How to Create Discord Onboarding Channels With Guided Tour Flow

New members often feel lost when they join a busy Discord server. They do not know which channels to read or where to introduce themselves. Discord’s Onboarding feature solves this by guiding newcomers through a structured tour. This article explains how to create onboarding channels with a guided tour flow using the built-in server onboarding tools. You will learn the exact steps to set up custom channel prompts and resource links that appear when a member first joins.

What Are Discord Onboarding Channels and the Guided Tour Flow

Discord Onboarding is a feature available to servers with the Community enabled. It replaces the old welcome screen and gives server administrators more control over the first experience of new members. The guided tour flow is a sequence of channel prompts and resource links that appear when someone joins the server for the first time.

When a new member clicks Accept Invite, they see a series of cards. Each card asks them to visit a specific channel or complete an action. For example, a card might say “Check out #rules” with a button that opens that channel. After the member completes all prompts, the tour ends and the member can browse the server normally.

The guided tour flow uses two main components: channel prompts and resource channels. Channel prompts are mandatory or optional steps that appear as cards. Resource channels are channels marked as helpful that appear in a list below the prompts. Members can click resource channels anytime during or after the tour.

Prerequisites for Using Onboarding

Before you start, your server must meet these requirements:

• The server must have Community enabled. Go to Server Settings > Enable Community and follow the steps.
• You must have the Manage Server permission.
• You need at least one text channel and one voice channel in the server.
• The server should have a rules or guidelines channel, though this is not strictly required.

Steps to Create Onboarding Channels With a Guided Tour

Follow these steps to set up the guided tour flow for your server. The process takes about 10 minutes.

1. Open Server Settings and Enable Onboarding
   Open Discord and navigate to your server. Click the server name at the top left and select Server Settings. In the left sidebar, click Onboarding. Click the Start Onboarding button. A setup wizard appears.
2. Choose Onboarding Mode: Guided Tour
   In the Onboarding mode section, select Guided Tour. This shows channel prompts as cards. The other option, Casual, shows a simple welcome screen without prompts. Click Next.
3. Add Channel Prompts
   Click Add a Prompt. In the dialog that opens, type a title for the prompt. For example, “Read the Rules.” Below the title, select a channel from the dropdown. This is the channel the prompt will direct members to. You can make the prompt Required or Optional. Required prompts force the member to open the channel before continuing. Click Save. Repeat this step to add more prompts. Common prompts include #rules, #roles, and #introductions.
4. Set Prompt Order
   After adding prompts, drag and drop them to reorder. The first prompt appears first in the tour. Place your most important channel first. For example, put #rules before #roles.
5. Mark Resource Channels
   Scroll down to the Resource Channels section. Click Add Resource Channel. Select channels that new members might find useful but that are not part of the mandatory tour. Examples: #announcements, #support, and #general. Resource channels appear as a list below the prompts. Members can click them anytime.
6. Customize the Welcome Message
   In the Welcome Message section, type a short message that appears at the top of the onboarding screen. Keep it under 200 characters. Example: “Welcome to our server. Please complete the steps below to get started.”
7. Set Default Channel for New Members
   Under Default Channel, select the channel that members see after they finish the tour. Common choices are #general or #welcome. This channel becomes the default channel for all new members until they change it.
8. Enable or Disable Server Guide
   Toggle the Server Guide switch on or off. When on, a Server Guide button appears in the channel list. Clicking it reopens the onboarding screen for any member. This is useful for returning members who want to find channels again.
9. Review and Save
   Click the Review button at the bottom. Discord shows a preview of what new members will see. Check all prompts and resource channels. If everything looks correct, click Save Changes. The onboarding flow is now live.

Common Mistakes and Limitations When Setting Up Onboarding

Prompts Do Not Appear for New Members

If new members see a blank welcome screen instead of prompts, check that Guided Tour is selected in Onboarding settings. Also verify that you have at least one prompt added. The server must have Community enabled and the onboarding wizard must be saved.

Members Cannot Finish the Tour

If a member gets stuck and cannot click Continue, they may have a required prompt that fails to load. Ask the member to reload Discord by pressing Ctrl+R on Windows or Cmd+R on Mac. If the issue persists, remove the problematic prompt and add it again.

Resource Channels Do Not Show Correctly

Resource channels only appear if they are text channels. Voice channels and forum channels cannot be added as resource channels. Also, the member must have permission to view the channel. If a channel is hidden from a role, it will not show up in the resource list for that role.

Onboarding Does Not Work With Server Templates

If you created the server from a template, onboarding might not be enabled by default. You must manually go to Server Settings > Onboarding and start the setup. Templates do not carry over onboarding configuration.

Members Can Skip Optional Prompts Permanently

Optional prompts show a Skip button. Once skipped, the prompt is gone and the member cannot return to it unless the Server Guide is enabled. If you want members to always see a prompt, mark it as Required.

Onboarding Channel Types: Prompt vs Resource vs Default

Item	Prompt Channel	Resource Channel	Default Channel
Purpose	Directs members to a specific channel as part of the tour	Lists helpful channels that members can browse anytime	Sets the first channel members see after finishing the tour
Visibility	Appears as a card in the onboarding flow	Appears as a list below the prompts	Shown in the channel list after onboarding ends
Required or Optional	Can be set to Required or Optional	Always optional	Always set by the admin
Maximum Count	Up to 10 prompts	Up to 20 resource channels	Only 1 default channel

Use prompts for channels that every member must see, such as rules and roles. Use resource channels for channels that are useful but not mandatory, like announcements or support. The default channel should be a general discussion channel where members can start chatting immediately.

After setting up the onboarding flow, test it by using a Discord account that has not joined the server before. Send that account an invite link and observe the tour from the member’s perspective. Make adjustments to the prompts and resource channels based on what you see. The guided tour flow reduces confusion for new members and helps them find the right channels from the start.