# Hylo User Guide ### 1. Welcome to Hylo Hylo is a platform built for communities with a purpose. It's designed for groups that are working toward something together, whether that's caring for a bioregion, running a nonprofit, building a network, making collective decisions, or supporting each other through mutual aid. A few things make Hylo different from other platforms: **No ads, no algorithms.** Hylo does not display advertising, sell your data, or use a black-box algorithm to decide what you see. You control your own feed and notifications. **Built for real communities.** Hylo is structured around groups, not individual profiles or follower counts. The tools (posts, chat, events, governance, maps, mutual support) are designed for coordination, not consumption. **Open source and community-governed.** Hylo's entire codebase is public. Hylo operates as a nonprofit and is moving toward participatory governance, shaped by the communities that use it. **Nested and networked.** Groups on Hylo can be connected — a neighborhood group can live inside a regional network, which is part of a larger coalition. This mirrors how communities actually organize in the world. *** ### 2. Joining Hylo #### Creating Your Account You can join Hylo in one of three ways: * Accepting an invite email from an existing Hylo community * Clicking a community invite link someone has shared with you * Signing up directly at [hylo.com/signup](https://hylo.com/signup) to create your own group To get started, enter your email address or sign up with a Google account. #### Signing In Log in with your email address and password, or click **Continue with Google** if you set up your account that way. #### Managing Invites and Join Requests You can view your pending group invitations and open join requests by clicking your photo icon in the upper right corner, selecting **Settings**, then **Invites & Requests**. From here you can accept or decline invitations and cancel any open requests. *** ### 3. Setting Up Your Profile Your profile is how other members find you and understand what you bring to the community. Taking a few minutes to fill it out makes a real difference, especially in communities where skills, interests, and location matter for connection and coordination. A full and complete profile builds trust and helps know why others should connect with you. To access your profile, click your photo icon in the upper right corner and select **Edit Profile**. #### What to Include **Name and photo.** Use whatever name you go by in this community. A clear photo helps people recognize you, especially in in-person communities. **Bio.** A short description of who you are, what you care about, and what you're working on. This doesn't need to be formal — write it the way you'd introduce yourself to the community. **Location.** Share your location at whatever level of precision feels comfortable. Your location helps with discovery on the map and makes it easier for members nearby to connect with you. You can choose how precisely your location is displayed. **Skills.** List what you know how to do — technical skills, practical skills, languages, areas of expertise. These are used by other members and stewards to understand what capacity exists in the community. **Interests.** Add topics and areas you care about. These help surface relevant content and connect you with others who share your focus. **Affiliated Groups.** Your profile shows which groups you belong to, respecting each group's privacy settings — private group memberships won't be shown to non-members. *** ### 4. Finding and Joining Groups #### Group Explorer The Group Explorer is a public directory of groups on Hylo. Here, you can browse and discover communities by keyword or location. Keep in mind, only publicly visible groups are listed. You can access the Group Explorer throught the **Commons** which is the Globe icon in the top left corner of the navigation. #### Joining a Group Some groups are open — you can join immediately. Others are protected or private and require a request or an invitation. **Open groups:** Click **Join** and you're in. **Protected groups:** You may be asked to answer Join Questions before your request is reviewed. These are custom questions set by the group's stewards to understand who's joining and why. Answer thoughtfully — your response is visible to stewards during the approval process. **Private groups:** These require a direct invitation from a steward or existing member. #### Joining via Invite Link If someone shares a Hylo invite link with you, clicking it will take you directly to that group's join flow. #### Related and Nested Groups Once you're inside a group, you can explore its wider ecosystem — parent networks it belongs to and subgroups within it — by clicking the Groups tab in the Group Menu or under All Views. A network map shows these relationships visually. You can join affiliated groups directly from this view. #### Leaving a Group Go to **Settings → My Groups**. You'll see a list