Member Connections lets your members build their own professional network inside your community. Members can send connection requests to each other, accept or decline them, message their connections, and follow what their connections share in the feed. It works like a private LinkedIn, only for your organization's members.
Turning On Member Connections
Member Connections is turned off by default. An admin needs to enable it before members can use it.
Go to Admin Panel → Social → Settings.
Open the Connections section and turn on Member Connections.
Click Save.
Once it is on, a Connect button appears on member profiles and directory cards. You can also see the total number of connections in your community on the admin dashboard.
Sending a Connection Request
Open another member's profile, or find them in the Directory.
Click Connect.
Optionally, add a short note to introduce yourself, then send the request.
The other member gets a notification in the bell icon and by email. If you change your mind, you can withdraw the request from the Sent tab on your My connections page.
Accepting or Declining Requests
All your connections and requests are on the My connections page, which has three tabs:
Connections: members you are already connected with.
Received: requests other members sent you. Click Accept or Decline.
Sent: requests you sent that are still waiting for an answer.
Managing Your Connections
Your connections are listed on your profile, so other members can see who you are connected with. From the My connections page you can:
Click Message to start a direct message with a connection.
Remove a connection at any time.
Following Your Connections in the Feed
On the community feed, use the From your connections filter to see only posts written by the members you are connected with.
People You May Know
The My connections page also suggests members you may want to connect with, based on what you have in common, such as shared groups, company or interests. Click Connect on any suggestion to send a request.
Things to Know
Declines are private: the member who sent the request is not notified when it is declined. They can send a new request after 30 days.
Withdrawn requests: after withdrawing a request, you can send a new one to the same member after 7 days.
Daily limit: each member can send up to 50 connection requests per day, to prevent spam.
Hidden profiles: members with a hidden profile do not appear in other members' connection lists.
Notifications: members can turn off connection notifications from their own notification settings.
Feed privacy: connecting does not change who can see a post. Board visibility rules still apply, and the connections filter only shows posts members wrote themselves on boards where members can post.
Mobile app: connections also work in your community's mobile app.