Membership Features

Everything you need to know about inviting members, managing seats, and understanding subscription status badges.

Inviting Members

To invite someone to your account:

1. Open the Members page for your account.
2. Click Invite Member — the button is always enabled, even when all seats are taken.
3. Enter the invitee's email address and choose their role.
4. Set the seat funding option (see below).
5. Click Send Invitation.

The invitee receives a secure link by email. Until they accept, their status is Pending and they appear in the Invited tab. You can cancel the invitation at any time from that tab.

The Seat Toggle

Every invitation includes a "Use an account seat" toggle that controls how the new member's access is funded.

| Toggle state | What it means | |---|---| | ON (default when seats are available) | An account seat is reserved for this member. Their access is funded by your account's subscription. | | OFF (default when no seats remain) | The member joins as self-funded. They will need their own personal subscription to access circles. |

The form shows how many seats are currently available beneath the toggle. This number is informational only — it never prevents you from sending the invitation.

💡 Tip: You can change your mind after the invitation is sent by re-assigning the seat from the Members list (see Seat Re-Assignment).

Member Subscription Status

Every row in the Members list shows a subscription status badge that tells you exactly how each member's access is funded. There are three possible states:

Account Seat

Indigo badge — "Account Seat"

This member's access is funded by a seat from your account's subscription. As long as the account subscription is active, this member can access all circles they belong to. No action is required from them.

Personal Subscription

Green badge — "Personal Subscription"

This member is self-funded. They have an active personal subscription of their own that grants them circle access. They pay Colistor directly for their access — it has no impact on your account's seat count.

No Active Subscription

Red badge — "No Active Subscription"

This member has neither a seat nor an active personal subscription. They can log in to Colistor but cannot see any circle content until one of the following happens:

• You assign them an account seat (if one is available), or
• They activate their own personal subscription.

When one or more members have this status, an amber banner appears at the top of the Members list explaining the situation and linking to Billing and Pricing.

Seat Re-Assignment

You can change a member's seat assignment at any time from the Members list. This is useful when:

• A contractor finishes a project and you want to free their seat for someone else.
• A self-funded member asks to switch to an account seat after one becomes available.
• You are reorganising after a plan downgrade.

To assign a seat to a self-funded member:

1. Open the Members list.
2. Find the member with the amber or red badge.
3. Click Assign seat next to their row.
4. The change takes effect on their next login.

To remove a seat from a member:

1. Find the member with the indigo "Account Seat" badge.
2. Click Remove seat next to their row.
3. The seat is freed immediately and the member transitions to self-funded status on their next login.

⚠️ Important: Seat re-assignment takes effect on the affected member's next session load. They will not lose access mid-session; the change is applied when they log in again.

The Invited Tab

The Invited tab shows all pending invitations. Each row displays:

• The invitee's email address
• Their assigned role
• A funding badge: Seat Assigned (indigo) or Self-Funded (amber)
• The invitation expiry date
• A Cancel button (only while the invitation is Pending)

Invitations expire after 7 days if not accepted. You can cancel and re-send if needed.

How Access Works After Joining

When a member accepts an invitation and logs in, Colistor checks their subscription status:

1. Seat-funded member → circles load immediately. No action required.
2. Self-funded member with active personal subscription → circles load immediately.
3. Self-funded member with no personal subscription → a subscription prompt is shown. Circles remain hidden until a personal subscription is activated or the account owner assigns a seat.

Once the subscription condition is resolved, the member's next login will automatically grant full circle access — no admin action is required.