Customizing the onboarding experience

Last updated: August, 2026

Circle gives you several ways to customize the onboarding experience for new members. You can customize the invitation emails people receive before joining, set up the sign-up form and profile fields, control what spaces new members can access, and set a welcome message or checklist to guide them after they join.

In this article, we’ll look at the community onboarding settings that help introduce new members to your community.

To access the onboarding settings:

1. Click the community name or logo (or the dropdown icon next to it) in the top-left corner and select Settings.

2. Select Onboarding in the Audience section.

Onboarding settings are grouped into three sections: Before joining, Joining, and After joining, which follow a new member's path from receiving an invitation email to becoming an active part of your community.

Customize the invitation email based on whether the person you're inviting already has a Circle account.

• New to Circle: The email sent to people joining a Circle community for the first time.

• Existing Circle users: The email sent to people who already have a Circle account. A member may use an email that is already registered with another Circle community. This tailored message can let them know that signing up isn't required, as they already have an account.

To customize the invitation emails:

1. Click Edit next to New to Circle or Existing Circle users.

2. Update the email subject and body, and click Save changes.

The following dynamic variables can be pasted within your invitation emails to auto-fill information from your community:

• Subject:

  • {invited_by_name}

• Body:

  • {first_name}

  • {community_name}

  • {invited_by_name}

  • {invited_by_email}

  • https://invitation_url: Use this as the hyperlink for Accept invitation button in your invitation email for someone who hasn't signed up for a Circle community before.

  • https://community_setup_url: Use this as the hyperlink for Visit {community_name} button in your invitation email for someone with a Circle community account.

Configure what new members see while creating their account.

• Sign-up form: Choose what information new members provide when joining. Reorder, add, or remove profile fields here to collect member information during sign-up.

• Welcome message: Customize the pop-up shown to new members after they finish creating their account. This is a great place to extend a thank you and encourage them to look around.

  • The following dynamic variables can be pasted within the welcome message to auto-fill information from your community:

    • Title:

      • {community_name}

      • {first_name}

    • Body:

      • {first_name}

      • {community_name}

To edit these settings, click Edit on the Sign-up form or Welcome message card.

Add new members to specific Access groups regardless of how they join your community. Adding an access group here gives members free access to the spaces within, so we recommend only adding groups that are not gated by paywalls.

Select an access group from the dropdown menu to connect it to the onboarding flow.

Once connected, you’ll see a list of access groups connected to onboarding with the following information:

• Access group: The name of the access group.

• Status: Whether the access group is currently connected or has been removed.

• Members: How many members belong to the group.

• Spaces: How many spaces the group grants access to.

• New member welcome space: Select the space a new member is taken to right after signing up.

• Welcome email: Send an email to new members after they sign up, letting them know what to expect from your community.

  • The following dynamic variables can be pasted within the welcome email to auto-fill information from your community:

    • Subject:

      • {community_name}

      • {first_name}

    • Body:

      • {first_name}

      • {community_name}

Click Edit next to Welcome email to customize the message.

A checklist gives new members a clear set of first actions to complete in your community. New members see this checklist in a dedicated sidebar that opens automatically the first time they sign in.

Build a checklist of tasks for new members to complete, such as completing their profile, downloading the mobile app, or visiting a key space. You can also add custom items with rich content.

To set up the member checklist:

1. Toggle on the Checklist under the Checklist section.

2. Click Add action to add a new item to the list and fill in the following information:

   1. Title: Add a title for the action. For example: Update your profile picture.

   2. Description: Describe the action or add instructions on how to complete the action. Use the menu bar to add images, videos, or files to help members complete it.

   3. Link type: Select a link type from the dropdown menu. Each checklist item can include a link, for example, pointing members to a page in your community or an external resource.💡Tip: Links to Circle pages are automatically loaded when you select a type.

   4. Button text: Add the text displayed on the button.

3. Click Add.

Circle also suggests common actions, like posting in a “Say hello” space, that you can add to the checklist with one click.

To add a suggested action, click Add next to the suggestion, update any information as needed, and click Add.

Use the workflows section to create new workflows that help automate actions based on dynamic events or perform bulk actions for specific members. Here, you also have access to all your existing workflows within the community.

To create a new workflow, click New workflow in the top-right corner. You can choose from one of the templates or set up a custom workflow to meet your specific needs.

📚 For more information on workflows, check out our guides here.