of all your groups with a **Leave** button next to each one. *** ### 5. Navigating Hylo #### The Group Menu The Group Menu is the left-hand navigation panel within any group. It's fully customizable by group stewards, so it will look different across different groups — stewards design it to direct members' attention to what matters most for their community. At the top of the menu you'll always find the **Home** view — your group's landing page. Below that you'll typically find: * **Chats** — all active chat rooms in the group, with unread indicators * **Members** — the member directory * **Common Views** — core content views like Stream, Events, Projects, and more * **Custom Views** — links, filtered post streams, or curated content collections that stewards have created Scroll to the bottom of the Group Menu and click **All Views** to see everything available in the group, including views that may not be pinned to the menu. #### My Content Click your photo icon in the upper left corner to access **My Content** — your personal inbox view. * **My Posts** — all posts you've created * **Interactions** — posts you've commented on or reacted to * **Mentions** — all posts where you've been @mentioned * **Announcements** — posts that stewards have promoted to the full group * **Saved Posts** - any post that has been saved #### All My Groups Content From the same photo icon, access **All My Groups Content** to see aggregated content across every group you belong to — stream, map, and events views all pulled together. ### The Commons The Commons shows content and groups that have been made public — visible to anyone on Hylo, not just your group members. * **Public Stream** — all posts marked as public across the platform * **Group Explorer** — browse public groups * **Public Map** — a geographic view of all public groups and posts * **Public Events** — all public events across Hylo *** ### 6. Post Types — What You Can Share Posts are the backbone of deeper coordination on Hylo. Unlike chat messages, posts are persistent, threaded, and searchable, they don't get buried after a day of scrolling. Hylo has several post types, each designed for a different kind of contribution. [Learn more about the difference between Posts and Chats](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPChNKqG5Hw). On posts, other members can comment in a nested thread and react with emoji. #### Discussions The default post type for open conversation, updates, questions, and ideas. Discussions support rich text, images, file attachments, embedded video, location data, and topic tags. **Use discussions for:** announcements, questions to the group, sharing ideas, starting a conversation that deserves depth and permanence. #### Events Events have start and end times, location (physical or virtual), timezone support, and an RSVP function. They appear in the stream and on the group's calendar view. Events can include a physical location that shows up on the map. **Use events for:** gatherings, calls, workshops, any time-bounded activity you want the group to show up for. #### Requests Post what you need — skills, tools, time, knowledge, labor, transport, advice. Set scope, timing, and location. Requests can be cross-posted to connected groups to extend your reach. **Use requests for:** asking the community for help, surfacing a need, initiating an exchange. #### Offers Share what you can give. Same structure as requests — searchable, taggable, and locatable. Offers tell the community what you have available and want to share. **Use offers for:** sharing skills, tools, produce, time, resources, or anything you want to make available to the group. #### Completing Requests and Offers When a request or offer has been fulfilled, mark it as complete. You can select the people who helped, creating a visible record of mutual support within the community. This is one of the ways trust and reciprocity become visible over time on Hylo. #### Resources A post type for sharing reference materials, links, documents, guides, or anything the community might want to return to. Resources are designed to be findable and reusable over time rather than ephemeral. **Use resources for:** sharing documents, links, guides, reference materials, or anything the group should be able to find later. #### Projects Projects are persistent homes for coordinated work. Create a project with a description, associated members, and linked content. Other posts, events, requests, and offers can be connected to a project so everything related to an effort lives in one place. Members can join a project to signal their involvement. **Use projects for:** ongoing initiatives, working groups, campaigns, or any effort that spans multiple posts and involves multiple people. #### Proposals Proposals are Hylo's governance post type. Create a proposal with a question, description, voting options, and timeline. Proposals move through discussion, voting, and completed phases with visible outcomes and quorum tracking. **Use proposals for:** group decisions, policy changes, resource allocation, any question that deserves a formal process and a recorded outcome. #### The Stream The Stream is a view of all posts shared in the group. You can filter by post type (Discussion, Event, Request, Offer, etc.), search by keyword, and switch between four layout options — card view, list view, small grid, and large grid — depending on how you prefer to browse.