Setting up Group Finder

Elvanto’s Group Finder feature helps members find and join groups easily. This guide explains how to enable and customize the Group Finder in your account.

How to Enable Group Finder

1. Navigate to Settings:
   • Go to Settings > Groups > Group Finder.
2. Enable Group Finder:
   • At the top of the page, toggle the Yes/No option to Yes.
3. Configure Options:
   • Once enabled, make further choices regarding which groups can appear and what options users can use to filter groups in the member area.

Filtering and Restriction Options

1. Filtering:
   • Determines if users can filter groups based on specific criteria on the front end.
     • Example: Users can filter by Group Categories or demographics relevant to them.
2. Restrictions:
   • Allows the church to limit which groups appear.
     • Example: Restricting groups to only those assigned to the Adults demographic and in the “Small Groups” category.

Important Notes

• Navigation Menu: For existing churches enabling Group Finder, add “Group Finder” to the navigation menu under Settings > Layouts. New accounts will have this set by default.
  • How to Customize Navigation Menu

How to Set Up a Group to Accept Applications

1. Enable Group Finder:
   • Once Group Finder is enabled, each group will have an option for Group Finder Status on the edit page.
2. Open Groups for Applications:
   • By default, groups are closed. Admins can open groups as needed to accept applications.

Things to Consider

• Customization: Each section has a “Filtering” and “Restriction” option.
  • Filtering: Determines if users can filter groups based on specific criteria.
  • Restrictions: Limits which groups appear based on set criteria.
• Group Visibility: Ensure the “Group Finder” link is visible in the member area menu for easy access.

By following these steps, you can enable and customize the Group Finder to help members easily find and join groups within your church.