--- title: "Audience rules" slug: "audience-rules" tags: ["Totara Platform", "Explainer", "Site Administrator"] updated: 2026-08-13T16:01:10Z published: 2026-08-13T16:01:10Z canonical: "totara.help/audience-rules" --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://totara.help/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Audience rules When [creating dynamic audiences](/totara-20/docs/create-a-dynamic-audience) you can use audience rules to determine which users are added to (and removed from) your audience. On the **Rules** tab you can configure rules, which define the membership of the audience. Rules are set up in groups called rule sets. A rule set can have multiple rules, and you can include multiple rule sets for each audience. ## Membership logic The **Membership logic** setting controls how audience rule sets are evaluated when determining membership. It defines the conditions under which a user is considered to meet the audience's rule-based criteria. This setting appears alongside the membership update type (e.g. **Add**, **Remove**, **Update**), allowing you to define how and when rule-based membership changes occur. ### Membership update options You can configure how membership is managed for a rule-based audience. Each option controls how Totara updates membership based on defined rules when each cron runs: | Membership option type | Description | | --- | --- | | Update membership | Adds or removes members to match the current rule conditions. This ensures the audience always reflects the latest rules. | | Add members only | Adds new members who match the rules, but does not remove existing members, even if they no longer meet the specified conditions. | | Remove members only | Removes members who no longer meet the rule conditions, but does not add any new members to the audience. | | Pause rule-based membership updates | Freezes all rule-based updates. No members will be added or removed, even if their eligibility changes. This can be used to temporarily lock the audience. | ### Rule set logic: how rules are combined When multiple rule sets are defined for an audience, the rule set logic setting determines how they are evaluated together. This setting affects whether users must meet all rule sets or just one to qualify for membership. | Option | Description | Example | | --- | --- | --- | | All rule sets are met | A user must meet every rule set to be included in the audience. This creates narrower, more specific audiences. | - **Rule set 1** = User's department is equal to "Sales", and - **Rule Set 2** = The title of any of the user's job assignments contains "Manager" Only users with the ‘Manager’ job assignment from the ‘Sales’ department are included. | | Any rule set is met | A user will be included if they meet at least one of the defined rule sets. This creates a broader audience. | - **Rule set 1** = User's department is equal to "Sales", or - **Rule set 2** = The title of any of the user's job assignments contains "Manager" All those with the job assignments containing ‘Manager’ on the system, and those from the ‘Sales’ department will all be included. | ## Editing membership logic To edit membership logic, follow these steps: 1. Select the **Rules** tab. 2. Click on the pencil icon (![](https://cdn.document360.io/a007399b-031e-436b-999a-528240e16f58/Images/Documentation/image-6ZYJ8AID.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-05T08%3A34%3A12Z&se=2026-11-05T09%3A34%3A12Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=BzWCwZv8i4Er%2BsB5JzZkZHwjnPZweQyMpGY9PknyAmI%3D)) under **Membership logic**. 3. From the dropdown, choose the membership type, i.e. **Add members only**. 4. Select the rule set logic from the dropdown, i.e. **All rule sets are met**. 5. Preview potential audience membership changes by clicking **Preview** from the **Pending audience changes** pop-up ![Pending audience changes banner with confirmation options and membership logic settings displayed.](https://cdn.document360.io/a007399b-031e-436b-999a-528240e16f58/Images/Documentation/image-MIKLH39M.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-05T08%3A34%3A12Z&se=2026-11-05T09%3A34%3A12Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=BzWCwZv8i4Er%2BsB5JzZkZHwjnPZweQyMpGY9PknyAmI%3D) This will generate a preview of a paginated table of the audience changes, showing users who will be added and removed. Select the cross icon (![](https://cdn.document360.io/a007399b-031e-436b-999a-528240e16f58/Images/Documentation/image-1OQWG4VC.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-05T08%3A34%3A12Z&se=2026-11-05T09%3A34%3A12Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=BzWCwZv8i4Er%2BsB5JzZkZHwjnPZweQyMpGY9PknyAmI%3D)) to close the preview. > When a rule change has been made after a preview table is generated, when you select **Preview** again, the **Preview members changes** panel needs to be refreshed by clicking **Regenerate**, otherwise, the table displays the previous preview result. > > Generating the preview may take a few minutes depending on the audience size and rules. ![Preview membership changes panel showing estimated audience size and unchanged members list.](https://cdn.document360.io/a007399b-031e-436b-999a-528240e16f58/Images/Documentation/image-6D4ALWMG.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-05T08%3A34%3A12Z&se=2026-11-05T09%3A34%3A12Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=BzWCwZv8i4Er%2BsB5JzZkZHwjnPZweQyMpGY9PknyAmI%3D) 6. Click **Confirm** to save your changes, or **Cancel** (all unsaved/unconfirmed rule changes will be reset). > [!NOTE] > Each rule set has its own separate logical operator to indicate the relationship between the rules within that rule set. ## Next steps - [Add an audience rule set](/totara-20/docs/add-an-audience-rule-set) - [Available audience rules](/totara-20/docs/available-audience-rule-sets) - [Edit a dynamic audience](/totara-20/docs/edit-a-dynamic-audience) ![Course badge](https://cdn.document360.io/a007399b-031e-436b-999a-528240e16f58/Images/Documentation/course-badge_audiences.svg?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-05T08%3A34%3A12Z&se=2026-11-05T09%3A34%3A12Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=BzWCwZv8i4Er%2BsB5JzZkZHwjnPZweQyMpGY9PknyAmI%3D)Why not visit the Totara Academy for our latest course on [Audiences](https://totara.community/mod/page/view.php?id=24689) in Totara. Here you can learn more on how to use audiences, see best practice, and give it a go yourself. Join the [Totara Community](https://totara.community/) for more resources to help you get the most out of Totara. © Copyright 2026 Totara Learning Solutions. All rights reserved. ##