\ \ If you belong to both a parent group and its child groups, you can also toggle child group posts into your stream, giving you a fuller picture of activity across the network. ### Creating a Post To create any post type, click the **+** button in your group's stream or navigation. Select the post type, fill in the relevant fields, add topic tags, and choose which group or groups to post to. #### Cross-Posting You can cross-post a single post to multiple groups so it lives in all of them simultaneously without duplication. This creates a shared conversation thread across groups you are a member of. When creating a Post, you can add additional groups by clicking on the "To" field. Include any groups you are a member of. #### Adding a Location to a Post Any post type can include a location, which makes it show up on the group map. When creating a post, you will see a option to add a location and search for an address or place. Once added, the post will be discoverable geographically in both the group map and the public map (if the post is marked public). #### Tagging others in Posts **@Mentions** Type **@** followed by a member's name in any post or comment to tag them directly. Hylo will suggest names as you type. The tagged member receives a notification and can find all their mentions under [**My Content → Mentions**](https://hylozoic.gitbook.io/hylo/guides/hylo-user-guide#my-content). ### Saving a Post To save a post, click on the three vertical dots in the upper right corner of a post and then on Save Post. Saved posts appear in [My Content](https://app.gitbook.com/o/-Mj_AvmkygdGol11iIJI/s/-MlRz_9qUfFSuAsvbA9X/~/edit/~/changes/297/guides/hylo-user-manual#my-content) under your settings. *** ### 7. Chat Rooms Chat rooms are for real-time, topic-based conversation. They sit alongside the post stream — fast conversation and deeper discussion coexist without competing. Chat rooms are denoted with a hashtag symbol (#room-name). To send a message, navigate to a chat room and click the message box at the bottom. From the chat toolbox you can: * Format text * Attach images and files * Respond to a message with an emoji or a direct reply * Mention others, type **@** followed by a member's name in any post or comment to tag them directly * Send an announcement (stewards only) — a blast that notifies the whole group #### Chat vs. Posts — When to Use Each **Use chat** for quick questions, real-time coordination, informal conversation, and anything that doesn't need to be found again later. **Use posts** for anything that deserves permanence — updates, decisions, resources, requests, events, and conversations you want the group to be able to search and reference over time. {% embed url="" %} #### Adjusting Chat Notifications When you join a new group, you'll receive notifications for all messages in the main chat room by default. Other chat rooms default to mentions only. Once you participate in a chat room for the first time, Hylo considers you subscribed and enables notifications for all messages in that room. To adjust notifications for any chat room, click the **Bell** icon at the top of the room. Options include: * All chats * Announcements and mentions only * Mute this chat room *** ### 8. Embedding Media Posts and comments on Hylo support a range of media types to help your community share context-rich content. **Supported Media Types** * **Images** — attach photos or graphics directly to any post or comment * **Files** — share documents, PDFs, and other files * **Links with previews** — paste a URL and Hylo will automatically generate a rich preview * **Embedded video** — YouTube and Vimeo links can be embedded in the post description and played directly within Hylo * **Location data** — add a location pin to posts for geographic context *** **Attaching Images and Files** Drag and drop files or images directly into the post or comment editor. You can also use the attachment icon in the editor toolbar. **Recommended image dimensions for posts:** | Format | Ratio | Recommended Size | | ------ | ----- | ---------------- | | Square | 1:1 | 1024 x 1024 px | Images outside these ratios will still upload but may be cropped or letterboxed in the feed view. For best results, size images before uploading. *** **Embedding Video** Paste a YouTube or Vimeo URL into the post description field. Hylo will automatically render it as a playable embed, no additional steps needed. Members can watch directly within Hylo without leaving the platform. *** ### 9. Topics Topics are Hylo's tagging system. They use the hashtag format (#topic) and help organize