Discord Integration
Let your server's members vote with extra weight per role, and keep the board members-only
Connect your Discord server to FeatureVote and your members can log in with Discord on your public board. Their votes carry the weight you give their roles, and you can close the board so only members take part. The integration is part of every plan — plan limits apply to the board itself, not to Discord.
Because Discord roles are where many communities already mirror supporter status — from Patreon, Ko-fi, YouTube memberships, or a community bot — weighting votes by role works with whatever platform runs your memberships, without a separate integration for each.
What You'll Get
- Weighted votes — a vote from a member with a weighted role counts for more. You set the multiplier per role, from ×1 to ×100. A member holding several roles counts at the highest weight.
- Members only — an optional gate. When it's on, only members of your server can vote, suggest features and comment.
- Verified identity — members log in through Discord, so a request or comment on a gated board carries their Discord name instead of "Anonymous".
- Non-members hidden or visible — let anyone read the board, or show it only to members.
Connect Your Server
1. Connect Discord
- Go to Settings → Integrations
- Click Connect Discord
- Pick your server and authorize FeatureVote on Discord
Adding the bot requires the Manage Server permission on that server, so log in to Discord as an account that has it. The bot joins with no permissions at all — it reads your server's name, icon, and role list, and nothing else. It cannot read messages, post, or moderate anything.
When it works you land back on the Integrations page with a Connected to badge naming your server.
2. Set your vote weights
Your server's roles appear under Vote weights, each with a multiplier box.
Every role starts at ×1 — roles carry no price, so there is no ladder to pre-fill. You say which roles matter by weighting them: set your supporter roles to ×2, ×5, whatever fits, between 1 and 100. @everyone is left out, since every member holds it by definition.
Only roles weighted above ×1 appear on your public board. The rest of your server's role structure is never shown to visitors.
3. Choose who can take part
Three settings sit above the weights:
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Members only | Off by default. When on, only members of your server can vote, suggest and comment. |
| Non-members | Can view the board (default) or Cannot view the board. Only applies while Members only is on. On Cannot view, a non-member sees a lock screen instead of the board. |
| Members without a role | Can take part (default) or Same as non-members. Members with no role vote at ×1. Setting this to Same as non-members turns the gate into a role gate: only members holding a role take part. |
4. Save
Unlike Board setup, this card doesn't save automatically. Make your changes and click Save.
Weight changes apply to members who are already logged in, so you don't have to ask anyone to sign in again. They apply to future votes only — votes already cast keep the weight they were cast at.
What Your Members See
On a board with Members only on, a visitor who isn't signed in gets a Members only panel with a Continue with Discord button. They can still read the board behind it — unless you set Non-members to Cannot view the board, in which case the requests are replaced by a short lock screen and the same login button.
If they click a vote button (or try to suggest or comment) without signing in, a small dialog explains the board is for members and offers the login — nothing happens to their click until they choose. Nobody is sent to Discord just for clicking an arrow.
Once they're signed in, the panel is replaced by one quiet line naming them, their weighted role, and what their vote counts.
A member with no role, on a board set to Same as non-members, gets the same panel with a different line: they're signed in, but the board is open to members with a server role only. Logging in again wouldn't change the answer — only a role in the server does. They can still view the board, even when it's locked to non-members.
A few things worth knowing:
- A Discord login counts for 30 days on a gated board. After that the member logs in again to keep taking part.
- On a gated board, members post under their Discord name and aren't asked for an email. You won't collect submitter email addresses for those requests, because the Discord identity replaces them.
- Your own team can suggest and comment on a gated board without logging in with Discord. Voting has no team exemption — to vote on your own gated board, log in with Discord like anyone else.
- A creator can always open their own board, even when it's hidden from non-members.
- With Members only off, the board works exactly as it did before, and members who linked their account earlier keep voting with their weight. One visible trace remains: a member whose 30-day login has expired still sees a small "log in again" line on their identity chip.
How the Numbers Read
The number on a feature card is points — the sum of the weights behind it. Three ×3 members make 9 points, not 3.
