Private Topic FAQ
What are Private Topics?
Private Topics are discussion spaces only visible to specific community groups. If you're not a member of the group or if your access has been explicitly revoked, the topic (and its contents) will be completely hidden.
Who can access a Private Topic?
Approved Members: Only members who are added to the group gating the private topic can access it.
Admins/Mods: Automatically have access by default.
Rejected or Non-Members: Cannot view, search, or interact with threads in the topic.
What can approved members do in a Private Topic?
Participate
View threads
Create new threads
Create new comments
Upvote threads and comments
Search & View
Search for private content
See private topic threads & comments on their own profile
Be mentioned in private threads
See private topic threads & comments in other members’ profiles
See private topic threads in general forum views
What happens if a non-member tries to interact with a Private Topic?
They’ll:
See topics grayed out in the topic selector
Be blocked from creating or viewing threads
Not see private content in search results or profiles
Receive error messages with clear feedback when attempting to view private topic
Non-members also will not be able to see private topic content in global, general forum views, and in the profiles of private topic members.
Will private content appear in search or profiles?
Only if you're a member of the group gating that topic.
Private threads show up in search and profiles only for approved members.
Non-members won’t see any trace of private discussions.
What happens to existing threads if a topic becomes private later?
Threads posted before the topic was made private will:
Remain visible in the member’s profile
Non-members will not be able to view or interact with the full thread
How can I wwitch a topic from private to public?
As a community admin, click edit on the group that is gating the private topic and then remove the topic from the gated topic section.
Considerations:
Even though a success message will appear after saving, a private topic cannot be made public again via the topics page
Once a private topic becomes public, all of the existing content will become publicly viewable as well
Pro Tip for Admins
Private topics are managed through the Topics Page. When making a topic private:
You'll be prompted to select a group to gate the topic with
You cannot assign a topic to multiple groups
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