Setting Up Your Hubs

In the admin console there is a New Hub button on the Overview and Hubs tab. Because you'll potentially create dozens of hubs under your organization, you will not automatically be made a member or administrator of a hub you create. Keep in mind that you will only receive correspondence from hubs that you are directly affiliated with either as a member or an admin.

When you create a hub you can customize its Discussion Board Email Address. You'll also want to adjust settings for the hub and prepare it for members to join. Under the Hub Settings you'll find an assortment of options and preferences you can adjust as an administrator.

You can read more about hub settings in the Hub Overview article, but you should think about the settings that you want all your hub administrators to set before inviting people. Here is a list of options and tasks you should consider before you think about inviting members into a hub.

Adjust Hub Settings

• Edit the Hub Description which is used to describe the hub before someone joins it
• Customize the hub's Email address to something the members can remember
• Decide whether replies to discussion emails will go back to the sender of the original message or to the list (all members).
• Upload a logo for that hub (hubs owned by organizations will use the logo that's uploaded for that organization by default)
• On the Joins tab, use a hub key or hub key URL to allow people to join the hub instead of sending an email invitation
• Turn off entire features or adjust what members can do in the hub on the Permissions tab.
• Decide what profile information members can see about each other on the Profiles tab

Make the Hub Feel Welcoming

It's important that your members feel at home once they've joined a hub. Once they log in and access the hub for the first time, if it's empty and nobody's home, they'll leave the party! Here are some suggestions to help your hubs feel more welcoming once they join.

• Edit the hub's Home Page. Edit the text on the home page to include things like objectives, rules, guidelines or visions statements for the group. It should be something you want your members to recall each time they access the hub.
• Post a welcome Announcement
• Go ahead and add events to the calendar
• Upload important documents
• Create a whiteboard with notes, instructions, or other documentation you want in the hub