Status: Available The exact set of things you need in place before your community can go live.
A brand-new community does not show its real content yet. Until you finish the required setup, the entire site shows a full-screen Setup Required page to visitors instead of your landing page or any of your community. Completing this checklist is exactly what makes the community go live.
Going live isn't a switch you flip. Your community is live once it passes a readiness checklist. Until every item below is in place, your community stays in setup, members can't fully use it, and the Setup Required page is all anyone sees. Once they're all done, it goes live.
Most of this work happens in your Community Settings screens (Branding & Identity and Community Content), plus publishing at least one group and one access option. Skip any required item and you stay stuck on the Setup Required page. Work through this list and you're done.
The checklist
| # | What you need | Where to set it |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Community name (3 to 30 characters) | Community Settings > Branding & Identity (/admin/content/cs_branding) |
| 2 | Logo | Community Settings > Branding & Identity (/admin/content/cs_branding) |
| 3 | At least one published group | Groups (/admin/content/group) |
| 4 | At least one published access option (a paid plan or product, or free content — a free group, course, or public blog) | Plans (/admin/content/plan) or Products (/admin/content/product) |
| 5 | Welcome heading | Community Settings > Community Content (/admin/content/cs_content) |
| 6 | Welcome subtext | Community Settings > Community Content (/admin/content/cs_content) |
| 7 | Community guidelines (not empty) | Community Settings > Community Content (/admin/content/cs_content) |
| 8 | Stripe connected (only if you sell anything priced above 0) | Stripe Connect |
Two things people get wrong
Even a free community needs a published access option
Step 4 is required no matter what — members need at least one way in. If your community is completely free, that way is a free group (or a free course / public blog); you do not need a plan or product. Publishing no access path at all keeps you stuck on the Setup Required page.
Empty community guidelines block you twice
Don't leave your community guidelines blank. Empty guidelines block go-live (step 7), and they also block every new member's onboarding. Accepting the guidelines is a required onboarding step, so with no guidelines set, members can't finish joining. Fill them in even if they're short.
When you need Stripe (and when you don't)
You only need to connect Stripe if you're charging real money, that is, if any plan or product is priced above 0. If everything you offer is free, you don't need Stripe at all, and step 8 doesn't apply to you.
For a fully free community, no payment account is involved. See Connect Stripe & get paid when you're ready to charge.