Members, sign-in, and engagement
How readers join Community on your site with an email code, use Sign in in the header or footer, like posts, and optionally join your newsletter when they sign in.
Capability overview
Once Community is bought and enabled (Community overview), visitors can sign in on your public site with their email. No Community password—they get a short code by email, verify it, and stay signed in on your site until they sign out.
A member is someone who completed that step on your studio site. Their display name is used for likes and comments there.
Guest vs member rules: Guest vs member.
Prerequisites
- Community add-on active and Enable community on
- A published blog post (to try Like and comments)
- Optional: Engagement on under Settings → Blog Post so the Like / Share bar appears
How a visitor joins
- They enter email and an optional display name.
- They can check Email me updates to join your newsletter list.
- They receive a code by email and enter it on your site.
- They stay signed in on that site until Sign out or they clear site data.
The same join flow opens from:
- Like while signed out (when you require members to like)
- Join / Sign in when posting a comment
- Sign in → Community in the header or footer
Codes expire; they can request a new one. This is not the client portal access code, and not your dashboard password.
Header and footer Sign in
| What your site offers | What Sign in does |
|---|---|
| Community only | Opens Community join / sign-in |
| Client portal only | Sends visitors to the client portal |
| Both | Header: choose Client portal or Community. Footer: separate links |
Sign out for Community only ends the community session on that site. It does not sign someone out of the client portal or your dashboard.
Likes and Share
When Engagement is on, the bar after the article can show Like and Share.
| Control | What happens |
|---|---|
| Like (default: require member) | Signed-out visitors join with email, then the like is saved. Members can like or unlike; the count stays accurate. |
| Share | Works without Community. |
| Require member to like off | Anonymous likes may still raise the count—they are less reliable. |
There is no separate Join button next to Share. People join from Like, the comment choice, or header/footer Sign in.
Comments when signed in
Members comment under their member name—no guest name/email fields. If guests are still allowed, signed-out visitors see a short choice before posting (Guest vs member).
Newsletter opt-in
If they check Email me updates and verify, they join your studio newsletter list—the same list as other site signups. Leaving the box unchecked still lets them join Community. See Newsletter subscriptions.
Where you control this
| Where | What you use it for |
|---|---|
| Settings → Blog Post → Community card | Enable Community; allow guest comments; require member to like |
| Settings → Blog Post → Comments | Moderate comments |
| Settings → Subscription → Add-ons | Add or remove Community |
| Live post | Like, Share, comments, and Sign in as visitors see them |
Verifying your setup
- Open a published post in a private window with Community on.
- Click Like—you should get the email join flow (if require-member-to-like is on).
- Enter the code; confirm you look signed in and the like remains after refresh.
- Sign out, then confirm Like asks you to join again.
- If both portal and Community are available, confirm Sign in offers the right choices.