, they receive an email notifying them of their new role.

Once a channel is selected, click on the gear icon ⚙️ next to the channel name (at the top). The below picture will appear. You can edit:

  • Title (the channel name)

  • Description (optional)

  • Settings (toggle to turn on or off)

  • Send push notifications (these are sent to the Customer's phone, if they have push notifications turned on for your App)

    • Never

    • For Mentions & Broadcasts (@you and @all)

    • Only For My Mentions (@you)

    • For all activity

  • Channel info (the history lasts 180 days; this is not editable)

  • Admin

    • Automatically add users (toggle; leave this on to create that snowball effect)

    • Allow @all and @here mentions (toggle; good to have this on for a channel like "Ask the Front Desk/Team" type channels)

    • Threading (toggle; good to leave this turned on)

  • Close channel (closing the channel prevents non-staff users from sending new messages or editing existing messages)

  • Delete channel (you cannot recover a deleted channel)

Next to Channels on the left side panel, click on the gear icon ⚙️, which takes you to the channel list. On the Channel List page, click [+New Channel] button in the upper right hand side. You will then see sections to enter:

  • Channel name

  • Channel slug (optional)

  • Description (optional)

  • Choose a category

    • 🔷 Public Channel (all Customers can see and join these channels)

    • 🔓 Private Channel (Customers need to be added to these channels)

  • Automatically add users (checkbox)

    • This is a good thing to select for your general channels

Then, click the blue [Create channel] button.

Click on the gear icon ⚙️ next to the channel, and then click "Delete Channel" at the bottom. Enter the name of the channel to confirm deleting it.

Once a channel is deleted, you cannot recover the channel.

Helping a Customer

The Chat feature is available for Customers to message other Customers, Coaches, and Club staff. Once a Customer's Profile is active for 1-hour, they will see the option to join the Community Chat. Customer can enable the Community Chat from within the Preferences button on the Account tab.

When a Customer enables the Community Chat feature, they will have the option to edit their Community Chat Preferences.

FAQs

Can I create a hidden/private channel?

Yes, a Moderator can create a hidden/private channel. To create the private channel, follow the steps in the Add a Channel tab in the Admins as Moderators section.

What is the group size limit per direct message (DM)?

The DM groups are limited to 20 people when a Customer creates the group. Moderators can create a DM group chat with up to 50 people. There is no limit to the number of Customers who can join a channel.

Why is there a group size limit?

A group size limit is added to restrict Customers from creating massive groups and messaging everyone without oversight. The group size limit creates a blocker for bad actors, should they want to message a large quantity of people at one time, thus creating an invisible channel, without your Club’s knowledge.

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