> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.payreque.st/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Community

> Build a community-first PayRequest Page with free members, paid memberships, pinned posts, and protected content.

# Community

Community turns your PayRequest Page into a community-first home for visitors, free members, and paying members. Visitors can join for free with verified email access, free members can read selected posts and participate in their comments, and paying members unlock the complete protected library.

Your public Community URL is `payrequest.me/<your-handle>/community`.

<Info>
  Community is built into your existing PayRequest Page. It automatically reuses its banner, avatar, theme, profile information, and navigation instead of creating a separately styled website.
</Info>

## What You Can Build

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Welcome page" icon="house">
    Introduce new members with formatted text and an optional YouTube or Vimeo video.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Content sections" icon="folder-tree">
    Organize posts into topics such as Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Tutorials, or Tips & tricks.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Members-only posts" icon="lock">
    Publish protected articles with text, images, links, and supported video embeds.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Free members" icon="user-plus">
    Let visitors join with verified email access before they decide to purchase the paid membership.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Pinned post" icon="bookmark">
    Keep one important announcement, challenge, or start-here post at the top of the Community.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Automatic access" icon="key">
    Unlock content after successful membership payment and lock it when membership access ends.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Set Up Your Community

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open Community">
    Go to **Community** in the dashboard. This feature is available on Premium and higher plans.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Configure the membership plan">
    Create or connect the membership customers buy. Its name, description, image, price, interval, and benefits form the public Community offer.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Write the welcome page">
    Add a welcome heading, formatted introduction, instructions, and optionally a YouTube or Vimeo URL.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Configure the public landing page">
    Add a public **Headline** and **Short pitch** explaining who the Community is for and what members can achieve. Enable **Make community my homepage** to open Community before products when someone visits `payrequest.me/<your-handle>`.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create sections">
    Add sections to keep a growing content library easy to browse. You can edit, reorder, or remove sections without deleting their posts.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Publish the Community">
    Turn on **Published** and save. Customer login stays enabled automatically while the Community is published.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose whether to show the tab">
    Keep **Show in Page navigation** enabled to promote Community on your public Page. Turn it off for an invite-only or direct-link experience; the `/community` URL and logged-in member account menu continue to work.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Preview the member experience">
    Use **Preview as member** on the Community dashboard to inspect the complete logged-in experience without creating a customer or paid subscription. Use **View public community** to check the visitor experience separately.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Community-First Homepage

When **Make community my homepage** is enabled, your normal `payrequest.me/<your-handle>` link opens Community first. Visitors see your pitch, membership benefits, recurring price, recent locked-post previews, free-member signup, and join action before any products.

The Community uses the membership product for its paid plan name, price, image, interval, and benefits. The separate public headline and short pitch explain the outcome without creating a second product or pricing configuration.

On mobile, PayRequest keeps the paid join action available in a sticky bar while visitors explore the page.

## Free and Paid Members

Community supports three access levels:

| Visitor type | Access |
| - | - |
| Visitor | Public posts and safe locked-post previews |
| Free member | Public posts and posts marked **Free and paid members** |
| Paid member | Public, free-member, and **Active members only** posts |

Visitors select **Join free** and confirm their email address. The confirmation creates or links their customer profile for this Page and signs them in through a secure one-time link. The same customer profile is retained if they later upgrade to the paid membership.

<Info>
  Free membership includes consent to receive Community updates by email. Unsubscribing removes both those emails and free-member access. A paid subscription remains independent and continues according to its own billing status.
</Info>

## Add Content

Community content uses the existing Posts editor:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Create a post">
    Open **Posts** and start a new post.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Protect the content">
    Choose **Everyone**, **Free and paid members**, or **Active members only**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose a Community section">
    Assign the post to a section. Leave it unassigned if it should appear without a category.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Publish">
    Active and trial members can now open the complete post. Other visitors see the membership offer or a login action.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Pin an Important Post

Open **Posts**, use the three-dot menu on a published post, and select **Pin post**. The pinned post moves to the top of Community and receives a **Pinned** badge.

Only one post can be pinned per PayRequest account. Pinning another post replaces the previous pin. Returning the pinned post to Draft removes its pin automatically.

<Info>
  Deleting a section does not delete its posts. Those posts become uncategorized and remain available according to their publication and access settings.
</Info>

## Visitor and Member Experience

Before joining, visitors see the Community landing page, free-member signup, and paid membership offer. Locked previews may reveal a title, section, and publication date, but never protected post content.

After payment, PayRequest activates the subscription, lets the member log in using a magic link, and unlocks the welcome page, sections, and protected posts. Access is checked again whenever protected content is opened.

Direct product links keep Page navigation visible, including Community, so visitors understand what their membership unlocks.

## Login, Cancellation, and Downloads

* Customer login cannot be hidden while Community is published.
* Logged-in customers can open **Community** directly from the account dropdown.
* Active and trial memberships unlock protected content.
* Cancellation keeps access until the subscription actually ends.
* When access expires, members-only content is locked automatically.
* Logged-in customers can use **My downloads** for digital products they previously purchased.

Digital product purchases do not automatically grant Community access. Community access comes from the connected membership subscription; downloads come from paid digital-product orders.

Joining for free uses email confirmation. After confirmation, PayRequest signs the member in and shows **Free member** status. Existing confirmed followers of a published Community are treated as free members when they log in with the same email address.

## Community or Telegram?

PayRequest Community is a hosted content area inside your PayRequest Page. The optional Telegram integration grants timed access to an external Telegram group or channel. You can use either feature independently or combine them as separate membership benefits.

## Frequently Asked Questions

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Can I create several pages inside Community?">
    Community provides a welcome page plus sections that organize your posts. This creates a simple mini-site structure without requiring a separate website builder.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does Community use my Page design?">
    Yes. It reuses the same banner, avatar, theme, profile, and navigation as your normal PayRequest Page.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can non-members see my private posts?">
    Visitors may see a safe locked preview, but never the protected body. Free-member posts require confirmed free or paid membership; paid posts require an active or trial subscription.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can free members comment?">
    Yes. Signed-in free members can comment on posts they may read. They cannot open or comment on paid members-only posts.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can someone who bought an e-book enter Community?">
    Not from that purchase alone. The customer can log in to retrieve the e-book under My downloads, but Community requires the connected membership subscription.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What happens when a member cancels?">
    Access normally continues through the paid period and ends when the subscription becomes inactive.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Next Steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Memberships" icon="users" href="/shop-and-checkout/memberships">Configure pricing, billing, benefits, and access rules.</Card>
  <Card title="Posts" icon="newspaper" href="/shop-and-checkout/posts">Create and organize protected content.</Card>
  <Card title="Digital Products" icon="download" href="/products-and-pricing/digital-products">Sell files customers retrieve from their download library.</Card>
  <Card title="Customer Portal" icon="user" href="/customer-management/customer-portal">Learn what logged-in customers can manage.</Card>
</CardGroup>


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