Start your community on ESCAPE
Set up a page for your group, place or business, bring people in, share the work, and host events under its name.
The quick start
Six steps. Each one links to its part of the guide below.
Choose the type
Open the Community tab and tap +. A Group has members; a Place, Business, Educator or Professional page has followers.
Done when: you know which type fits. It can't be changed in the app later.
Create the page
Add a name, a handle, a description, images and where you're based. A Group also needs its privacy and how people join.
Done when: the page is live under the handle you want.
Bring people in
Invite people from the app, share an invite link or the page, and approve join requests.
Done when: your first members have joined.
Share the work
Make trusted members admins or moderators, and give member types the permissions they need.
Done when: someone besides you can approve requests and invite.
Post and keep it safe
Post as the community, run polls, use the group chat, and know how to report a problem.
Done when: your first post is up.
Host events as the community
Pick your community under Post as when you create an event, and answer the tag requests other events send you.
Done when: your next event carries your community's name.
Choose your type
Open the Community tab and tap + at the top. The Create Community menu lists the types you can create.
| In the menu | What it's for |
|---|---|
| Create Group | Clubs, hobby groups and member communities. People join as members. |
| Create Place | Venues, studios, cafés and experience spots. People follow it. |
| Create Business | Businesses, brands, agencies and sponsors. People follow it. |
| Create Educator | Instructors, coaches, trainers and mentors. People follow it. |
| Create Professional | Performers, photographers, guides and other services. People follow it. |
Check this
Only a Group has members, with roles, member types, join requests, a member list and a group chat. Choose a Group if people should belong to your community, and another type if they should follow it. You can't change the type in the app later.
Educational institution pages are set up by ESCAPE, not from this menu.
Create your community
Every type starts with the same basics. A Group then asks who can see it and how people join; a Place starts from its address.
Fill in the basics
Under Basic Information, enter the name (3 to 50 characters) and a Handle: your page's @name, 3 to 30 lowercase letters, numbers or underscores, not starting with "_". No two communities share a handle. Add a Description and, if you like, an Avatar and a Banner.
Under Location, choose a Country, then a City or Nationwide. Add Tags to help people find you, and your Contact Information. Then tap Create Group (or Create Business, and so on) at the bottom.
Choose who can see your group
A Group has Privacy Settings. The choice decides who sees the group and how people join.
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Public | Shows in search and discovery, and anyone can see its posts. People join at once, or send a request if their member type uses the Request policy. |
| Private | Shows in search and discovery, and anyone can see the group, but only members see its posts. Every join is a request you approve. |
| Invite-only | Hidden from search and discovery. Only members and people you've invited can open it, and only members see its posts. People join only through a personal invitation; invite links don't work. |
Choose it now
You can't change a group's privacy in the app after you create it.
For a Public group, Member list visibility sets who sees the member list: Public, Members only (the starting choice) or Admins only. Allow group chat is on by default. You can change both later in Edit.
Set up member types
Member types are your membership tiers. A new group has one, Member, which can post and see the member list. Tap Add member type for another, such as Volunteers or Alumni, and choose the default with its radio button. Each type has a Join policy and Permissions.
| Join policy | When someone taps Request to Join |
|---|---|
| Auto-join | They become a member at once. |
| Request | A join request waits for your approval, and they see "Join request sent! Waiting for admin approval." |
| Invite-only | They can't join without a personal invitation. |
The join policy applies in a Public group. A Private group turns every join into a request, and an Invite-only group takes personal invitations only.
Permissions include Can post, Can create events, Can moderate, Can view members and Can invite. Only the owner can give a type Can manage members.
Check the group's other settings
These are under Additional settings.
- Maximum Members
- Once the group is full, people can't join it from its page or an invite link.
- Allow members to invite others
- On by default: every member can invite people.
- Allow non-members to post
- Lets people who aren't members post to a Public group.
- Require approval for new members
- Despite its name, this switch is about posts, not members. When it's on, only owners, admins and moderators can post to the group, and other members' posts are refused. To approve new members, make the group Private or use the Request join policy.
Places: check before you create
For Create Place, the address comes first: search for it, then pick a business from the map or enter an address yourself. If ESCAPE already has that place, you see This place already exists; open it instead. If similar places are nearby, This place may already exist lets you open one or tap Create anyway.
| You picked | What happens |
|---|---|
| A business from the map | ESCAPE adds it as an Unclaimed place, and you follow it. To run it, tap Claim this place on its page; ESCAPE reviews the request. Public places such as parks, landmarks and transit stations can't be claimed. |
| An address you entered | You own the place. Confirm This is a public business location if you're asked. |
Once you run a place, its page offers Verify this place, with a code sent to a business email, or Submit documents for verification.
What you can change later
Owners and admins tap Edit on the community page to change the name, description, banner, location, tags, contact information, group chat, member list visibility, member types and Registration Questions: the questions people answer when they join.
The type, the handle and a group's privacy can't be changed in the app. A place's name stays locked when it came from the map.
Bring people in
Invite people one by one, share a link, and approve the requests that come in.
