After you set up a member directory, add it to a Portal page so members and visitors can search it. This article explains how the Portal block works, including what happens when the block does not name a directory. It does not cover creating or configuring the directory.
Prerequisites
- The directory you want to show must already exist in your Rhythm account.
- You need access to your Portal's page designer so you can place a block on a page.
Add the Membership Directory Block to a Page
- In the Portal page designer, add the Membership Directory block to a page from the Membership category.
- Open the block's settings and enter the directory's identifier in Directory ID. Use the same identifier — its
ID:— that appears when you create or edit the directory in Setup. - Save and publish the page.
The Directory ID belongs to the block on the page. If you delete and recreate the Membership Directory page, or delete and recreate the block, enter the Directory ID again because Rhythm does not keep the old value.
For an organization directory, setup and testing can involve more than one area. If the settings do not match what you expect, check CRM setup for organization directories and Membership setup for membership directories.
Directory ID Is Free Text
The designer does not check whether Directory ID matches an existing directory or the right type of directory. Type it carefully, because a typo means the block loads nothing, and you will not see a warning until you check the live page.
What Happens If No Directory Is Chosen
If you leave Directory ID empty, the page tries a fallback. It asks your Rhythm account for its directories and uses the first one returned. This fallback is risky for two reasons:
- Which directory is "first" is not something you control. If your Rhythm account has more than one member directory, the fallback does not use a setting to choose one. It uses the order your Rhythm account happens to store them in.
- The fallback only works for a visitor who is signed in. Listing your Rhythm account's directories requires sign-in, even though the rest of the directory page also works for anonymous visitors. If someone is not signed in, a block without a directory cannot load, and the page shows a message that the directory could not be loaded. For a signed-in visitor, a missing Directory ID can instead look like a search that spins or loads indefinitely, rather than a clear error.
Tip
Always set Directory ID for a block you place intentionally, even if your Rhythm account currently has only one directory. If your Rhythm account later adds a second directory, a block without a directory can start showing the wrong directory, or fail outright for signed-out visitors, without any change to the page itself.
Dependencies and Precedence
- The block's Directory ID is the only setting that decides which directory a page shows, except for the empty-block fallback described above. When you change a directory's fields, filters, or layout, those changes appear on every page that names it, without changing the page.
- If someone later deletes the directory named by a block, the page that names it stops loading. The Portal page itself does not tell you this happened, so check the block on the live page after removing or replacing a directory.
- If a directory does not work as expected, check both sides together: the directory's own configuration in Console, and this block's Directory ID on the Portal page. A problem can come from either one, and fixing only one side may not resolve it.
- Location-radius search appears only when this block's Directory ID points to the same directory where distance search is turned on in Membership › Directories. If you enabled radius search on the wrong directory, or the block points elsewhere, radius search will not appear.
What Visitors See with More Than One Directory
Visitors do not get one control that lists your Rhythm account's directories by name. If you want visitors to choose between more than one directory, place a separate block on a separate page for each directory. Give each block its own Directory ID, and give visitors a way to reach the page they want, such as your site's navigation.
Permissions
Placing or changing a Membership Directory block requires access to your Portal's page designer. No Membership-specific permission applies to this block. Reaching the right page is not the same as being allowed to use the directory on it, because your Portal's own security policies for that page or audience still decide who can see and search it, even for an otherwise eligible member.
Validation and Errors
The designer does not validate Directory ID when you save a page. It accepts an identifier that matches no directory without warning, and visitors who reach the page simply see it fail to load. Always confirm a newly placed block on the live, published page, not only in the designer.
If a directory page loads without its filter area, try resaving the Portal page; that has resolved this symptom before.
If a visitor reports a security warning on the directory page, confirm the exact URL they used and try to reproduce the problem in a browser session. Check that the page loads over HTTPS.