How to integrate Circle (community forum)
If you would like to have a place for your members to create threaded community discussions around various topics (like a Facebook Group or forum), Circle is a great modern tool to do that with. Your members will also be able to privately message each other.
We are recommending Circle through an affiliate link, which means we earn a commission if you choose to purchase, at no additional cost to you.
MemberSpace has a simple single sign-on (SSO) integration with Circle which means when your members are logged in via MemberSpace on your website, they will automatically be logged into your Circle community and not have to create a new account of any kind.
You must have an external website (e.g. yoursite.com) connected to your MemberSpace account in order to integrate Circle with MemberSpace.
How to set up Circle integration
- Sign up for your Circle account.
In Circle > expand the dropdown menu at the top, left > click Settings:
Next, click Single sign-on > toggle on Enable SSO:
Feel free to toggle on the other two options below Enable SSO if you want. Once the SSO is enabled, the Verify SSO connection option will appear at the bottom of the settings page.
- Click Verify SSO connection
In Circle > select MemberSpace from the OAuth Provider dropdown and copy the Callback URL:
In MemberSpace > click Customize in the left navigation > click Integrations > click Circle > paste in the Callback URL from Circle > select which plans should have access > then click Integrate with Circle:
In MemberSpace > one at a time, copy the Client ID, Secret Key, and MemberSpace URL:
In Circle > one at a time, paste in the Client ID, Secret Key, and MemberSpace URL:
In Circle > click Settings on the left > make sure you toggle on Make this a private community > then click Save changes at the bottom:
By default, when members visit your Circle community, they will NOT be added to any Spaces automatically. They would need to click the Join space button in the top, right of each Space's page:
If you want members to be automatically added to Spaces, you'll need to create an Invitation Link in Circle. To do that, click Members on the left > click Invitation Links > click Create an invitation link at the top, right:
After you create the link, you should use that wherever you link to your Circle community so that any members who click it will automatically be added to the Spaces you specified.
If you'd like to limit which Spaces of your Circle community can be accessed by specific plans, you'll need to use our Zapier integration for MemberSpace + Circle (e.g. when a member joins Plan A, only give them access to Space #1 and Space #2 within your Circle community).
That's it, you're done! Now when your members are logged into your membership, they will automatically be logged into your Circle community.
And if someone who isn't logged in tries to access the community, they will be prompted to log in as a member (via MemberSpace) automatically.
When a new member joins your membership site and visits the Circle community for the first time, the member will be required to log in again. Moving forward, when the member visits the Circle community, they will not need to log in again unless they are accessing the community on a different device or if they log out of their MemberSpace account.
Regarding GDPR implications, Circle.so is considered a sub-processor for your membership site, and you are the controller.
You should be linking externally to your Circle community URL (e.g. example.circle.so) from your website so it opens in a new browser tab/window. You should NOT be embedding Circle on your page or using their popup option, otherwise redirect and login issues can occur.
Removing a member from Circle when their plan is canceled
When a member cancels their plan with you (which grants them access to the community in Circle), they will still have access to the Circle community if they are still logged into Circle. You can manually remove the member in Circle to prevent this.
First, click Members from the expanded dropdown menu at the top, left of your Circle account:
Then, locate the member > click the three dots beside their name > click Delete > click Confirm.