Hunter LandcareGuide

Set up a Facebook Page your group won't lose

A step-by-step guide for Landcare committees · yours to keep and print

HUNTER LANDCARE · 2 JUNE 2026 · HOW-TO GUIDE · v1.0

First, the three things that get muddled

Facebook has three different things that sound similar. Getting them straight now saves a lot of confusion later.

Diagram. A Page (your public noticeboard) and a Group (your members' room) both sit on top of a personal profile, which is a real person. Every Page and every Group needs a personal profile behind it.
A Page and a Group are different tools, but both sit on a personal profile. That profile is the key, which is exactly why the group needs one it controls.

Profile, Page, Group — what's the difference?

Read these three before you start. They are not the same thing.

A personal profile

This is a single human being on Facebook. It has friends, it has a name, it is meant to be one real person. You almost certainly already have one. Every Page and every Group has to sit behind a personal profile, because Facebook needs a human to be "in charge".

Think of it as the key that unlocks everything else.

A Page

This is the public face of your group. It is what people find when they search for your Landcare group. It can be "liked" and "followed", it can post photos and events, and it does not need people to "join" it. This is the thing you are setting up in this guide.

Think of it as your group's noticeboard and shopfront.

A Group

This is a members' space where people join and have conversations with each other. Good for chatting among volunteers, organising working bees, and asking questions. People have to request to join. It is a different tool from a Page, and this guide does not cover it.

Think of it as your group's private meeting room. Many Landcare groups have a Page for the public and, later, a Group for members. Start with the Page.

The fix: a "caretaker" profile owned by the group

Instead of building your Page behind one person's private Facebook account, you make one extra profile that belongs to the group. It is built on a shared group email address (not a personal one), and only one or two trusted people hold its login. That caretaker profile owns the Page. Everyone else helps run the Page from their own normal Facebook account.

Here is the whole structure at a glance.

Flow diagram. A shared group email creates a caretaker profile. The caretaker profile owns the Facebook Page. The Page is run by committee members who are each added as admins from their own accounts. When the committee changes, you add or remove admins and the Page stays with the group.
The group email and caretaker profile stay put, so the Page is never tied to one volunteer. When someone joins you add their account as an admin; when someone leaves you remove their access, and the Page carries on.

Stage A — Set up the group email and caretaker profile

  1. Step 1

    Create a group email (skip if you already have one)

    Go to gmail.com and click Create account, then For my personal use. Use your group's name, for example yourgroupname.landcare@gmail.com. Write the email and its password on your committee's password sheet.

    Expected result: you can log in to the new mailbox at gmail.com.

  2. Step 2

    Start a new Facebook profile for the group

    Open a private/incognito browser window so you do not get mixed up with your own Facebook. (In Chrome: the three dots, top right, then New Incognito window.) Go to facebook.com and click Create new account.

    Expected result: a sign-up form asking for a name, email, password, date of birth.

  3. Step 3

    Fill in the caretaker profile details

    For the name, use something that reads like a real person looking after the group, for example first name your group's short name and surname Landcare. Use the group email from Step 1. Set a strong password and write it down. Pick a date of birth (a real adult date is fine). Finish creating the account.

    Expected result: you are logged in as the new profile and Facebook shows a mostly empty home feed.

  4. Step 4

    Confirm the email and add a phone number

    Open the group Gmail in another tab, find the email from Facebook, and click the confirm button. Back in Facebook, go to Settings & privacy, then Settings, then Security and login, and add the group's mobile number. This protects the account if it ever gets locked.

    Expected result: the email shows as confirmed and a phone number is saved against the profile.

Stage B — Create the Page

  1. Step 5

    Open the "create a Page" screen

    Still logged in as the caretaker profile, go to facebook.com/pages/create in the address bar. (Or click the Menu button, the nine dots or "Menu", find Pages, then Create new Page.)

    Expected result: a screen with a "Page name" box on the left and a live preview on the right.

  2. Step 6

    Name the Page and pick a category

    In Page name, type your group's full public name, e.g. Smithtown Landcare Group. In Category, start typing "environment" and choose Environmental Conservation Organization (or the closest fit). Add your short description in the Bio box.

