Glossary
Key Forumera terms and concepts explained.

Member

A member is a signed-in user who belongs to a forum, with roles and permissions that control what they can see and do.

Last updated: 1/2/2026

Member

A member is a signed‑in user who belongs to a forum. Members can read, post and participate according to the roles and permissions that admins assign.

Members vs guests

Forumera distinguishes between:

  • Guests – visitors who can see only public content and cannot post.
  • Members – people who have joined the forum and have a persistent identity there.

Members typically:

  • Have a profile with display name, avatar and basic stats.
  • Can create threads and posts in boards where they have permission.
  • Receive notifications and direct messages.
  • May be assigned special roles such as moderator or admin.

How people become members

There are a few common paths to membership:

  • Invitations – admins or existing members send invite links that grant access (and sometimes specific roles).
  • Open sign‑up – public forums may allow anyone to register and join.
  • Join requests – visitors submit a short request that admins review and approve or reject.

The chosen pattern depends on the community: closed cohorts, internal teams and paid programmes often use invites or requests, while public communities lean on open sign‑up.

What members can do

What a member can see or do depends on their roles and the forum’s permission model, but typical capabilities include:

  • Reading all member‑visible boards and threads.
  • Starting new threads and replying to others.
  • Reacting to posts and using basic tools like edit or delete on their own content.
  • Sending and receiving direct messages, if DMs are enabled.

Moderators and admins have broader powers, such as moving threads, handling reports or changing settings, but they are still members at the base.

Best practices for membership

  • Set clear expectations. Use onboarding posts or pinned threads to explain what members can expect from the forum and what is expected of them.
  • Use roles, not ad‑hoc exceptions. Define roles like “Student”, “Teacher” or “Customer support” and assign permissions there instead of tweaking individual users.
  • Review inactive members periodically. For private or sensitive forums, consider pruning accounts that have not logged in for a long time.
  • Role – a named bundle of permissions assigned to members.
  • Admin – a member with full control over a forum's settings and structure.
  • Moderator – a member focused on keeping conversations healthy and on‑topic.