Managing Tribes
Closing or removing a tribe
What Delete Tribe really does, how to bring one back, and what genuinely cannot be undone.
Last updated October 14, 2026
Tribes close, franchisees leave, sites get consolidated. Gorilla Dash handles all of it by changing the status rather than destroying anything.
Delete Tribe is not a delete
DELETE TRIBE ONLY CHANGES THE STATUS
Delete Tribe sets the status to Deleted and nothing else — no data is removed, and the tribe can be brought back at any time. The confirmation names the tribe and says so. Choosing Deleted in the Status list and saving does the same thing, and asks the same question first.
Everything belonging to that tribe survives: its customers, enquiries, sales, calls, reviews, orders and history. It simply stops billing, drops off your website and chatbot, stops receiving campaigns, stops syncing reviews, and disappears from search.
Delete Tribe is on the tribe's Tribe Settings page, which organisation users with the Manage Organisation Tribe permission can open. A tribe's own administrators cannot delete their tribe, whatever permissions they hold.
Bringing one back
- On the tribe list, tick Show Deleted.
- Open the tribe and go to its Tribe Settings.
- Set the Status back to Active, or Testing if it is not trading yet.
- Check its website connections and opening hours before it goes live again.
Choosing the right status
| Situation | Use |
|---|---|
| Closed for a refit, reopening later | Paused |
| Franchisee gone, site may be resold | Paused |
| Closed for good | Deleted |
| Being set up, not trading yet | Testing |
| Built and advertised, opening shortly | Opening Soon — note this bills |
Before you close one
- Decide what happens to its customers — they stay attached to it, so consider moving them to the tribe that will look after them.
- Check whether it has memberships still billing. Once the tribe is Paused or Deleted, Gorilla Dash stops charging its members' saved cards automatically, but any charges already on a member's account stay there until you remove them, and they will be collected if the tribe is set back to Active.
- On the tribe's Memberships dashboard, turn off Collect membership payments. This stops its membership charges whatever its status, so they stay off even if the tribe is later set back to Active.
- Open its Tribe Store Settings and set Main Store Payment Settings to Disabled. This stops online payments to the tribe's main store; it does not affect memberships. A branded store the tribe runs has its own payment setting, so disable that on the branded store's settings as well.
- Point its web address somewhere sensible if the page was advertised.
- Remove its team members' access if they are leaving too.
What is genuinely irreversible
THESE CANNOT BE UNDONE — UNLIKE DELETING A TRIBE
Deleting a tribe type destroys every tribe's website content built from it. Deleting a tribe group takes all its sub-groups. Removing a region from the list deletes it and its links. Resetting field settings clears every access level and hint you configured.