List your community in Discovery
List your community publicly so anyone on Root can find and join it.
What is a Discovery listing?
A Discovery listing puts your community in Root's public directory, on the Explore page on desktop and the Community discovery screen on mobile. Anyone on Root can browse the directory, search it, and join your community with one tap. No invite is needed.
Listing is opt in. Your community is not listed until you turn it on, and you can unlist it at any time. While it's listed, your community's age restriction and verified member access settings still apply to anyone who joins.
Only the community owner can list or unlist a community. Admins don't see the Discovery section in Community settings, even with the Manage Community permission.
A listed community has to follow the Community Discovery guidelines, on top of Root's Community Guidelines. Read them before you turn listing on.
Listing requirements
Before you can turn listing on, your community has to meet all of these requirements. The Discovery settings page shows each one, grouped as NEEDS ACTION, CHECKED WHEN YOU TURN LISTING ON, or MET, with a running count like 6 of 9 met.
| Requirement | What you need | Where to fix it |
|---|---|---|
| Community picture | A community image | Change community image |
| Community banner | A banner image, shown on your card in Discovery | Add a community banner |
| Description | A short description of what your community is about | Add a description and category |
| Category | One of Root's categories, so people can filter for you | Add a description and category |
| Join throttle | Join throttling turned on, to protect a public community from raids | Limit member joins |
| Verified owner email | Your own email address verified | Verify your email address |
| Cores | At least 4 cores assigned to the community (level 4) | Community levels |
| Members | At least 10 members | |
| Community age | Created at least 7 days ago |
The last three are minimums set by Root and can change. The settings page always shows the current numbers, for example Need at least 10 members · 7 now.
The minimums are there to keep the directory useful. A community that has members, has been around for a week, and has cores behind it is one that people are invested in, and that's what someone browsing Discovery wants to find. The cores can come from any members, not only the owner, and they unlock app and bot slots as well as the listing.
Each requirement under NEEDS ACTION links straight to the place you fix it, such as Upload in Overview or Enable in Protection.
The Preview card at the bottom of the Discovery settings page shows exactly how your community will look in the directory. Check it before you turn listing on, and use it to see how your banner and description read at a glance.
List your community
- Desktop
- Mobile
- Right-click the community tab, or select the community image in the sidebar.
- Select Community settings.
- Select Discovery.
- Work through any items under NEEDS ACTION.
- Toggle List in Discovery on.
- Tap the community name at the top of the channel list to open the menu.
- Tap Community settings.
- Tap Discovery.
- Work through any items under NEEDS ACTION.
- Toggle List in Discovery on.
The change applies straight away, with no save button. The status line confirms that your community is listed. On desktop, select View in Discovery on the same page to open your listing and see it as members do.
The toggle stays off until everything under NEEDS ACTION is done. If a requirement is still open, the page tells you how many are left.
Unlist your community
Turn List in Discovery off on the same page. Your community leaves the directory straight away. Members who already joined stay in the community.
After you're listed
The requirements are checked when you turn listing on, not afterwards. If your community later drops below one of the minimums, for example a member leaves or a core is unassigned, it stays listed. You only need to meet the requirements again if you unlist and want to turn listing back on.
The parts of the listing you control directly are protected while you're listed. You can change your community's picture, banner, description, and category, and adjust the join throttle, but you can't remove any of them. If a change would leave one of them empty, the save button is disabled and a notice explains that the field is required while your community is listed in Discovery. To remove it anyway, unlist your community first, then make the change.
What members see
- In the directory, your community appears as a card with its picture, banner, name, category, member count, level, and description.
- Members who join from Discovery get the Everyone role, like any other new member.
- The community's action log records when you list or unlist the community, and when someone joins from Discovery. See Monitor actions.
If Root disables your listing
Root moderation can remove a community from Discovery, usually for breaking the Community Discovery guidelines. If that happens, the Discovery settings page shows Discovery has been disabled for this community by Root moderation and the toggle is locked. If you think this is a mistake, report an issue to Root support.
Can't find your community in the directory, or wondering what happens if you lose a core? See Community Discovery FAQs.