Higher Logic provides dozens of widgets that you can use to:

• modernize the look of your community pages,
• enhance the usefulness of your site, and
• increase member engagement.

In this article, we'll focus on widgets associated to our Volunteer module.

Access the widgets

You'll be able to add, edit, and remove widgets when editing one of your community's pages. To edit a page:

1. Navigate to the page you want to update and click Edit Page on the Admin Toolbar (or right click for a new tab). Alternatively, you can click Edit Navigation to access the CMS and your community's complete page list, from which you can access and edit any page.

2. Editing a page is accomplished with Page Designer. Click the Build tab and scroll down to the Widget section.
3. Use the Category dropdown and/or the search field to more quickly find a specific widget.

• Widgets are grouped and accessible from their own category in the dropdown.
• Select the All category to view the complete list of widgets; click Volunteer to view the widgets discussed in this article.

Volunteer widgets

Each of the widgets in the Volunteer category is described in its associated section below.

NOTE: There are several Volunteer-based widgets not discussed in this article: when a Higher Logic Community licenses the optional Volunteer module, many Volunteer-based pages are provided, along with several default Volunteer widgets to power them. These "out of the box" widgets are automatically included, and are not available for you to manually add. For this reason, this article focuses exclusively on the widgets you can add to your site. 

Volunteer Bio

Default widget that displays on a user's Volunteer Profile, but can be added to other volunteer-related pages in your community, if needed. 

It serves as a way for volunteers to provide all of the pertinent information about themselves they want to share to others (e.g., volunteer history and experiences, why they volunteer, etc.). Users can click the pencil icon (edit) to add or edit their provided information with a fully-fledged editor.

Example

Options

This widget has no configurable options.

Volunteer Leaderboard

Displays a leaderboard of the most engaged volunteers.

Using the available dropdown menu, users can view the leaderboard based on the following filters:

• Most points
• Most hours volunteered
• Most dollars
• Most opportunities completed

The widget also allows users to:

• click the Volunteer Today! button to view your Volunteer Opportunities page, which lists your program's current volunteer opportunities;
• click a volunteer's name to access their Volunteer Profile;
• click the "points" button to view the associated user's Volunteer Summary popup, detailing their completed volunteer opportunities, along with the details and points breakdown for each one.

When configuring the widget, you can choose to:

• limit how many leaders are shown in the leaderboard,
• show or hide the dropdown filters, and
• show or hide the leader number indicators.

Example

Options

You can configure the Volunteer Leaderboard widget via the following options:

• Max Number of Leaders to Show in List: Use this option to control how many volunteers appear in the leaderboard at one time. This is useful when you want to keep the widget compact or highlight a larger set of top volunteers.

• Show Filter?: Use this option to show or hide the filter dropdown that lets users change how the leaderboard is viewed. When you show it, users can switch the leaderboard to different ranking views instead of seeing only one predefined view.

• Show Leader Ranking Number?: Use this option to show or hide the ranking numbers next to each volunteer in the list. Enable it when you want users to see each volunteer’s exact placement on the leaderboard.

• Sort Order: Use this option to choose which volunteer metric the leaderboard uses to rank volunteers (most points, most hours volunteered, most dollars, and most opportunities completed).

Volunteer Opportunities List

Displays a list of your volunteer program's current opportunities and their associated details.

• Users can filter the list based on various criterion, such as time commitment, location, qualifications, and more.
• Click an opportunity's title to view its details page to learn more about it and, if it's a good fit, apply.
• A Create Opportunity button is available to Volunteer Admins, Site Admins, and Super Admins, allowing them to create opportunities right from the widget.

When configuring the widget, you can manage numerous options, such as:

• defining how many opportunities to display per page,
• setting the default opportunity status filter (the default is Open),
• and showing or hiding specific opportunity details, such as their CE credits, dates, locations, points, time commitments, and more.

Example

Options

You can configure the Volunteer Opportunities List widget via the following options:

• No Data Text: Use this option to set the message shown when there are no volunteer opportunities to display. This is useful when you want to give users a clearer empty-state message instead of leaving the list blank.

• Number of Opportunities to Show per Page: Use this option to control how many opportunities appear on each page of results. Use it when you want to keep the list shorter or let users browse more opportunities before moving to another page.

• Opportunity Status Filter Default: Use this option to choose which opportunity status the widget uses when it first loads. Use it when you want the list to open to a particular set of opportunities, such as currently open opportunities, instead of making users change the status filter themselves.

• Show CE Credits?: Use this option to show or hide CE credit information for each opportunity. Enable it when CE credits are part of your volunteer program and you want users to see that value directly in the list.

• Show Dates?: Use this option to show or hide each opportunity’s dates in the list. Enable it when users need to quickly understand when an opportunity takes place before opening its details.

• Show Location?: Use this option to show or hide location information for each opportunity. Enable it when location is important for deciding whether an opportunity is a good fit, especially for in-person or region-specific opportunities.

• Show Points?: Use this option to show or hide the points value for each opportunity. Use it when you want users to see the points they can earn through volunteering. If you turn this option off, the points do not display in the list.

  • Hide Points If Zero?: Use this option to hide point values when an opportunity is worth zero points. Use it when you want to show points only for opportunities that award them and avoid displaying zero-point values in the list.

• Show Sign Up Deadline?: Use this option to show or hide the sign-up deadline for each opportunity. Enable it when users need to know how long they have to apply without opening the opportunity details page.

• Show Status?: Use this option to show or hide each opportunity’s status in the list. Enable it when you want users to be able to distinguish at a glance whether an opportunity is currently open or in another status.

• Show Time Commitment?: Use this option to show or hide time-commitment information for each opportunity. Enable it when you want users to be able to compare the expected time requirement directly from the list view.

• Sort By Default: Use this option to control how the opportunity list is sorted when the widget first loads. Use it when you want opportunities to appear in a particular order, such as by date or another built-in sort, before users apply their own filters or sorting choices.

Volunteer Opt In

Displays a toggle option on a user's Volunteer Profile after they've opted in to the community's Volunteer Pool.

The toggle option is Invite me to volunteer when opportunities match my expertise? and, if set to Yes, the user will be invited to volunteer for future opportunities that are matched to their skills and interests. Conversely, if the toggle is set to No, they will no longer receive invitations for new volunteer opportunities. 

This widget empowers users to control whether they want to be proactively invited to volunteer, streamlining the opt-in and opt-out process for volunteer communications within your community.