Groups
Groups and communities
A group keeps its posts, forum, rooms and events in one place, along with the tools the people running it need.
Private groups
A private group stays on its server
Everything in a private group (posts, forum topics, rooms and events) lives on the group's own server, and it's never copied to other servers. People from other servers can still join and take part as members.
The group's server
Riverside Garden, a private group
- Posts
- Forum
- Rooms
- Events
Stored here, never copied out
Another server
Sam joins as a member
A third server
Priya joins as a member
Channels
Mix public and private channels
Each channel has its own privacy setting. A private group can run a public channel, say for announcements, and a public group can keep a private channel for the people who organize it. Following a public channel doesn't make someone a member.
A private group
- Members' chatMembers only
- AnnouncementsAnyone can follow, even from Mastodon
A public group
- Garden talkAnyone can read
- OrganizersMembers only
Coming soon
Secret groups
A secret group won't show up in search or in group lists. You get in with an invitation. Everything inside will be end-to-end encrypted, so only members can read it. Not even the servers that carry it can. Secret groups only have private channels.
Alex's phone
Encrypts the message before it leaves
Servers in between
Pass it along, but can't read it
Sam's laptop
Decrypts it, because Sam is a member
Groups, forums and rooms
Give your community one place for posts, forum topics, events and conversations. Each group sets its own rules for who can get in and how people join.
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Your group's profile
Give your group a name, an address, a cover image, a description and useful links.
- Create a group with its own public address and its own look.
- Add locations and links so people know what your community is about.
Riverside Garden's community profile shows its description and member directory. -
Public or private groups
Choose whether your group's content is public or stays with members.
- Anyone can see the public content of a public group.
- In a private group, only members can see the private content and member details. Its posts and content stay on the group's own server and are never copied to other servers. People from other servers can still be members.
An explicitly public channel in a private group follows its own public access rule.
The info panel of the public Welley Help group shows that it's currently public and visible. The group settings editor isn't shown here. -
Visible or unlisted
Choose whether people can find the group in search or open it from a link.
- Visible groups can show up in group lists and search.
- Unlisted groups stay out of lists and search. People can still open them from a direct link.
Choose whether people can find the group, and whether non-members see its post counts and member list. -
Secret groups (coming soon)
We're planning a kind of group that's hidden from anyone who isn't a member.
- Secret groups are hidden from search, and only members can see them. People get in only by invitation, through an invite link.
- Their content is end-to-end encrypted, so even the servers can't read it. Secret groups only have private channels.
You can't pick the Secret option in the create-group form yet.
A group can be public or private. The secret group option is shown, but it isn't available yet. -
How people join
Let people join right away, ask for approval or wait for an invitation.
- With open membership, people join right away.
- In approval mode, each join request goes to the group staff.
- In invite-only mode, people need an invitation. The public Join option can't let them in.
A group can let anyone join, review requests to join, or only accept people who were invited. -
Mix public and private channels
A private group can have public channels, and a public group can have private channels.
- Use public channels for announcements or posts aimed outside the group.
- Use private channels for members-only content.
- A public channel can have a global handle that people outside the group can follow.
Secret groups can't have public channels. Following a public channel doesn't make someone a group member.
A group can mix public and private channels, pick a primary channel and subscribe new members automatically. -
Separate posting channels
Split the group feed into channels, each with its own name and purpose.
- Each channel has its own profile, cover image, description and feed of posts.
- Channel settings cover privacy, notifications and preferences.
- Channel search helps people find posts in that channel.
A blank form for a new channel, with settings for privacy, the address and automatic subscription. We didn't create the channel. -
Follow only the channels you want
Subscribe to a public channel without joining the whole group.
- People who aren't in the group can follow an eligible public channel.
- Group members can pick which channels they follow.
- Administrators can mark a primary channel and subscribe new members to it automatically.
Subscribing to a channel doesn't make you a group member or give you access to private group content.
A blank form for a new channel, with settings for privacy, the address and automatic subscription. We didn't create the channel. -
Public channels on the Fediverse
Public channels connect your Welley community to other ActivityPub services.
- Eligible public channels show up on ActivityPub as Group actors.
- Welley can exchange forum posts and replies with communities on services such as Lemmy and NodeBB.
- A channel can reach its followers on Mastodon through ActivityPub announcements.
Support varies from one service to another. Reposts and quotes don't behave the same way on forum platforms. Private channels don't publish to public ActivityPub peers.
Our public release announcement explains how Welley works with NodeBB and where the limits are. It's taken from the announcement. It isn't a live test between two servers. -
Forums and categories
Use a forum with separate categories for longer discussions.
- Create categories, each with its own name, description, color and access rules.
- Organize posts into topics with reply threads.
- Move a topic to another category in the same group.
The forum in category view, with the pinned welcome topic first. The category and tag filters and the sort control sit above it. -
Find the right discussion
Browse forum topics by category, tag and activity.
- Narrow the forum down by categories and tags.
- Sort by newest, most replies, most viewed or latest activity.
- Use your own My Posts view.
Members can use group-wide tags. Visitors can too when the group is public and visible.
