There are a number of options for you to enable when creating a group or by performing an Edit at a later point. The options are based on different features available in the database to increase the interaction with your members and enable your members to interact with each other.
Group Feature Icons
A helpful indicator when scanning your list of groups is the feature icons on the far right side.
Here is what they mean …
- → Individual Attendance allows for church staff or volunteers to take attendance digitally for people. Useful for small groups and other gatherings.
- → Check-In has been enabled and this group can be used for that tool. Print name badges and security numbers for reference at the time of pickup.
- → Group Finder can be used to show areas that are open for visitors. Use the provided embed code for placing this on your website or use our website integrations to smoothly pull this into that software natively.
Group Features
You can picture the group settings features available by breaking them into a few chunks. Each helps equip you and your members in different ways based on the need. Of course, you don't have to add any if it is just a Group to just have a list of people. At a minimum, the biggest benefit is the Group Properties.
Group Properties
Use the [ Edit ] link right under the Meeting Day / Time fields to add a property or properties. There are a few setups by default but this is a very customizable and powerful tool to more easily manage your groups. Especially when combined with Group Views.
More information on Group Views Saved Group Lists
example default group properties list
Use the checkbox to select as many properties needed to clarify the Group and make it easy to filter on later. Properties are helpful with not only Group Views but also Check-In station set up as a property can be set in the preferences to pull only certain groups.
For more on how to manage and use Group Properties look at our help article Settings: Group Properties.
Archive Group
You may have a group you want to keep for historical purposes but you may have attendance data or other details that you want to keep. However you may want it off your main active list of groups. No problem!
Archive on a mass scale from the Group list by checking them off and then using the 
at the top to select the archive option. Or simply un-check this box for a single group if it is archived and you want to undo that status
Group Finder
You can only choose one of the options to either Allow people to add themselves or Allow people to request to join the group. If you select one, it will disable the other.
- If you choose to allow people to add themselves, they will immediately be added to the group's roster. If you select this option, you can set a limit for the number of people that can be in the group. If you leave it blank, there will be no limit.
- If you select "Allow people to request to join the group," an approval email will be sent to the group's leader before that person can be added to the roster. If the group does not have a group leader, the request notification will be sent to the Administrators instead.
Member Groups
The two options here stack upon each other. You can simply allow people to see they are members of a group and that is it. If you want to take this a step further, enable the next option for group members to be able to see each other. With this option, you can leverage our Profile Visibility tools for each member. The church staff or the member can use this to allow or hide particular data from being available to view. This also translates to the MinistryOne app if you are using it.
Individual Attendance | Check-In
Selecting the Track Individual Attendance option means that attendance needs to be taken on an individual basis (either manually or by using RFID cards). If you don't select this option, the only attendance that can be entered for this group is a single overall number total of people in attendance. Typically, Invidivual Attendance is used for small groups like Bible Studies and choir practices, and the total attendance option is used for large gatherings like a worship service.
Selecting the Use for Check-In button will allow people to use the check-in kiosks (browser-based or app-based), use MinistyOne check-in integration, or the membership admin app. This is a powerful feature to make your ministry attendance tracking automated. Find out more with our full article on how to set up and use Check-In. A prerequisite is that the Individual Attendance option must also be selected above.
Use With Browser Self Check-In
This is an older method that has largely been replaced by Kiosk check-in. The last option is to allow this group to be linked with the Self Check-in feature which relies on members to go to a particular web address and login.
Related Topics:
- Settings: Group Properties
- Groups Views: Save Group Lists
- How To Manage Check-In
- Configuring the total number of labels to print
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