How to use independent groups

Normally in Hubb, membership flows upwards: someone in your crèche group is automatically in Children above it, and in your main church database at the top, which is exactly what you want for church members. An independent group is the exception, and it’s the right tool whenever you need to keep people on your site who aren’t part of church life.

Making a group independent

1. Log in to your web office and select the group (or create a new one).
2. Open Group Settings at the top right.
3. Tick the independent group box and save. That’s it: from now on, memberships in this group and anything below it stop here rather than flowing up the tree.

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When you’d want one

1. Hall and venue hirers. The classic case: a ‘Book our venue’ group where hirers can log in, fill in booking forms and be emailed about their bookings, with their details stored properly, without them landing in your main database and receiving the church newsletter. It’s a separate little database living happily inside your site.
2. Suppliers and contacts. Anyone whose details you want to keep and contact, who isn’t part of the congregation.
3. A ‘Not in use’ parking group. Make your archive group independent too, so nothing parked in it leaks memberships up the tree.

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Good to know

• Independence isn’t isolation: church members can still be added to an independent group whenever you like, and you manage its members exactly like any other group.
• Permissions work the opposite way to membership: memberships flow up the tree, permissions flow down it. An independent group changes the membership flow, so it’s also a natural boundary when you’re deciding who can administer what.
• If the independent group has pages people fill in, its visibility settings decide who sees them; groups inherit sensible defaults, but it’s worth a glance at Group Settings > access before going live.