Pick a category to see only its topics. -
Reaction styles for categories
Forum posts show emoji reactions, likes or votes, based on the mode the server sets.
- Forum cards show the reaction controls that the server configuration picks.
- The web app shows the mode, but it has no control to change it.
- Moderators can pin important topics and close a thread when a discussion needs to end.
The web app has no way to pick the reaction mode. The mode comes from the server API.
Text from one of our public releases explains federated emoji reactions and their limits. We removed the author's identity and the embedded media. -
Chat rooms
Use chat rooms for a team, a club or a community discussion.
- Rooms open in the chat view, separate from posts and the forum.
- Every group member can read an open room.
- Members can join or leave a room. The people in a room get it in their inbox, with badges.
Rooms have to be turned on for the server. They work directly through the group's server and aren't published as public ActivityPub conversations.
A group can have open rooms for every member and closed rooms for a smaller set of members. The server has to have rooms turned on. -
Closed rooms
Close a room when the conversation is only for some of the group's members.
- Only the people in a closed room can read it.
- A room owner can manage who's in the room if the server gives them that permission.
- Group staff can manage who can get into a room and fix a room that has no owner.
This works where rooms are turned on. Being a group administrator doesn't, by itself, let someone read a closed room.
Opening a closed room asks you to confirm, because every member can then read its history. The dialog isn't confirmed here. -
Room tools
Keep the chat, shared files, links and member list in one place.
- Room details have Files, Links and Members tabs.
- You can mute a room, react to messages and reply in threads.
- Rooms in local groups have presence and typing indicators.
Rooms have to be turned on. Rooms in remote groups don't have presence or typing indicators.
The room menu opens the room's shared files, links and members. Staff can also close, rename or delete the room. -
Custom apps (coming soon)
Everything in Welley on the web is built as apps. That makes it possible to build and share custom apps that go beyond posts and events.
- The group's Applications page lists built-in, installed and available apps.
- Group administrators can install or remove eligible apps from the catalog.
- Wider custom app support is still a preview. We're working on productivity apps that groups can install.
General availability of custom apps is coming soon. Having an Applications page doesn't mean there's a public app marketplace.
A group can install eligible apps, such as Chess, next to its built-in feed, forum and events. Support for a wider range of custom apps is planned. -
Chess in your group
Chess is one example of an app in a group. Play another member while others watch and comment.
- Challenge a member, accept a game and play by the rules of chess.
- Offer a draw, resign, or set a time limit for each move.
- Members can watch games, read the move history and use the game chat.
General availability of custom apps is still coming soon.
Two members of the Riverside Garden group play a game of chess. The players and comments are next to the board. -
Paid groups and channels (coming soon)
Put a whole group, or just one of its channels, behind a paywall.
- People pay to get into the group or to read the channel.
This isn't available yet, and we don't have a release date.
A group can let anyone join, review requests to join, or only accept people who were invited.
Run your group
Handle members, moderation, permissions and integrations from your group settings. Give each staff member only the access they need.
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Review join requests
Decide who gets into a group that needs approval.
- See pending requests and how people answered your entry questions.
- Approve or reject a request.
- If a request matches a group block, it can't be approved.
Admins and moderators go through each request, read the answers to the membership questions, then accept or reject it. -
Invite people
Send invitations and see which ones are still waiting for an answer.
- Group settings show pending invitations apart from the ones that need approval.
- Let members invite others, or leave invitations to administrators.
- Require staff approval for invitations from members when your group needs that check.
Admins see who invited whom, and can cancel an invitation that's still open. -
Entry questions
Ask people some questions before they join.
- Ask text, single-choice or multiple-choice questions.
- People answer the questions as they join or respond to an invitation.
- Staff can see a member's answers on their member card.
People who ask to join answer these questions, and admins read the answers with each join request. -
Group rules
Set rules that people see before they join.
- Write and edit each rule separately.
- Put the rules in whatever order works for your group.
- When people join, they see the rules before the entry questions.
Admins write, edit and reorder the rules shown on the community profile. -
Group links
Add your community's resources to the group profile.
- Add links with names and put them in order.
- Edit or remove a link in group settings.
- Eligible links that point back to the group profile can show as verified.
A group lists its useful links. A link that points back to the group profile can be verified. -
Manage members
See your members, their roles and their activity in the group.
- Search and sort the member list.
- Open a member card to see their posts, questionnaire answers, moderation history and staff notes.
- Change roles or take moderation actions if your permissions allow it.
The member directory shows each person's role, recent activity and post count, with search and tabs for new members and staff. -
Roles and permissions
Decide who owns the group, who runs it and who moderates.
- Start with the built-in roles.
- The owner can make custom roles with just the permissions people need.
- A role decides which settings and moderation tools someone can use.
Custom roles can't let someone delete the group or manage role definitions. Only the owner can do those things.
Built-in roles cover owners, admins, moderators and members. A group can add its own roles too, such as an event organizer. -
Reports for group staff
Gather reports and look at the content that needs attention.
- Look at reported content in the group's Reports section.
- See the context and take the actions your role allows.
- Group moderation stays separate from server-wide administration.
