Using Discourse For Course Community

Product Support

AI-generated summary

In a discussion titled “Using Discourse For Course Community,” mattpar asks whether Discourse can segment free and paid users — specifically, creating a private forum section accessible only after purchasing a course via Kajabi. Robert_Fay confirms this is possible using Discourse’s group-based category security settings. mattpar inquires about automation, noting manual group assignment is acceptable but automation would be ideal. osioke suggests bulk invites for group management and links to guides on category security and bulk invites. pfaffman notes that while automatic Kajabi-Discourse integration isn’t built-in, it’s feasible via a custom plugin, advising mattpar to post in Marketplace if budget allows. Stephen points to existing SSO discussions with Kajabi and suggests contacting @joebuhlig. mattpar thanks the community and plans to review the resources. Later, mattpar confirms Zapier doesn’t meet their needs and will consider a custom plugin if choosing Discourse. mattpar also plans to reach out to @joebuhlig if proceeding with Discourse. The thread collectively affirms Discourse’s flexibility for course communities and outlines paths for manual and automated access control, including third-party integration options.

1

Hello, I am considering using Discourse for my course community and was wondering if there was a way to segment free and paid users within Discourse.

For example, I’d like to have a free forum and then another private section of the forum that users only get access to when they buy my course. Is this possible using Discourse?

Also, I’ll be using Kajabi for my course and was wondering if Discourse and Kajabi can integrate so that when someone buys on Kajabi they also get automatic access to the private section of the Forum?

Any help would be much appreciated, thanks!

2

You can use groups and then set up certain categories so only the “Paid” group can see that category. It is under category security.

3

Thanks so much! So that will require manual adding? I’m currently having to manually add people to a Facebook group anyways so it’s not a huge problem, but if I could automate it would amazing

4

After setting up the groups, you can also use bulk invites to add members to specific groups. This guide explains this process in detail:

And if you want to better understand how to use groups for your specific use case, see this guide:

5

It should be possible, though it’ll take a custom plugin. If you have a budget and a clear description of the integration you desire you can post in Marketplace.

6

There are lots of third party sign-in options with Kajabi, and it looks like you weren’t the first to ask about Discourse integration. Maybe hit up @joebuhlig:

7

Thank you! Really appreciate it! I’ll take a look at those posts :slight_smile:

8

Thanks Jay! If I go with Discourse (which I’m leaning towards) then I’ll definitely leave a post in the marketplace for a custom plugin. I checked Zapier and while they do connect Discourse and Kajabi it doesn’t do it in the way I need.

9

Thanks for referencing that post! I’ll reach out to him if I go with Discourse!