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Setting up your organisation: the assistant

When your organisation has just been confirmed, it starts out empty. The setup assistant walks you through everything that matters in a few steps — in plain language, without jargon.

You will find it in your organisation's management area (the gear icon on the profile) → Settings → Start the assistant. While anything is still open, a note at the top of the management area offers the same way in.

The assistant is an owner function. Editors maintain content, but the setup itself — what comes in under your organisation's name and whether you publish at all — is the owner's decision.

Two promises up front

Everything is saved right away. You can stop after any step and continue later. Nothing is lost.

You can open it as often as you like. The assistant keeps no progress of its own — each time, it simply looks at what has already been filled in. Walking through it again resets nothing.

Step 1: Overview

The assistant first shows what is already set up and what is still open. No score, no grade — just a list.

Step 2: Your website

Here you enter your website address — the one people type into their browser. One click on Check website and locali looks for news or events your site publishes automatically.

Three outcomes are possible, and all three are normal:

  • We find something. You see it in plain words — "News from your website", "Dates from your calendar" — and pick what should appear on locali.
  • We find nothing. That is the case for most websites and is not a fault. The next step is then the right path for you.
  • We cannot reach the site right now. You can carry on regardless; the address is saved and you can try again later.

Imported sources are looked at once

Before content from your website appears, the hub team reviews it once. That usually takes a day or two. You do not have to do anything else — the final step tells you honestly what is still being checked.

Step 3: Publishing on locali yourself

You can write posts and dates directly in locali, without a website of your own. For many clubs and village councils this is the actual way in.

Before you switch it on, the assistant shows you the rules that then apply, and you confirm them once. What you publish appears under your organisation's name.

If the step is not offered to you, it says why: either your organisation is not publicly visible yet, or the hub team has withdrawn publishing from you. In that case only a conversation with the team helps — the assistant does not pretend you could change it yourself.

Step 4: Your details

This is what people search for most often, in this order:

  1. Address and position on the map
  2. Phone and email
  3. Opening hours
  4. What you offer
  5. Emergency or holiday note
  6. About your organisation
  7. Categories

Each row shows what is already there and opens the same form as the management area for changes. Nothing exists twice here.

\"Does not apply to us\" is a complete answer

A club with no opening hours, an initiative with no phone: rather than inventing something, switch the item to Does not apply to us. It then counts as done and you are never asked about it again.

Step 5: Areas and topics

This step only exists if you publish yourself. Here you decide where your posts and dates should show up — in which district, under which topics. You can change it at any time.

Step 6: Done

Finally, three lists say what your setup means:

  • Publicly visible now — what residents can see this second.
  • Still being checked — imported sources and, at the beginning, your first own posts.
  • Deliberately left open — everything you skipped or marked as not applicable.

Plus a link to your public page and one next step: write your first post if you publish, otherwise view your page.

Common questions

Do I have to fill in everything? No. Mark what does not apply to you — that counts as answered.

Can I change individual details later in peace? Yes, at any time, in the management area. The assistant is a convenient path through the same forms, not a separate place.

We have no website. Is that a problem? No. Step 3 is made for exactly that case.

Who can see what we marked as "does not apply"? Only you. From the outside the item is simply absent from your page.