Administer Group Types

You administrate group types under Admin Tools > Settings > General > Group Types. When adding or modifying a group type there are many areas of configuration, as pictured below:

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Let's look at the different Group Types settings you can configure in the Group Type Detail block.

General

Defines the overall purpose, identity and hierarchical relationships of the group type, including what it inherits and what children it can contain.

Purpose & Structure

SettingDescriptionExample
Allow Any Child Group TypeWhen enabled, groups of any type can be added as child groups to this group type.True/False
Allowed Child Group TypesDefines which child group types can be added to groups of this type. This setting controls the group hierarchy. To allow an unlimited hierarchy, include this group type as one of its own allowed child types.General Group
Require Campus For GroupsWhen enabled, all groups of this type must have a campus selected when being added or edited.True/False
Enable Group AdministratorDetermines if groups of this type support assigning an administrator. Group administrators do not have the security privileges of leaders and they are not members of the group.True/False
Enable Specific Group RequirementsDetermines if the Group Requirements section will be shown on the Group Details block. If a group already has specific requirements, the section will remain visible even when this setting is disabled.True/False
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Advanced Purpose & Structure

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SettingDescriptionExample
Group Type PurposeThe purpose helps categorize different group types together. This allows you the flexibility of creating multiple group types but at the same time providing a way of linking these various types together with a single purpose. To add a new purpose simply add a new defined value under Admin Tools > Settings > General > Defined Values > Group Type Purpose. While we recommend that you start with a single group type to manage your various serving teams you could over time add new ones. You would then create a purpose to describe them all as serving opportunities.  Serving Area
Inherit Group Type Attributes FromThis allows you to create a group type that inherits its attributes from another group type. This is helpful when you have two group types that are very similar but one needs a few more attributes. Say you have a Serving Team group type that covers most of your serving groups. Your worship teams, however, would like to add a special attribute for Instruments Played. You want this new group type to have all of the same attributes of the current Serving Team. To solve this, add the Serving Team group type as the inherited group type of the new Worship Serving Team group type.Serving Team

Location & Scheduling

SettingDescriptionExample
Allowed Location Selection ModesDetermines how locations should be selected in the Location Picker. Options include Address for street addresses, Named for predefined locations, Point for map coordinates, Geo-fence for drawn map boundaries and Group Member for member addresses.Address, Named
Allowed Location TypesDefines the location types that can be associated with groups of this type. For example, you might include a meeting location and an assignment target location.Meeting Location
Allow Multiple LocationsWhen enabled, groups of this type can have more than one location.True/False
Enable Location SchedulesWhen enabled, group locations can be linked to one or more predefined schedules.True/False

Capacity & Status

SettingDescriptionExample
Group Capacity EnforcementDetermines how the capacity should be enforced. Options are Hard (prevents adding over the limit), Soft (warns you but still allows adding) and None (disables the capacity features).Hard, Soft, None
Require Group CapacityWhen enabled, a group capacity value is required for all groups of this type.True/False
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Advanced Capacity & Status

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SettingDescriptionExample
Group Status Defined TypeSpecifies the defined type the system uses to set a group's status. Leave this blank if groups should not prompt for a status.Group Status

Record source & group-specific settings

SettingDescriptionExample
Group Member Record SourceSpecifies the record source to assign to individuals when they are added to groups of this type.Website
Record Source (Allowed Setting)When enabled, groups of this type can override the default record source.True/False
Member Attributes (Allowed Setting)Determines if individual groups of this type are allowed to have their own group member attributes. If selected, the Member Attributes section will be shown when editing the group.True/False
Member Workflows (Allowed Setting)Determines if groups of this type should be allowed to have Group Member Workflows. If selected, the Group Member Workflows section will be shown.True/False
Tags (Allowed Setting)When enabled, groups of this type can create and manage their own tags.True/False

System Management

SettingDescriptionExample
Enable Group History TrackingWhen enabled, groups of this type will track changes to the group and its members in Group History.True/False
Allow Group SyncDetermines if groups of this type are allowed to have group syncs. This will show or hide the Group Sync Settings section. If a group of this type already has group syncs, they will be kept. Unchecking this box will not prevent them from running.True/False
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Advanced System Management

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SettingDescriptionExample
Preserve Member Status on Person InactivationWhen enabled, members of groups of this type will remain active even if their person record is inactivated.True/False
Enable Universal Search IndexingWhen enabled, groups of this type are included in Universal Search indexing.  True/False
Allow Inactivation ReasonsWhen enabled, a reason can be selected when a group is inactivated.True/False
Require Inactive ReasonWhen enabled, an inactive reason must be selected when a group is inactivated.True/False

Display Options

Customize how groups of this type appear throughout Rock to ensure the terminology matches your organization's culture.

SettingDescriptionExample
Group TermThis is what Rock will use to describe the group on the various screens.Team, Class
Group Member TermThis is what Rock will use to describe the people in the groups on the various screens.Volunteer, Student
Show in Group ListsDetermines if these groups appear in standard list views.True/False
Show in Group NavigationControls whether these groups appear in the sidebar navigation tree.True/False
Show Connection Status in Group Member ListThis allows you to show a person's connection status in a column on group member lists. This comes in handy for trying to understand a person's connection to your organization at a glance.True/False
Show Marital Status in Group Member ListThis allows you to show a person's marital status in a column on group member lists. This comes in handy for quickly viewing a person's marital status.True/False

Roles

People often have special roles in groups. Some are leaders; others have unique duties. To help differentiate the members of a group, you can give each a Group Member Role. The list of possible roles is defined on the group type. For more information on the roles available, you can check out the article on Group Members.  

SettingDescriptionExample
NameThe title given to the specific role within the group.Leader, Member
Is LeaderFlags this role as a leadership position for security and reporting.True/False
DefaultSets this as the role the system automatically assigns when a person is added to the group.Member

Tip

Family Roles
As noted above, roles are defined on the group type. While we encourage you to add roles as needed in general, we recommend against adding new roles to Family group types. Using values other than “Adult” or “Child” may cause issues with certain system processes, such as determining Age Classification.

Attributes

Attributes let you capture custom information about your groups and the people in them.

  • Group Attributes: Group attributes apply to all groups of this type. Each group will have its own value for these attributes.
  • Member Attributes: Group member attributes apply to all of the group members in every group of this type. Each member will have their own value for these attributes.
  • Group Type Attributes: Custom attributes that will be shared by every group of this type. In other words, every group of this type will have the same value of these attributes.

Optional Features

Rock gives you several powerful features you can enable to make managing your groups even easier. You will see these sections appear as you scroll down the page. Click on the following links to learn more about each concept.

  • Scheduling: Enable groups of this type to schedule and remind members of upcoming events. You can configure confirmation emails, leader notifications and cancellation workflows.
  • Peer Network: Enable groups of this type to build peer network relationships among their members. You can use a matrix to adjust relationship scores based on group member relationships.
  • Attendance: Enable groups of this type to take and manage attendance. You can define how attendance is tracked for this group including schedule options, exclusions and location or schedule requirements.
  • RSVP: This option enables Group RSVP features. It allows members to respond "Yes" or "No" to upcoming events and lets you configure RSVP reminders and messages sent to members before an event.
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Advanced Features

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These features allow for deeper automation and criteria-based membership within your groups.

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  • Group Requirements: Define the requirements that members must meet to join or remain in this group type.
  • Group Member Workflows: Set up workflows that run automatically when a member is added, updated or removed from the group.