A SPoC must complete one-time initial setup in order to use Group Finder.

1. Go to Administration > Configuration Settings and update the following Configuration Settings as desired:
   • GroupFromEmail: determines the From email address when people signup for Groups. If blank, no email sends.
   • COUNTGROUPINQUIRIES: if true, Group Finder does not allow sign up for Groups if the number of pending Inquiries plus the number of Participants exceeds the Target Size. If false, only the number of Participants is considered against the Target Size. This is also used by the Group Is Full nightly routine that will to determine if a Group displays in the group Finder search results or not.
   • CampusLabel: the label name used for the Congregation drop-down (note: this controls the Congregation label wherever it appears on the Portal).
   • ParentGroupLabel: the label name used for the Parent Group drop-down on Group Finder (e.g., Neighborhood).
   • PendingGroupRoleID: the Group Role ID given to someone who signs up for a Group via Group Finder.
   • ShowGroupContactInfo: determines whether contact information is shown for Groups on Group Finder.
   • SuggestAGroupButtonText: the text on the “suggest a group” button. If you choose not to use this option, erase the Value field and then hide the button by altering the styles in your Portal skin. If you choose to use this option, you should also define the following Configuration Settings:
     • NewGroupCongregationID: the Congregation ID that new Groups are given when created via the Suggest a Group option.
     • NewGroupMinistryID: the Ministry ID that new Groups are given when created via the Suggest a Group option.
     • NewGroupTypeID: the Group Type ID that new Groups are given when created via the Suggest a Group option.
     • SuggestAGroupURL: the URL you can re-direct people to for the Suggest a Group option.
2. Determine which Group Types appear on Group Finder.
   • If there is only one Group Type to appear on Group Finder, go to Administration > Configuration Settings and update the GroupFinderGroupTypeID setting to be the desired Group Type ID.
   • If there are several Group Types to appear on Group Finder, go to Lookup Values > Group Types and set the Show on Group Finder field to Yes on the desired Group Types.
3. Use the Portal Admin page for the Configuration Settings to take effect immediately.
4. Go to Church Structure > Congregations to ensure that the appropriate Congregations are set to Available Online=True.
5. If there are any items you do not want available in Group Finder, hide them in your Portal skin (e.g., certain search options).
6. Populate Group-related drop-down menus by going to Lookup Values and creating the desired records on the following pages:
   • Life Stages: the various age/life season categories that Groups can be (e.g., college-age, young families, empty nesters).
   • Group Focuses: the subject/focus that Groups can have (e.g., sermon-based).
7. Setup Processes for things such as email notifications.
8. Work with the appropriate users to ensure Groups are setup appropriately for online visibility.
9. Place the navigation link to Group Finder (group_finder.aspx) in the desired place on your Portal skin. You can also place the link on the church website.