Reports from members land in a queue with status tabs and filters. The queue is empty here. -
Staff notes and history
Keep context for later moderation decisions.
- Add internal notes to a member card.
- Look back at a member's moderation history.
- Check the group activity log for administrative actions.
Each member has one history that holds both staff notes and moderation actions. -
Member timeouts
The server can pause a member's participation while they can still read.
- The server supports giving and removing moderation timeouts.
- A timeout limits posting, replying, reacting and other participation.
- The member keeps their own content and can still read.
- The Timeout user control is turned off in the web app.
The web app can't set or clear a timeout. Activity from remote ActivityPub accounts doesn't go through every local timeout check.
Moderators can ban a member or clear earlier restrictions. Timeout and manual approval are shown but turned off here. Nothing was submitted. -
Group blocklist
Block a person, account or domain from the group.
- Create rules for user URLs, usernames, user IDs, email addresses or domains.
- A domain rule applies to users from that domain.
- The group blocklist is separate from each member's personal blocklist.
A group can block one account or a whole domain. These rules keep a promotional account from coming back. -
Review posts before they're published
Use a queue of pending posts when content needs staff approval.
- Review channel posts, forum topics and replies in one moderation queue.
- Filter pending items by channel and by when they were sent.
- Approve a post, or reject it and optionally tell the author why.
Approval covers the supported ways of posting locally. Posts that come in over ActivityPub don't go through every local approval check.
With pre-moderation on, members' posts wait in a queue until a moderator approves them. Scheduled posts are only available through the API. -
Pick whose posts need review
Require approval for some members, or let trusted members skip it.
- Use the member moderation controls to require approval for someone's posts.
- From the pending-post queue, staff can switch an author's posts to automatic approval.
- The queue holds the draft until staff decide.
Pre-moderation can apply to individual members. Here, posts from the group's AI bot wait for approval. -
Scheduled posts
The server can save posts and chains to publish later.
- With the scheduling API, you can create, edit or cancel a scheduled item, or publish it right away.
- The server publishes the saved content at the scheduled time.
- Group approval and moderation checks still apply when it's published.
The web app doesn't have a page for managing scheduled posts yet. You can schedule posts through the API.
With pre-moderation on, members' posts wait in a queue until a moderator approves them. Scheduled posts are only available through the API. -
Storage and upload quotas
See how much storage your group uses and which limits apply.
- See current usage, your quota tier and how close you are to the next tier.
- The Upload storage tab shows a summary of quota usage.
- Ask for more storage if the server allows requests.
You can't see a list of the group's files yet. The server has no API to list group files or for administrators to delete files. The storage tab shows the usage summary and an empty file list. File search, filters, previews and deletion don't work yet. The server sets the quota policy. The web app doesn't have a separate screen for member limits.
Group admins see storage use, the upload rate and the next quota tier, and can ask for an increase. A list of the group's files isn't available yet. -
Transfer group ownership
Hand the group over to another member when the owner changes.
- You can transfer ownership from the General settings.
- The member you pick gets the owner role.
- Deleting the group and defining roles stay with the owner.
The owner picks a member to become the new owner and stays on as a group admin. Nothing was transferred here. -
Group statistics
The server keeps membership and activity totals over time.
- Count posts, replies, reactions, events and reports for a period you pick.
- Compare it with the period before.
- See trends in the group's time zone.
The statistics API is available. In the web app, the group Dashboard is only a placeholder and isn't in the settings menu.
Choose whether people can find the group, and whether non-members see its post counts and member list. -
AI bots for your group
Set up bots that answer questions, welcome members and help staff review reports.
- Give each bot a profile, a model and instructions.
- Choose triggers like mentions, questions, new members, matching content or a schedule.
- Give the bot only the tools and channels it needs.
Bots need an enabled provider and a model that supports tools. A bot can help with moderation through reports and notes, but it doesn't take over moderation on its own.
A group can give an AI bot its own profile. The card shows what the bot still needs before it can run. -
Test bots before you publish
Try out how a bot behaves, then publish a setup you've checked.
- Test a conversation in the bot playground.
- Changes to a bot are saved as a draft until you publish them.
- Version history lets you go back to an earlier published setup.
- Limit a group bot to the channels and forum categories you pick.
When you choose a setup method, some options take you to manual setup and continue there.
Each group bot has its own profile, settings tabs and a setup panel. Changes stay in a draft until you publish them. -
AI models and connected tools
Pick the providers, models and tools your group can use.
- Group settings have sections for AI models, MCP servers and AI tools.
- Set up connected tools for supported AI workflows.
- Group permissions decide who can manage this setup.
Which providers and tools you can use depends on how the server is set up.
Groups pick AI providers and the models their bots may use. No provider is set up here. -
Connect your group to other tools
Subscribe an integration to events from your group.
- Choose HTTP delivery for signed event messages, or pull delivery from a stored queue.
- Pick the event types the integration needs.
- Rotate the subscription secret when access needs to change.
Events are sent on a best-effort basis. Your integration has to handle duplicates and events that arrive out of order.
A group can send events to an HTTPS endpoint, or queue them for a service to collect through the API.