Heartbeat gives you several tools to control what members can see and do inside your community. Use this article to understand your options for limiting direct messages, hiding the member directory, keeping onboarding answers private, and using access groups to restrict sensitive spaces.

Turn off direct messages

By default, members can send direct messages to each other. If your community doesn't need 1:1 messaging — or if you want to prevent unsolicited contact between member segments — you can disable it.

Admin Settings > Community → 

1. Scroll to the Direct Messages section.
2. Toggle Allow members to message each other off.

With DMs disabled, members won't see the messaging interface or be able to initiate conversations with each other. Admins can still message members directly.

Hide the member directory from the sidebar

The member directory lets members browse and discover each other. If your community is privacy-sensitive or you simply don't want members visible to one another by default, you can remove the directory from the sidebar.

Admin Settings > Community Sidebar → 

1. Find Directory in the sidebar item list.
2. Toggle it off or drag it to the hidden section.

Members won't see the directory link and won't be able to browse the member list.

Keep onboarding answers private

When you add questions to your onboarding flow, you can mark individual questions as private so only admins can see the responses — not other members.

To set a question as private:

Admin Settings > Onboarding → 

1. Open the question you want to restrict.
2. Enable the Private (admin only) toggle.

Private answers are visible to admins in the member profile view. Members never see each other's responses to private questions.

To view a member's onboarding answers, go to Members, open their profile, and scroll to Onboarding Responses.

Use access groups to limit sensitive access

Access groups let you control which spaces, content, and features are available to specific segments of your community. This is the most flexible way to protect privacy at scale.

Common use cases:

• Restrict a private channel or course to paying members only
• Create a VIP or inner-circle space invisible to general members
• Prevent free members from accessing premium content

Admin Settings > Groups → 

1. Create a group for the segment you want to restrict (e.g., "Paid Members").
2. Assign the relevant spaces, channels, or content to that group.
3. Add members to the group manually, or use automation to assign membership based on offer or tag.

Members outside the group won't see or be able to access the content assigned to it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I disable DMs for some members but not others? Group-based DM rules — which let you control which member segments can message each other — are coming soon. In the meantime, you can disable DMs entirely for all members.

If I hide the directory, can members still find each other? Members can still discover each other through channels, threads, and events — the directory is simply removed as a dedicated browsing tool.

Can members see each other's onboarding answers? Only if the question is set to public. Questions marked as private are visible to admins only.