Invite people from the app
On your group's Members tab, tap the Invite Friends icon. On App Users, search by name or narrow the list with Friends or the location filter, then tap Invite. If your group has more than one member type, choose one.
Owners, admins and moderators can invite, and so can members whose type has Can invite. While Allow members to invite others is on, every member can.
The person gets a notification and answers on your community page with Accept invite or Decline, or under Pending invitations in their settings. A personal invitation lets them in whatever the group's privacy or join policy, and skips your registration questions. It expires after 30 days; if they decline, you can invite them again after 7 days.
Share an invite link or your page
On the Share Link tab, tap Generate Invite Link, choose a member type if asked, then Copy or Share. Someone who opens the link joins the way Request to Join would let them: at once in a Public group with Auto-join, or as a join request in a Private group or with the Request policy. A link doesn't work for an Invite-only group.
A link can't hand out a member type with more permissions than your default type. For a type with more, invite people one by one.
To share the page itself, tap the share icon at the top of your community page.
Approve join requests
Open the Members tab and tap the Join Requests icon. If you set registration questions, tap Answers to read them. Then tap Approve or Reject.
Owners, admins and members whose type has Can manage members can approve requests.
What a new member sees
- A message: "Successfully joined the community!", or for a request, "Join request sent! Waiting for admin approval."
- Your registration questions first, if you set any.
- A choice of member type first, if you have more than one.
- Once they're in, a Leave button, and Group chat while the chat is on.
Share the work
A Group has four roles. Promote people from the member list; the owner keeps the decisions about admins, ownership and payouts.
| Role | What they can do |
|---|---|
| Owner | Everything, including making and removing admins, transferring ownership, linking the community's payment account and deleting the community. |
| Admin | Edit the community, approve requests, invite, manage members and moderators, post as the community and host its events. Not: change admins, transfer ownership, link the payment account or delete the community. |
| Moderator | Their member type's permissions, plus moderating, seeing the member list, inviting and creating events. |
| Member | What their member type allows. |
Manage members
Open the Members tab and tap Manage Members (the gear icon), then open a member's menu.
| Action | Who can |
|---|---|
| Transfer Ownership | The owner |
| Promote to Admin, and Demote to Member for an admin | The owner |
| Promote to Moderator, and Demote to Member for a moderator | Owners and admins |
| Change Member Type | Owners, admins and members whose type has Can manage members |
| Remove Member | Owners, admins and members whose type has Can manage members. Only the owner can remove an admin. |
Before you transfer ownership
Transfer Ownership makes the member the new owner and you an admin, and only the new owner can transfer it back. It works only for someone who has joined. The payment account linked to the community is yours, so the transfer unlinks it and the new owner links their own. While active paid services pay out to your account, the transfer is refused.
Leaving and deleting
An owner can't leave: Transfer & Leave explains how to transfer ownership first. An admin who leaves stops being an admin. Only the owner can delete the community, from More, then Delete, and not while it has upcoming events or active service requests.
Community Management
Owners and admins tap the gear icon at the top of the community page to open Community Management. Its Overview shows Total Members and the Tag Requests other events send you (see Events), and its Members tab leads to Manage Members.
Only the owner can link a payment account or change the fee model, on the Payments tab. The Services and Analytics tabs are for paid services, which this guide doesn't cover.
Posts, chat and safety
Post as the community, run polls and the group chat, and know what to do when something goes wrong.
Post as or to your community
| You want to | How, and who can |
|---|---|
| Post as the community | Write Post, then Post as, and pick the community. Owners and admins. |
| Share your own post to a community | Write Post, then tick it under Post to communities. Members whose type has Can post, as the starting type does. |
| Start a poll | The Polls tab, then Create Poll, with 2 to 10 options. Owners, admins and moderators. |
Posts made as the community appear on its Posts tab. You can share one post to up to 5 communities. When you post as or to a community, its members get a notification.
In a Private or Invite-only group, posts made as or shared to the group are seen only by its members.
Group chat
While Allow group chat is on, members open the chat with Group chat on the community page. People who leave or are removed lose access to it. It's separate from any event's chat.
Moderation and reports
Remove Member takes someone out of the group and its chat. You can't delete other people's posts: only their author, or ESCAPE, can. Report a post with Report Post on its menu, and a person with Report User on the menu of their profile, where Block User is too. Anyone can report a community from More, then Report.
Our Child Safety Standards apply to every community.
Events under your community
Host events as the community, and decide which tags from other events it accepts. The event form itself is in the organizer guide.
Host as the community
Tap + and choose Create Event. Under Post as, tap Tap to post as one of your communities and pick yours; the form then says This post will appear on the community's profile.
Owners, admins and moderators can host as the community, and so can members whose type has Can create events. Members get a notification when you do.
Share to communities (optional) is a separate choice: it puts the event in other communities' feeds.
On a place's page, Create event here starts an event at that place.
Answer tag requests
When another event tags your community, as a co-host, partner, sponsor or venue, for example, the request appears under Tag Requests on the Overview tab of Community Management. Owners and admins tap Approve or Decline.
Tags and the permissions they carry are explained in the organizer guide's Access section.
Need a hand?
Or find answers on Support and in the FAQ. Include your community's link and a screenshot.