Introduction
Communities in CCK are a powerful way to create connections and support around your content.
Whether you're adding a chat wall to an existing course or building your whole course experience inside a community, this guide will walk you through how to manage access, enrol members, and structure your content for a seamless user experience.
Choose your setup style
There are two common ways to use communities in CCK:
Add a chat wall to an existing course or membership.
Build your whole course experience inside a community.
Both options allow you to create a central hub where members can connect, access resources, and engage with your content.
Link a community to an existing dashboard
If you’re adding a community to an existing membership:
Go to your Community (Circle) and copy the community link.
Return to your dashboard page.
Add a button or text link and set it as an external link using the community URL.
Set the link to open in the same tab.
When a member clicks on the button or text, they will be taken straight into the community space.
Set access levels for your community
To control who can view and join the community:
Open your community in the Communities area.
Scroll down to the Access Level section.
Choose one of the following:
Open – anyone on the internet can view and join.
Logged-in members – only users logged into your site can view.
Members of a group – only users assigned to a specific member group (e.g. course buyers).
Payment required – users must pay to access.
Tip: For most cases, we recommend using Members of a group to make sure only paying or assigned members gain access.
Avoid using ‘payment required’ directly
While you can sell access directly through the community page using the Payment required option, it limits your ability to utilise sales funnels, upsells, or custom checkout pages.
Instead:
Create a funnel and sell access through a dedicated sales page.
Redirect customers to a thank-you page with a button linking to the community.
This gives you complete control over the sales experience and ensures members are correctly added to the correct member group.
Build your course inside a community (optional)
To house your entire course in a community:
Open your community and start adding pages for each section of your content.
Set each page’s Access Level to Inherit from parent to match the community’s settings.
Use widgets like:
Discussion (for chat channels or as an alternative to Slack).
Wall or Forum (for themed discussions or voting).
Content blocks (for FAQs, replays, tutorials, or call questions).
You can also:
Use page groups to organise content by topic or date (e.g. replays by month).
Enable content tracking so members can tick off completed lessons.
Add the full community view to a page
To display your entire community on a page:
Drag the Circle widget onto the page.
Select the relevant community from the dropdown menu.
Publish the page.
Visitors will now see your complete community layout, including all added pages and chat areas.
Preview and test access
To check what your members see:
Use the preview button while logged in.
Log out and preview again to confirm that only authorised users can access restricted areas.
This helps ensure your access settings are working as expected.
Additional Settings and Tips
Content Visibility: Always double-check that page-level access settings align with your overall community settings.
Comments and Chat: Use discussion widgets to keep conversation in one place.
Icons and Layouts: Customise each page’s icon and layout to help members navigate easily.
Submit a Question Page: Embed your call question form directly into a community page for smoother access.
What to Do Next
Decide whether to layer a chat space onto a course or move your entire course into a community.
Set up your access levels and confirm they’re tied to the correct member groups.
Add your community to a public or private-facing page using the circle widget.
Preview and test access before launching.
Conclusion
CCK communities allow you to create a seamless, interactive experience for your members. Whether you're keeping it simple with a chat wall or building out a complete learning journey, setting up proper access and enrolment ensures your members get exactly what they need.