Reviewing Applications
How applicants reach you, what to look for, and how approval works.
Where applications come from
Every Coterie has a public apply page at coterie.rsvp/c/your-slug. Anyone who applies gives their name and email, plus answers to any custom questions you've set up — these are your best tool for judging fit before you ever grant access.
Writing good application questions
The point of custom questions isn't to gatekeep for its own sake — it's to surface exactly the signal you need to decide quickly. Good questions ask what someone actually publishes, how often, and what they're hoping to get out of the community. Vague questions get vague answers that don't help you decide anything.
Auto-approve vs. manual review
Auto-approve
Applicants get instant access. Best when you're optimizing for growth and trust your apply-page questions to filter well enough on their own.
Manual review
You approve or reject each application yourself. Best when quality and fit matter more than speed, especially early on while you're still defining your community's standard.
You set this per-Coterie in your settings — it's not an all-or-nothing platform default.
Approving an applicant
Review the queue
Applications land in your Applications queue as they come in.
Approve or reject
Judge against your niche and standard — not just "are they a real person," but "are they the kind of member who'll actually engage."
Invite goes out automatically
Approved applicants get an email invite to create their account and go through onboarding.
Reviewing applications is the single highest-leverage thing you do as a creator early on. The standard you set here compounds — a community of engaged, relevant members builds itself; a community padded out with anyone who applied doesn't.