Signing up & launching your community
This guide takes you from "I want to start a community" to "we're live".
What you'll accomplish
- Choose a plan that fits your community's size
- Claim your community's address (its domain)
- Pay, and land straight in your dashboard
- Watch each piece come online, then step into your live community
How long it takes
About 3 minutes of your time. After you pay, the rest happens in the background, and your community is usually live within a few hours. Close the tab and come back whenever you like; we'll email you when it's ready.
What to bring
The only thing needed before the sign up process is a domain. This domain is where your data will be hosted, and also how you appear on the network (e.g. if your domain is sunroom.garden, your members handles would be @jd.sunroom.garden or @kay.sunroom.garden). It's important that nothing sits at this domain already, but if this is a problem, feel free to contact us!
Before you start
- Your community's name You can always change it later!
- A domain you'd like as your address, for example
sunroom.garden. Buy one during sign-up, or bring one you already own. This becomes your community's home and the root of every member's handle, so pick something you'll be happy with for a long time. - A card. Plans are billed monthly. You can change or cancel anytime.
The steps
See what's ahead
Sign-up opens with a short overview of the whole journey: the handful of things we'll ask you (a plan, a little about you, your community's name and address), and what happens after you pay.
Pick your plan
You'll see clear pricing tiers side by side: what each one includes, what it costs, and which fits a community your size. Pick the one that matches where you are today. You can move up or down later as your community grows.
Tell us a little about you
We ask for your first name, last name, email as well as a description of your community.
Already run a community on Acorn? You'll skip this step; we know who you are.
Name your community and claim its address
Give your community its name, then choose its address (the domain).
As you type the address, we check it live: whether it's a valid domain, whether it's already taken, and a preview of what your members' handles will look like. Before you continue, we ask you to confirm, because this address becomes three things at once: your community's home, the root of every member's handle, and your community's identity on the network.
Choose your address carefully. It's the one thing that's hard to change after launch, because it's woven into every member's handle.
Pay
Payment happens right here and the moment it clears, the infrastructure your community needs starts getting deployed.
Watch it come online
After paying you land in a dashboard which tracks the status of a couple pieces of infrastructure needed for you to get started:
- Your identity — your community's identity and handle
- Your data server - where your community's content will live
- Your domains and security certificates - whether your domains are reaching our servers securely
- Your data server — where your community's content will live
As each piece finishes, the dashboard updates and we send you email updates.
Connect your address
The trickiest part of this is pointing your domain at your new community. Luckily, the dashboard shows the exact records to add, with specific instructions below depending on your domain registrar.
Sign in, open Domain List → Manage → Advanced DNS, and add each record shown on your dashboard exactly as listed. Save. Your dashboard updates as the changes take effect.
Don't worry if you get it slightly wrong. Your dashboard tells you what it expected versus what it sees, so you can spot a typo and fix it.
You're live
Your community is set up! After this, Acorn redirects you to your dashboard and points you to the natural next steps: set your moderation rules, finish your community's look, and invite your first people.
What your members see
Nothing yet, until you invite them. Launch sets you up as the steward. When you're ready, your first members open a space already wearing your name and address, with feeds ready to fill.
What's next
Once you're live, keep going:
- Designing your client — make the space unmistakably yours before anyone arrives.
- Inviting your first members — bring your people in.