    Expected result: the preview on the right updates with your group's name.

  3. Step 7

    Create it, then add your photos

    Click Create Page. On the next screen, add your profile picture (your logo) and a cover photo (a wide landscape shot). Click Save.

    Expected result: your Page appears with your logo and banner in place.

  4. Step 8

    Add your contact details and a first post

    Use Edit Page info to add your group's email, website, and area. Then write a short first post saying hello, so the Page does not look empty when people arrive.

    Expected result: a public Page with a logo, banner, description, and one post. You can search for it on Facebook.

Stage C — Add your committee as admins

This is the part that keeps the group in control. Each committee member is added from their own Facebook account, so they never share the caretaker login.

Diagram. The Facebook Page sits in the centre, with committee members around it, each running the Page as an admin from their own account. The caretaker profile at the top owns the Page and holds the login, which only one or two trusted people have.
Everyone runs the Page as an admin from their own account. Only the caretaker holds the login, so the Page is never tied to one person.
  1. Step 9

    Open the Page's access settings

    On the Page, click Settings (you may need Manage first), then look for Page access (sometimes under "New Pages experience").

    Expected result: a screen showing "People with Facebook access" and "People with task access".

  2. Step 10

    Add a committee member

    Under People with Facebook access, click Add New. Type the committee member's name or email, choose them, and confirm. For one or two most-trusted people, turn on the toggle that lets them "manage Page access" (full admin). For everyone else, leave it off (they can post and reply, but not add or remove people).

    Expected result: their name appears in the access list as "Pending" until they accept.

  3. Step 11

    They accept, and they're in

    The person gets a notification on their own Facebook and clicks accept. From then on they can switch into the Page and post as the group, all from their normal account. Repeat Step 10 for each committee member.

    Expected result: every committee member shows as active in the access list.

When the committee changes

Easy

A new committee member joins

They want to help post and reply on the Page.

Do: a current admin repeats Step 10 to add their personal account. Two minutes, no login sharing.
Easy

A committee member steps down

They should no longer be able to post as the group.

Do: open Page access, find their name, click the three dots, choose Remove. The Page is unaffected.
Handover

The person holding the caretaker login leaves

The group needs the master login passed on.

Do: before they go, update the password, save it to the committee password sheet, and hand it to the next caretaker. Confirm the recovery email and phone still belong to the group.
Tip

Always keep two full admins

If the only full admin is unreachable, no one can add or remove people.

Do: make sure at least two trusted people have full ("manage Page access") admin rights at all times.

Common mistakes

Common

Building the Page behind your own profile

When you leave the committee, the Page leaves with you. This is the exact problem the guide prevents.

Fix: always create the Page while logged in as the caretaker profile, not your personal one.
Common

Sharing the caretaker password around

More logins means more chance the account gets locked, and harder to control who has access.

Fix: committee members run the Page as admins from their own accounts. Only one or two hold the caretaker login.
Common

Using a personal email for the caretaker

If that person leaves, the group cannot reset the password and can be locked out.

Fix: always use a shared group email the committee controls.
Common

Forgetting the recovery phone and email

If Facebook asks to verify the account, you cannot get back in.

Fix: add both straight after creating the profile (Step 4), and keep them current.

What these words mean

Plain English for the Facebook terms used above.

Caretaker profile

The personal Facebook profile you make to stand in for the group. It owns the Page so no single committee member does.

Admin (administrator)

Someone allowed to run the Page: post, reply to messages, and so on. There are two levels, full access (can also add and remove people) and partial access (can post but not change who has access).

Facebook access vs task access

In the newer Page settings, "Facebook access" means full or near-full control of the Page; "task access" is for narrower jobs like just replying to messages. Most committee members want Facebook access.

Incognito / private window

A fresh browser window that ignores who is already logged in. Handy so the caretaker profile does not get tangled up with your own Facebook account.

Recovery email and phone

The backup contact details Facebook uses to confirm it is really you if the account gets locked. For the caretaker profile these must belong to the group, not a person.

Tear-off checklist