> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.magicpages.co/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Keeping Discourse categories for paying members - URL: https://www.magicpages.co/help/community/tier-groups-in-discourse/ - Published: 2026-10-15T06:57:06.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-15T10:04:35.000Z - Description: Every paid tier on your site gets a group in Discourse, and members are in the groups of the tiers they have. How the groups are named, how fast changes arrive, and how to open a category to one tier. - Author: Jannis Fedoruk-Betschki - Tags: Help Center & Guides, Community Every paid tier on your site becomes a group in your Discourse forum. A member is in the group of each tier they have, and leaves it when they no longer have it. Open a category to a group, and only members of that tier see it. ## Who's in which group - Paid members are in the group of their tier, and members with several tiers are in each of their groups. - Complimentary members count like paying ones: a member you gave a tier for free is in that tier's group. - Free members can sign in to the forum, but get no group. Anything you'd show free members, show to everyone who's signed in. When a member upgrades, downgrades or cancels, their groups change within a few minutes, and right away the next time they sign in. A cancelled tier's group goes with it. This covers members who've signed in to the forum through your site. Someone who hasn't signed in yet isn't on the forum, so there's nothing to update until they do. ## How the groups are named A group is named after the tier's slug, which Ghost makes from the tier's name when you create the tier. A tier called "Founding Members Annual" gets the slug `founding-members-annual`, and so does its group. Ghost doesn't let you change a slug afterwards, so renaming a tier keeps its group name as it was. Discourse treats group names like usernames. We make them from lowercase letters, digits, dashes and underscores, no longer than the forum's **Max username length** (in your forum's admin, under Users → Settings). Its default is 20, which is why setting it to 30 is part of [connecting your forum](https://www.magicpages.co/help/community/connecting-your-discourse-forum/). Discourse allows at most 60. If your forum already has an ordinary group with that name, the tier uses it. Anyone already in that group stays in it, so check its members. A tier keeps its group once it has one, and we never delete groups, so the categories you've set up keep working. ## Opening a category to one tier In Discourse, open the category, click the wrench to edit it, and go to the **Security** tab. Remove **everyone**, add the tier's group, and choose whether its members can see, reply or create topics. To open a category to several tiers, add each tier's group. \[Screenshot: Discourse category security with a tier group\] ## The Tier groups card The **Tier groups** card on the **Discourse** tab lists every tier on your site with one of three labels: - **Synced:** the tier has its group on the forum. - **No group:** a free tier, which doesn't get one. - **Not synced:** the tier has no group yet, and the card says why. New paid tiers get their group within a few minutes, and **Sync groups now** does it straight away. A member moves between groups each time they sign in or change tier. ## When a tier says Not synced | What it says | What to do | | --------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | The tier has no forum group yet | Click **Sync groups now**. | | The group name is longer than the forum's "Max username length" | Raise **Max username length** to the number shown, in your forum's admin under **Users → Settings**, then click **Sync groups now**. If the name needs more than 60, email us. | | A forum user already has that name | Groups can't share a user's name. Change that user's username in Discourse, then click **Sync groups now**. | | It's one of the forum's built-in groups | Names like admins, staff or moderators are taken. Email us. | | Another tier's group already has that name | Email us. | | The tier's slug has no letters or digits a group name can use | Email us. | | Discourse refused to create the group | The message gives Discourse's reason. Fix it in Discourse if you can, then click **Sync groups now**. Otherwise, email us. | Where it says "email us", write to [help@magicpages.co](mailto:help@magicpages.co) with the tier's name and we'll give it a group name that works.