Add memberships

From the Memberships menu option, select the Memberships tab. On this screen, we provide an overview of all existing memberships which can be filtered and sorted to meet your needs.

To get started, click on the Add Membership button.

General

Like other setup pages within CommuniBee Suite, begin by including some general information about the membership.

  • Membership Name: this is the name of your membership.
  • Page Slug: a unique web address suffix for your page, automatically generated but this is editable.
  • Short Description: provide a brief description of the membership that will be displayed when shared online or on other pages.
  • Feature Image: the feature image presents on the Generic Membership card. If a feature image is not provided, the Generic Membership card design uses the community’s logo. The feature image also displays when sharing this membership page within your community.

Once you have entered the above details, click Save.

Tip: To speed up your setup, you can copy an existing membership. Simply select the membership you want to duplicate, go to the General tab, and click Copy. Please see the below for additional details: 

What gets copied: 

  • General tab: Membership Name, Page Slug, Short Description, Feature Image 
  • Pricing tab: Base Price, Taxes 
  • Membership Card: Sharing permissions 
  • Media, Content, Layout tabs: All images, descriptions, added content blocks 
  • Visibility/Survey tab: Assigned categories 

What does not get copied: 

  • Membership Card settings: Number prefix/suffix, stock, valid period, or card design 
  • Auto-Renew settings 
  • Surveys: Any linked survey will need to be reselected manually 

Important: As outlined above, copying a membership carries over most details, but not all. Always review the full setup after copying to ensure everything is correct before making it available for purchase.

Pricing

With the basic details started, you can further customize the membership by including a price and applying taxes if applicable.

  • Base Price: set a purchase price for the membership. To sell a membership at no cost, enter 0 or leave this field blank.
    • Please note that $0 memberships are not eligible for autorenew.
  • Taxes: for communities that are required to collect tax on membership sales, you can set the applicable taxes here.

Membership Card

Now, it’s time to start customizing the membership card by adding additional card details and selecting the card design.

Auto-Renew

Enable auto-renewal to automatically transition members into a new membership when their current one expires. This feature allows members to opt in and, if they do, they’ll be automatically charged for next year’s membership as soon as the current one expires.  

To enable auto-renew for a membership, the following conditions must be met: 

  1. Your community’s banking is set up through Express Banking or Stripe. 
  2. The membership uses a Fixed valid period, and the effective dates must be active (not expired). 
  3. The membership has a set cost (it cannot be free).

Enable Auto-Renew: Check this box to allow members to opt in to auto-renew. 

Renews To: When working on a current or active membership, select the membership it should renew into when it expires. 
Example: If you’re setting up your 2025 membership, it should Renew To your 2026 membership. 

Renews From: When working on a future membership, select the membership that should renew into it once it expires. 
Example: If you’re setting up your 2026 membership, it should Renew From your 2025 membership. 

For a membership to appear in the Renews To or Renews From dropdowns, it must be live (not be archived), must have auto-renew enabled, and cannot already be linked to another membership in the same direction. If a membership doesn’t appear in the dropdown list, check that it meets these conditions. 

Once a renewal link is created, the system automatically keeps both sides in sync, so there’s no need to set both fields manually.  

For example: If you set the 2025 membership to Renew From the 2024 membership, the 2024 membership will automatically update to Renew To the 2025 membership. 

Important: Guests can opt into auto-renew as long as auto-renew is enabled for the membership, even if the Renews To membership hasn’t been selected yet. This allows communities to start selling the current membership and collect opt-ins while finalizing next year’s membership details. However, if the Renews To link isn’t set before the current membership expires (and auto-renew runs), members who opted in will not be renewed — and auto-renewal cannot be rerun.  

Only members who opt into auto-renew will be automatically charged and transitioned to the next membership. Those who do not opt in will need to purchase the next membership manually.  

For more information on the Auto-Renew feature, including important steps to ensure a smooth transition, best practices, and guidance for your users, please see our Managing Auto-Renew help guide. 

Media

This section is all about the design of the membership’s dedicated page. You can upload images or link to a video that act as the banner for this page. The appearance of your banner can then be configured to create a truly stunning landing page. Please note that the images provided here will not be present on the membership card itself.

