Member Types

Member types are the categories you define for the people in your community - Student, Mentor, Staff, Alumni, and so on. Each type can carry a colored badge, appear as a filter in the member directory, and optionally be picked by members themselves.

Why use it

People in a community are not interchangeable. A coaching site has coaches and clients; a school has students, teachers, and staff; an alumni network has graduates by year. Member types let you label those groups once, then use that label everywhere it matters: as a badge on profiles and member cards so people can tell at a glance who they are talking to, and as a filter in the directory so anyone can show only the group they are looking for.

For the owner, types are a structure you set up in minutes that pays off across the whole community. You stop answering “who here is a mentor?” because members can filter the directory themselves. And if you let members self-assign, your roster categorizes itself as people join.

How it works (for members)

Most member types are assigned by you, the owner. From a member’s point of view, a type they have been given shows up as a colored badge:

• on their profile header, and
• on their card in the member directory.

The badge uses the color you chose for the type, so groups are visually distinct.

If you mark a type as self-selectable, members can choose it themselves. The type then appears as a selector on their own profile edit page, and they can pick from the available self-select types - or choose “None” to clear the type they picked earlier. Types you have not marked self-selectable never appear as a choice - only an owner can assign those.

Setting it up (for owners)

Member types are managed under Members > Member Types in the admin. From there you create types, edit them, and assign them to members.

Creating and editing a type

Use the Add Member Type form (the same form edits an existing type). The fields are:

Setting	What it does	Default
Name	The display name of the type, shown on the badge and the directory filter (for example, “Mentor”)	Empty
Colour	The badge background color for this type	A default blue
Description	An optional note describing the type, for your own reference	Empty
Web address	The short, readable identifier used in links (lowercase letters, numbers, hyphens). Auto-filled from the name if left blank	Auto from name
Text colour	The badge text color, drawn on top of the badge background.	White
Sort order	Controls the order types appear in; lower numbers appear first	0
Icon	An optional small icon for the type, shown alongside the badge	Empty
Show as directory filter tab	When on, this type appears in the member directory’s type filter	On
Allow members to self-assign	When on, members can pick this type for themselves on their profile edit page	Off

Web address, Text colour, Sort order, and Icon live under the Advanced section of the form.

Assigning a type to a member

Open a member from the admin members list and use the Member Type dropdown in the Edit Member view. Choose a type to assign it, or choose “No type” to remove the assignment. A member has at most one type at a time.

Self-selectable types

If a type has Allow members to self-assign turned on, members can set it themselves from their profile edit page - you do not have to assign it. This is useful when the member knows their own category better than you do (a skill track, a role they identify with). Members can also pick “None” to clear a self-selected type and go back to having no type. The profile selector only lists types you have marked self-selectable; if none are self-selectable, no selector appears.

Good to know

• Types power directory filtering and badges. The same type does double duty: the “Show as directory filter tab” toggle turns it into a directory filter, and the color (and optional icon) you set is what renders as the badge on profiles and cards. Define the type once and both follow.
• One type per member. Assigning a new type replaces the previous one; there is no stacking of multiple types on the same person. For layering additional editorial badges on top of a type, see Free vs Pro below.
• Badges only show when assigned. A type you have created but not assigned to anyone shows no badges and an empty directory filter until at least one member has it. On a new site, create your types and assign a few before expecting the directory filter and badges to look populated.
• Deleting a type removes its assignments. When you delete a type, the members who had it lose that assignment. The delete action warns you how many members are affected before it runs.
• Self-select works in connected apps too. Members using a connected app can self-assign a type the same way, and the same rule is enforced - they can only pick types you have allowed.

Free vs Pro

Member types - creating types, assigning them, self-selectable types, the directory type filter, and the type color and icon badges - are included in BuddyNext free.

Editorial Member Labels are a Pro addition and serve a different purpose. Where a member type is the member’s category (one per member, and what the directory filters by), Member Labels are owner-applied editorial badges such as Verified, Expert, or Staff that you can stack on top of a member’s type - they appear on profiles and post bylines to signal standing and trust. If you want recognition badges layered over your member types, see Member Labels.

Related

• Member Directory - where type badges and the type filter appear
• Custom Profile Fields - limiting a field section to one member type
• Member Labels - Pro editorial badges you stack on top of a type