Zelos revolves around a comprehensive database of team members. Every team member in Zelos has their own profile, serving as their digital identity within your organization. These profiles are more than just basic information repositories – they're dynamic spaces showing active tasks, group memberships, and communication channels. When you open a member's profile, you'll see their current tasks, including whether they've confirmed them, as well as their complete job history. Unless profile fields are set to admin-only, members are able to edit their own information to keep it up to date.
A thorough walkthrough of the Zelos people database:
Member Roles
Adjust member roles from the top right menu in their profile. All Zelos plans (also free) come with unlimited administrator and owner accounts.
Basic members form the foundation of your team – they can interact with published items, take on tasks, and communicate with others.
Administrators have broader capabilities, including the ability to publish and manage tasks, as well as moderate team activities.
Owners have complete control, including access to billing and the ability to make fundamental project decisions. It's important to assign owner roles carefully, as they carry significant responsibility.
Creating data fields for member profiles
To set up profile fields for your database (these will also appear on your application form), start in the Manage section under profile fields. Here's how to create effective fields:
For skills and capabilities, consider using structured fields like yes/no questions or scale ratings instead of open text. For example, instead of asking "What languages do you speak?" create specific yes/no fields for each language you commonly need.
When creating each field, give it a short, clear name that will work well in your database. If you need to ask a longer question, use the "form label" field to display a more detailed version to applicants. Add helper text below questions that might need additional explanation.
To make the most of your member database, focus on creating profile fields that will help you match people to tasks. For instance, if you often need public speakers, create a scale question asking about public speaking comfort levels. Later, when creating tasks, you can filter for members who rated themselves highly in this area.
Consider setting up admin-only fields for internal notes or sensitive information. These won't appear on the application form but will be visible to administrators in the database.
Configuring the team application process
To begin accepting new members, first navigate to the Manage section and locate the "Joining, profile fields and invite links" settings. Here you'll need to make an important choice: either allow anyone to join without restrictions or set up a manual approval process. The manual approval option (recommended) lets you review applications before accepting new members. You can then customize several key messages:
- Write a welcome message that appears on the joining form
- Create an "application received" message
- Create a standard rejection message
Team members can join through your personal landing page. This page is public, so feel free to promote it anywhere - in emails, text messages, or on social media. You can customize two key areas on your landing page: the "About Team" section and the landing page content. The "About Team" information will be accessible to members also after they join, while the landing page content should focus on convincing people to join.
Approving member applications
When new applications arrive, you'll find them in the Applicants tab, separate from your active members. To review applications, click on each profile to see their responses. You can handle applications in two ways:
For individual applications, review their profile and use the approve or deny buttons directly. If you're dealing with multiple applications, you can use the bulk actions feature to process several applications at once. During the approval process, take advantage of the group assignment feature to immediately add new members to relevant team groups.