Members and the member portal

The member portal is a private part of your website for your singers. They log in to read your announcements, check the rehearsal schedule, listen to rehearsal tracks and fetch documents. This page explains how it fits together and points you to the page for each job.

The Home page of the member portal, with a pinned announcement on the left and three coming events on the right

What is in the portal

Each part can be switched on or off, so your portal has only what your choir uses.

Part	What members find there	You manage it in
Home	Your announcements, the next three events, and their own email preference	Announcements and Schedule
Schedule	Rehearsals, concerts and other dates, month by month	Schedule
Rehearsal Tracks	Audio tracks for each song of a concert, by voice part	Rehearsal Tracks
Files	Documents to download: scores, minutes, forms	Member Files
Links	Websites you want to point members to	Useful Links
Members	A list of the choir's members. Off unless you switch it on	Site Settings, then Member portal

Members are not admins

A member is a singer who can use the portal. A member can read and listen, and can change one thing only: whether your announcements are also emailed to them.

An admin is someone who can log in to the admin panel and run the site. The two lists are separate. Adding someone as a member does not let them into the admin panel, and an admin who also sings needs adding as a member too. See The three kinds of admin.

Members have no password. A member types their email address on the login page, and the site emails them a link that logs them in. Only an address on your list of members, marked Active, is sent a link.

What you need

• Member portal switched on in Site Settings, under Features. It is on for a new site. See Set up the member portal.
• Email that works, because that is how members log in.

On a site we host

The member portal is part of the Starter plan and the Premium plan. Login links are sent for you; there is nothing to set up.

On the Free plan the portal is switched off whatever the switches in Features say. The link to it leaves your site's footer, its pages send visitors back to your home page, and Members, Announcements, Schedule, Rehearsal Tracks, Member Files and Useful Links leave the admin panel. The dashboard says which plan the site is on, and Features shows a note that those switches have no effect for now. Your switches are kept as you set them, so everything is in place when you move to a paid plan. See What each plan includes.

On a self-hosted site

The member portal is always available, on both editions. It needs email to be set up on the server, and SITE_URL to be your site's real address, or members cannot be sent a login link. See Email: what the site sends and how to choose a provider.

Find the task you need

Getting started

• Set up the member portal: turn it on, choose its parts, name it.
• Set up your sections and voice parts: Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass, or your own.
• Add, change, disable or remove members
• Import your member list: add a whole choir at once.
• Let members see who else is in the choir

Keeping in touch

• Post an announcement
• Email an announcement to your members
• How people stop your emails

The schedule

• Add a rehearsal or concert to the schedule
• Add your weekly rehearsal once
• Cancel or change one rehearsal

Things to share

• Share documents with members
• Share useful links
• Add songs and upload rehearsal tracks
• Build a concert lineup and publish it

Pages to send to your singers

These pages are written to the singer. Send the link, or copy the words into an email.

• How members log in
• A tour of the member portal
• Announcement emails: a member's choice

When a singer tells you they cannot get in, see A member cannot log in.