and connect content across the platform. #### Using Topics Add a topic to any post or chat by typing # followed by the topic name. As you type, Hylo will suggest existing topics from your groups. If the topic doesn't exist yet, finishing typing creates a new one. You can add multiple topics to a single post. #### Topics and Chat Rooms Chat rooms are created by stewards and can be connected to a topic. Any post or chat that uses a topic connected to a chat room will appear in that room automatically. #### Finding All Topics Scroll to the bottom of the Group Menu and click **All Views**, then **All Topics** to see every topic used in your group. Sort by name, popularity, or recency. Click on any topic to see a stream of all content in your group associated with that topic. Subscribe to a topic to get notified when new content is tagged with it. *** ### 10. Direct Messages Send a private message to any Hylo member — a 1:1 conversation or a small group chat. Direct messages live outside of your group context and live in Messages. To start a direct message: 1. Click the **messages** icon in the upper left corner of Hylo 2. Click the **New Message** icon 3. Type the name of the person you want to message, or select from the list 4. Type your message and send You can also message someone directly from their profile by clicking the message icon below their banner image. To exit a conversation, click the gray **X** at the top right. *** ### 11. Participating in Governance If your group uses Hylo's governance tools, you'll find active proposals in the **Governance** view or the **Proposals** section under All Views. #### How Proposals Work Proposals move through three phases: **Discussion phase.** Read the proposal, ask questions, and share your perspective in the comments before voting begins. **Voting phase.** Cast your vote using the options provided. Your group may use different voting formats — Agree/Disagree, Consent/Block/Abstain, Gradients of Agreement, or custom options configured by stewards. **Completed phase.** Once voting closes, results are displayed along with quorum status and an outcome summary written by the author documenting what was decided and what happens next. #### Group Agreements Your group may have written agreements — commitments, norms, and codes of conduct. These are displayed on the group's About page and you may be asked to consent to them when joining or when they're updated. *** ### 12. Notifications — Staying Informed Without Being Overwhelmed Hylo gives you granular control over your notifications so you can stay connected to what matters without being buried in activity from quieter groups. #### Notification Types * **In-app** — shown in your inbox and notification bell * **Email** — sent to your email address * **Push** — sent to your mobile device (if you have the app installed) * **Digest** — a periodic summary of group activity #### Customizing Your Notifications Access notification settings by clicking your photo icon → **Settings** → **Notifications**. You can set preferences per group — so you can be highly responsive in your most active community while staying in digest mode for others. For individual chat rooms, use the Bell icon at the top of each room to set your preference (all messages, mentions only, or muted). #### Tips for Managing Notifications * Mute chat rooms you've joined but don't want to follow closely * Use digest mode for groups you want to stay informed about without real-time alerts * Subscribe only to the topics most relevant to you rather than following the full stream *** ### 13. Using the Map The map shows a geographic view of members, groups, posts, events, requests, and offers within your group — and across the platform for public content. Find the map in your Group Menu or under All Views. #### Navigating the Map * Zoom in and out by scrolling with your mouse or trackpad * Move around by clicking and dragging * Single-color dots represent different content types: Discussions (blue), Requests (purple), Offers (green), Events (red), Members (pink), Groups (grey) * Clusters appear as circles with a number inside — click to expand Clicking on any post opens it in a side panel so you can read and interact without leaving the map. Clicking on a member opens their profile. #### Filtering the Map Click **Features** in the bottom left corner to toggle which content types you see — post types, members, and related groups can all be turned on or off independently. You can also filter by **Topic or Keyword** using the search box at the top of the map. #### Map Layers Click the **Base Layers** icon in the lower right to switch between Basic, Streets, Satellite, and Satellite + Streets views. You can also enable an indigenous territories layer using data from native-land.ca. #### Location Search Click **Search for a Location** in the upper left of the map to zoom to a specific area and see all activity within that region. #### Saving Map Views Click the **heart icon** in the upper left to save a map view — a specific area with specific filters applied. You'll receive notifications when new activity appears in that saved area. Saved searches can be deleted from the map or from your account settings. #### Creating Posts on the Map Click and hold for a couple of seconds on any location on the map, or click the **+** button in the lower right corner and then pin the location. This creates a geographically anchored post. *** ### 14. Running Events Events on Hylo are a post type with built-in RSVP, calendar display, location support, and calendar export. #### Creating an Event Click the **+** button in your group's stream and select **Event**. Fill in: * Title and description * Start and end time (with timezone) * Location — physical address or virtual meeting link * Which group or groups to post to Events appear in your stream, on the group calendar, and on the map if a physical location is included. #### RSVPs Members can indicate whether they're attending (or if they are a maybe). As a steward, you can see the guest list and count. This is useful for capacity planning and follow-up. #### Live Events Events currently in progress are marked as **live** in the stream and calendar. This makes it easy for members to spot ongoing activity. *** ### 15. [Tracks and Badges](https://hylozoic.gitbook.io/hylo/guides/setting-up-learning-journeys-tracks-and-actions) Tracks are structured learning or onboarding journeys your group stewards have created to guide you through a sequence of content, prompts, and actions. Learn more about creating and managing tracks [here](https://hylozoic.gitbook.io/hylo/guides/setting-up-learning-journeys-tracks-and-actions). (note: Tracks can o
{% embed url="" %} #### Finding Tracks Look for Tracks in your Group Menu or under All Views. Stewards may also require you to complete a track before accessing certain areas of the group. #### Completing a Track Each track is made up of steps. Work through them in order — steps may include reading content, responding to prompts, or completing a specific action. Your progress is tracked automatically. #### Badges When you complete a track, you may receive a badge — visible on your profile and next to your name throughout the platform. Badges can also unlock specific roles, permissions, or access to certain chat rooms or content within the group. *** ### 16. Funding Rounds If your group runs participatory funding rounds, you'll find them in the **Funding Rounds** section of the Group Menu or under All Views. Funding rounds let communities pool resources and collectively decide where to direct them — governance made tangible through real resource allocation. #### How a Funding Round Works Funding rounds move through four phases: **Submission phase.** Community members submit proposals for funding. Stewards define what a valid submission looks like. Depending on the round's settings, submissions may be visible during this phase or hidden until voting begins. **Discussion phase.** The community reviews and discusses submitted proposals. Comments, questions, and feedback help everyone make more informed decisions before voting. **Voting phase.** Members vote to allocate the pool across proposals. Notifications guide you through each stage so you don't miss your window to participate. **Outcome phase.** Results are displayed transparently — who submitted what, how votes were allocated, and where the funds went. Completed rounds become part of the group's permanent decision history. #### Why It Matters Funding rounds turn collective intention into collective action. They're used by communities running participatory budgeting, grant-making, and resource-sharing processes. Float, the Funding Lab for Agroecological Technology, used Hylo's funding rounds to distribute over $700,000 USD to projects in 2025. *** ### 17. Mobile App Hylo is available on iOS and Android. * **iOS:** Download from the App Store * **Android:** Download from Google Play The mobile app covers all core features — groups, posts, chat, events, map, profiles, and notifications. Push notifications can be configured per group and per notification type directly in the app. Hylo's web interface is also fully responsive — you can access it from any browser on any device without downloading the app. *** ### Quick Reference — Post Types at a Glance | Post Type | Best For | | ---------- | --------------------------------------------------------------- | | Discussion | Open conversation, questions, updates, ideas | | Event | Gatherings, calls, workshops, time-bound activities | | Request | Asking the community for help or resources | | Offer | Sharing skills, tools, time, or resources | | Resource | Reference materials, links, documents | | Project | Ongoing coordinated efforts with multiple contributors | | Proposal | Group decisions requiring a formal process and recorded outcome | --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://hylozoic.gitbook.io/hylo/guides/hylo-user-guide.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.