Pukalani
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First steps

From invitation code through the setup assistant to a running community — what happens in the first few minutes.

Creating a community takes a few minutes. All you need is an email address and an invitation code.

1. Invitation code

Pukalani is in Early Access — new communities are created by invitation. The code is in your invitation email and looks like PUKA-XXXX-XXXX. Upper and lower case don't matter.

  • The link in the email takes you straight into the setup assistant and checks the code without another click.
  • Without a code you can leave a request: briefly describe what you want to use Pukalani for — your address is only used to send you access.
  • The code is checked at the start, not at the end. Filling in four steps and then being turned away would be the worst possible first experience.
Checking the code does not use it up. It is only redeemed at the moment your community actually comes into being.

2. Signing in

Signing in works with a code sent to your email address — you don't have to set a password. You enter your address, receive a numeric code and type it in. Alternatively you can sign in with a password if you have created one.

If you weren't signed in when you clicked the invitation link, you'll be taken back to where you were headed once you have signed in.

3. The setup assistant

Four steps, all of them changeable later:

Name and address

What is your community called, and at what address should it be reachable? Pukalani suggests the address from the name (German umlauts are spelled out: "Frühschwimmer" becomes fruehschwimmer) and checks as you type whether it is still free. Lower-case letters, numbers and hyphens are allowed; the result is yourname.pukalani.app. A working title is enough — both can be changed later, and you can connect a domain of your own at any time.

What are you about?

Coaching & consulting, courses & education, creators & audiences, clubs & volunteering, companies & teams, health & sport, crafts & hobbies — or something else. The answer unlocks no features; it only helps us show you things that fit.

Which mood fits?

Six curated starting points for colour and typeface. Later you have the full range — 26 colour worlds with eleven shades each, plus your own fonts (see Design & themes).

Does this look right?

The summary of name, address, area and mood. Create community brings it into being — and the trial period starts at that moment.

After that your community exists and you are its owner. The closing page tells you the important part straight away: it starts publicly readable, so your content is visible to everyone and will be found by search engines. "Members only" is a switch in the settings — and it also takes everything published so far out of public view.

4. Trial period and quota

  • 14 days of Pro, with no payment details. The trial starts at the moment your community is created.
  • After that the community becomes read-only until a plan is chosen: posts, comments and sign-ups pause. Nothing is deleted — content, members and settings are kept in full, and with a subscription everything continues immediately.
  • One community during the trial, up to three per account afterwards.

Details on the plans: Billing.

5. What to do straight afterwards

  1. Write the home page — until you do, a fallback text stands there. You set your description under Dashboard → Community, and edit the page itself under Pages.
  2. Settle the design — colour world and fonts in Customize theme, see Design & themes.
  3. Write down the rules — a page of your own with your ground rules for conversation makes moderation easy later, see Moderation.
  4. Invite members — and think first about who gets which role, see Members & roles.

6. Several communities

At the top left of the dashboard sits the community switcher: a click on your community's name opens the list of all communities in which you hold a team role (owner, admin, moderator or editor). Switching signs you in on the other side automatically — you jump from dashboard to dashboard without logging in again.

Below the list are two exits that arrive equally signed in:

  • Create community takes you into the setup assistant.
  • Manage communities opens your account area at account.pukalani.app — the overview of every community you belong to.

How many communities one account can create is covered above under Trial period and quota.

Overview

What Pukalani is, how your community is put together, and how to find your way around this guide.

Products at a glance

Which products exist, what is available and from which plan — comments, discussions, posts, pages, design, moderation and analytics.