Creating A New Space

In FluentCommunity, Spaces are the foundational building blocks of your community. Think of them as individual groups, forums, or hubs where members can gather to discuss a specific topic. You can create as many Spaces as you need.

Use Case: You could create a "General Discussion" space for all members, a private "Beta Testers" space for product feedback, and another "Beginner's Guide" space for new users to ask questions.

How to Create a Discussion Space with FluentCommunity (Module 3)

How to Create a Space

You can create a new space directly from the front-end of your community portal.

1. From the main community header, click on the Spaces tab.
2. On the "All Spaces" page, click the New Space button in the top-right corner.

This will launch the space creation wizard.

Step 1: Choose a Space Type

The first step is to choose what kind of space you want to create. A popup will appear.

• Discussion Space: This is the standard and most common space type, perfect for discussions, questions, and sharing content.
• Course: This creates a dedicated space for a FluentCommunity course.
• Link (Pro): This Pro feature allows you to create a space that links directly to an external URL.

For this guide, we will select Discussion Space and click Next.

Step 2: Basic Info & Access Control

This is where you'll set up the core identity and privacy for your new space.

Basic Info

• Space Title: Enter a clear and descriptive name (e.g., "General Space"). You can also click the rocket icon to choose an emoji or icon for your space.
• Slug (optional): This is the URL-friendly version of your title. It's usually created automatically, but you can set a custom one here (e.g., general-space).
• Description: Add a short description that explains the purpose of the Space. This helps members decide whether to join.
• Menu Group: This is a key navigation feature. You can select a "Space Group" (which you create in Space Groups) to add a direct link to this space in the main left sidebar of your community.

Access Control

This is a crucial step for controlling your space's privacy.

• Privacy: Choose who can see and join this Space.
  • Public: Anyone can see the space, its members, and its posts. You can also check "Allow users to request to join this Space" if you want to approve members first.
  • Private: The space is listed in the directory, but only members can see the content. When you select "Private," a new "Lock Screen Type" option appears:
    • Custom Lock Screen: This lets you create a custom message or design for what non-members see when they land on this space.
    • Default Lock Screen: This will show a standard, default message that the space is private.
    • Redirect to a URL: Redirects non-members to a different page entirely (like a sales or landing page).
  • Secret: The space is completely hidden and invisible to non-members. It can only be accessed via a direct link by members who have been invited.
• Show Paywalls in Default Lock Screen: When using the Default Lock Screen, check this to display any configured paywall content to non-members.
• Allow users to request to join this Space: When enabled, non-members can submit a join request. Admins and Moderators approve or reject requests from the Space's Members tab.
• Who can view space members: Controls who can see the member list for this Space. Options: Member Only, Admin/Moderator Only, Any Logged-in User, or Anyone.

Once you have configured these settings, click Next.

Step 3: Customization

This final step controls the look, features, and content organization of your new Space.

Features Customizations

• Only admin or moderators can create post: Turns the Space into an announcement-style area where regular members can read and comment, but cannot create new posts.
• Show Right Sidebar on Space: Enabled by default. Displays the "About" and "Recent Activities" widgets inside the Space.
• Hide Members count from spaces page (when members page access unavailable): Hides the member count from the All Spaces directory for users who do not have access to the Space members list.
• Enable File/Document Library for this space: Adds a dedicated Files tab to the Space where members can upload and share documents.

Default Post Sort By

• Choose how posts are ordered by default when members first load the Space (e.g., Latest Posts Sort).
• Disable Post Sort By Options: Locks the sort order you've chosen so members cannot change it themselves.

Default Comment Sort By

• Choose how comments are ordered by default within posts (e.g., Latest Comments Sort).

Layout

• Default Layout Styles: Choose how posts are displayed in this Space. Three options are available:
  • Timeline — a standard chronological feed.
  • List — a compact, text-focused list view.
  • Card — a grid of visual cards, ideal for image-heavy content.
• Disable Layout Style Change Option: Check this to prevent members from switching the layout to their own preference.

Others

• Topic navigation: Categorize posts within your Space. Select up to 20 topics from the dropdown. Members can then filter the Space feed by topic.
  • Click + New to create a topic directly from this window.
  • Click Manage all topics to go to the full topic management page.
• Make members select a topic: Requires members to choose a topic before creating a new post in this Space.

Group Chat

• Enable group chat for this space members: Creates a dedicated real-time group chat room for all members of this Space.

Images

• Thumbnail / Open Graph Image (Recommended Size: 1200×630): Used on the All Spaces card preview and when the Space URL is shared on social media.
• Featured Image (Recommended size: 1600×500) Optional: Shown as a banner at the top of the Space homepage.

Step 4: You're Done!

Click the Create button.

You will be taken directly to your new, fully configured space, ready for its first post!