  • Media Position: choose where you want your image or video to appear. If you added a feature image, this image would present here as well. You may remove it altogether if you do not wish to have an image shown on this page. Alternatively, you can upload a different image to take its place or add more images, which will appear as a sliding carousel.
    • Header & Body Only: no image, no problem. Your page will default to only header and body text. No image upload necessary.
    • Media On Left: keep your image and content together within a single section, allowing your image to appear on the left, and your page name and content on the right. This is suitable if you’re using square images.
    • Media Full Width At Top: emulate the classic web page header with this setting, where your image spans across the top of the page, creating a striking banner—often referred to as the Hero section.
      • Adjustments for images in this layout include:
        • Banner Aspect Ratio: dictate the general dimensions of your banner image(s).
        • Banner Max Height: set the maximum height for your banner image(s).
        • Image Anchor: choose where your image is focused by anchoring it to the desired section of the page—top, center, or bottom—ensuring the key parts of your image are always displayed prominently.
      • Use Custom Blocks Only: feeling ambitious and want to build this page from the ground up? Select this option and navigate to the Layout tab to create a unique page using our pre-built Page Blocks.
  • Media Type
    • If you selected Media on Left or Media Full Width At Top from the Media Position dropdown, you can decide on the media type (Images or Video).
      • Images: you can browse from your media library or upload new images. If you upload multiple images, they will appear in a carousel.
      • Video: Currently, we support embedding videos from YouTube. To link a video, go to YouTube, click the Share button beneath the video, and choose Embed. Copy the URL provided there and return to your CommuniBee dashboard to paste it into the Video URL field.

Content

Add any verbiage you want to display on this page using the provided text box. If left blank, the page will present the Short Description that was entered on the General tab unless you opted to use Custom Blocks Only from the Media tab.

Layout

Not only can you preview your membership’s page from this tab, but you can also make additional changes to the overall page layout.

To build on this page and add additional sections, follow the steps below:

  1. Under where it says, Choose Another Template or Block to Add, click on the Add Block To End
  2. A Page Block screen will appear that lists individual blocks that can be added to your page. For example, a Text Block to include text and an optional button, a Multiple Item Block to feature specific items from your community, and more.
  3. Click the Add button to have the block appear on your page.
  4. Depending on the block type you select, you will have different customization options. As you make changes to a page block, a preview will update live on your screen so you can know exactly how your page will look before you save.
  5. After you finish customizing a page block, be sure to hit the Save button so you don’t lose your work.
  6. For any additional blocks you add, you have the option to edit, duplicate, or delete individual blocks by using the icons on the right side of each block.

To rearrange a block, use your mouse and hold left click on it, then drag the block above or below another block. Let go of left click to set the block in place. Learn more about the available page blocks.

Visibility/Survey

With your page fully designed and ready to share to your audience, the Visibility tab is where you make this membership available to your audience.

Status

  • Draft: the default status for any newly created page. Pages set to Draft cannot be shared or and viewed by your audience. Draft memberships are not visible to guests.
  • Live: the status given when a page is published. You can share and have your audience view the page from your website. Live memberships are visible to your guests.
  • Archived: for pages that you want removed from your website. Once Archived, the page will be accessible from your dashboard and can be permanently deleted by navigating to its General tab. Archived memberships are not visible to guests.

At any time, you can manually update the status of this page. You can also schedule a Publish Date to have a page switch from Draft to Live at a specific date and time. If you include a Hide After date, this page will automatically switch from Live to Archived at the specified date and time.

Tip: Automate the sales period of this membership by setting a Publish and/or Hide After date. This membership will only be available until the Hide After date.

Associate with Survey: If you’d like to ask members custom questions during the membership purchase process, you can do so by selecting a survey from the dropdown menu. For details on how to create a survey, see our Build a Survey help guide. Once you’ve selected the appropriate survey, click Save to apply the changes. 

Please note: Members who renew automatically won’t be prompted to complete an associated survey. To collect information from auto-renewed members, consider sending a standalone survey afterward. 

Lastly, you can optionally categorize and filter this membership which will determine where this membership appears. For more on this, check out our guides on creating categories and filters.

Once you’re happy with your membership, take a look at our guide on managing memberships.

CommuniBee does not display active communities right now. If you are looking to view a specific community, you will need the community’s website URL.

Be sure to check your email to see if you received an invitation to the community; otherwise, you should contact a community admin for access.

Still stuck? Email us at support@communibee.ca