- When points and people differ, the card also says how many voters there are, so 9 shows with a 3 voters caption. On desktop, hovering the caption spells out that votes on the board are weighted.
- A member's own request starts at their own weight — a ×3 member's new suggestion opens at 3 points, the same as their vote anywhere else.
- Most Voted sorts by points, on your public board and in your admin list.
- Vote milestones in Slack still count people. "25 votes" in your Slack channel means 25 voters, not 25 points, so a milestone can arrive later than the board number suggests.
A board with no role weighting reads exactly as it always did.
Keeping Things Fresh
A member's membership and roles are read when they log in on the board. Discord doesn't tell FeatureVote about role changes in between — so a promotion, a lapsed supporter role, or someone leaving your server reaches the board the next time that member logs in. On a board with Members only on, a login counts for 30 days, which puts a ceiling on how stale a gated board can get; with the gate off, a linked member simply keeps their last-read weight until they log in again. Votes already cast keep the weight they were cast at either way.
Two things come from buttons on the Discord card rather than from logins:
- Your own weight edits apply as soon as you save — including to members who are already linked, for their future votes.
- New, renamed or removed server roles arrive when you press Refresh from Discord. Roles that still exist keep your multiplier, new roles come in at ×1, and removed roles drop off the list.
One consequence worth knowing: those two buttons act on already-linked members immediately. If you delete a role in Discord and press Refresh, members who held only that role become roleless right away — on a board where Members without a role is set to Same as non-members, they lose the ability to take part at once, not in 30 days.
Using Discord Alongside Patreon
A board runs on one weight source. If your account is connected to Patreon, the Discord card says so and won't connect until Patreon is disconnected — and the other way around.
If Patreon (or Ko-fi, or a membership bot) already assigns supporter roles in your Discord server, you don't need both: connect Discord and weight those roles. The membership platform keeps the roles current on its side; the board reads them when members log in.
Disconnecting
Click Disconnect on the Discord card.
- Member gating turns off.
- Role weights stop applying to new votes.
- Members' verified links are removed.
- Votes already cast keep their weight.
The FeatureVote bot leaves your server when the last FeatureVote account connected to it disconnects. If Discord refuses the request for any reason, the leftover bot is inert — it holds no permissions — and you can kick it from your server's member list.
Reconnecting to the same server keeps your role weights. Reconnecting to a different server clears every member's link and starts the role list fresh — those people aren't members of the new server, and its roles are different roles. If Members only is on, it stays on, so members of the new server take part once they log in.
Troubleshooting
- "No server was selected." — the Discord screen lets you pick which server to add the bot to, and the connection needs that choice. Try again and pick the server.
- "Could not connect Discord." — something transient went wrong during the handshake. Try again; if it keeps failing, get in touch.
- "That Discord account is not a member of this server." — the visitor logged in with a Discord account that isn't in your server, or their membership is still pending screening.
- "This browser is already signed in as a different Discord account." — one browser holds one member identity. The message offers a way to switch accounts; votes cast under the previous account stay with that account.
- "Your Discord login has expired." — it's been more than 30 days. One click on Continue with Discord fixes it.
- A member got a new role but still votes at the old weight — roles are read at login. They can sign out on the board and log in with Discord again for the new role to be read.
- A new server role isn't listed on the card — press Refresh from Discord.
- Refresh says the bot was removed — someone kicked the bot from your server. Reconnect Discord and pick the same server to bring it back; your weights are kept. Picking a different server on that screen starts over instead (see Disconnecting).
Security & Privacy
- When you connect, FeatureVote reads your Discord identity and your server's role list. The bot that joins holds no permissions — it cannot read messages or post.
- When a member logs in, FeatureVote reads only who they are and their roles in your server — that is the whole authorization they approve.
- FeatureVote never posts to Discord, never reads channels, and never sees anything beyond identity, membership, and roles.
- Nothing a member approves lets FeatureVote act on their Discord account.
- You can disconnect at any time.