Protected projects only allow a limited group of selected people to participate in your project. Therefore, this mode allows predetermined participants such as staff, community panel members, focus groups or advisory groups to access and participate in the project. All participants in protected projects must register on your site (create an account). This article explains how to first create a project, then create a closed group of participants and finally publish your project with limited visibility.
Create your project
Create a group of participants with filters
Invite participants to a protected project using filters
Create a group of participants with tags
Invite participants to a protected project when using tags
Linking it all together
Create your project
Develop your projects as you would any other project. If you need instructions, have a look at the guide for project administrators. In the settings, choose the protected version.
At this point, you will be asked to choose a group.
The next section explains the different ways to create a group of participants.
Creating a group of participants with filters
Choose Participants in the right-hand column to access the Participant Relationship Manager (PRM).
You can create a group of participants using any of the filters available in this section. Here are some examples:
If you have an age group in your registration questions, you could select the age group 18-35 and create a group called Youth.
If you have postcodes in your list, you could select one or more postcodes to target an area in your community.
If you are using project tags, you could create a group of participants interested in transport, for example (if you have used this as a project tag). Learn more about project tags.
The "Other" filter is available to allow you to create rules such as :
A group of participants with a specific email. For example, a corporate email to include all employees.
A group of participants who have joined in the last two weeks - to send them a welcome email.
Similarly, more options are available under the filter 'Other', to refine your search as per your need.
Example of creating a group with the Other filter
Click on the Other filter. Select Email and Contains. Enter the email address. Here we have used gmail.com. Click on Add.
2. The list of participants matching your filter will be displayed. To create a group with these participants, type in a group name and click on New group.
3. This new group is now visible in your list under the Groups tab.
Invite participants to a protected project using filters
Protected projects will not appear on your homepage in the project selection for your card lists. You have two choices:
You can provide the URL of the project to your participants.
You can use the URL as a link to create a tile on your homepage, but only approved participants will have access. This feature is useful as approved participants will visit the project regularly and may forget the project URL.
Note: you can adjust the project title on the homepage to reflect the restricted access.
Read this article if you do not know the URL of your project.
When you use a filter to create a group of participants, the group will update automatically. When a new participant registers and matches your criteria, they will be added to the group by the system. However, they will not receive any notifications. You must tell them. You can :
Use the EngagementHQ newsletter feature to send an email to all participants in your project. You can welcome new participants and give some news about your project.
You can browse the list of participants in your group, identify new members, and send them an email inviting them to join the conversation.
Creating a group of participants with tags
To create a group of participants with tags you will need to:
Have a list of participants with their emails
These participants will have to register on your site (create an account)
You can find them in your list of participants and you can attach the tag you have created for your protected project to them.
Create a group of participants with the name of the tag you have created for your protected project.
Below are the detailed steps:
Choose Participants in the right-hand column to access the Participant Relationship Manager (PRM).
2. Search with the participant's email.
3. Under Actions, click View or Edit to edit a participant's profile. Or click on the participant's username.
4. Create a new tag or select an existing tag. In the example below, the new Nature label has been created and assigned to the participant.
5. You can now filter the participants identified with the created tags by selecting it in the Participant tags menu.
6. You can include one or more tags in your filters. The list of participants with your filters will be displayed. You need to create a New Group with the name of the label or the name of your protected project.
7. Each time you add the tag to a participant, they will be added with your group of participants.
Note: You can sort your list of participants by the date they joined - click on Joined in Other. You will be able to see the last participants registered and tag participants you wish to add to your group.
Note: If your participants have common characteristics (such as an email, etc.) you can use bulk tagging to save time.
Inviting participants to a protected project when using tags
Protected projects will not appear on your homepage in the project selection for your card lists. You have two choices:
You can provide the URL of the project to your participants.
You can use the URL as a link to create a tile on your homepage, but only approved participants will have access. This feature is useful as approved participants will visit the project regularly and may forget the project URL. Note: you can adjust the project title on the homepage to reflect the restricted access.
Read this article if you do not know the URL of your project.
Here is an example of how to invite participants to a protected project using a tag:
You should have a list of participants with their emails
Write an email to your participants inviting them to register on your site. Give them a direct link to your registration form. Ask them to reply when their account is created and you will send them the link to the project.
Monitor the additions to your list of participants. When you see a new participant who is also on your list, you can add the tag so that they are added to your group and can access your protected project. Or wait for an email response from your participants.
Send a second email to the participant with the link to your protected project.
Two important things to remember:
When you add a tag to a participant and they have access to your protected project, that participant will not receive an automatic email notification. You must notify your new participants that they now have access to the protected project.
As an administrator, you should monitor the addition of new participants to your list or a return email from participants and then apply the appropriate tag to them.
Linking it all together
In EngagementHQ you can choose who can see and access your projects. Each project can have a different type of access. This allows you to conduct public consultations, accessible to everyone, and private consultations, with certain members of your community. You program your project under Settings.
Choose Protected to allow a selected group of participants to access your project
You will see a list of groups and the group you have just created using the filters or labels.
