The discussion centers on a feature request to restrict private messaging (PMs) based on group memberships, addressing privacy concerns and the difficulty of finding the correct user among similar usernames. Valya_Barboy initiates the thread by explaining that while @mentions provide warnings for users without access, PMs do not, leading to messages being sent to the wrong people. They propose limiting PMs to staff and users within the same groups. HAWK confirms this is not currently possible in core Discourse, noting that while private groups exist, they do not restrict PM visibility. jomaxro clarifies that limiting PMs to group members is not on the roadmap, though groups can be made private so only members know who is inside. Valya_Barboy adds that their groups are already private, but the PM restriction is still needed, and suggests increasing the user dropdown limit. jerry0 supports the idea, suggesting restrictions based on Primary Groups. A practical solution is provided by kinetiksoft, who highlights an open-source plugin, discourse-restrict-pms-to-group, developed by Michael from Communiteq. The plugin successfully restricts PMs to specific groups and has been stable for years. JammyDodger acknowledges the plugin and keeps the feature request open for core implementation, referencing potential UI updates for group settings. tobiaseigen agrees that such a feature is an obvious candidate for future updates, noting its utility for managing premium support channels, and confirms the plugin works well for their needs.
We’re using groups and categories to restrict what users can see/which forums they can participate in. This is mostly for privacy reasons/so that people aren’t inundated with topics that do not apply to them.
However, we’ve noticed that when you @mention people, or when you private message them, you can actually tag (or reach out to) any user on the platform. With the @mention, you get a warning saying that you’re mentioning someone who doesn’t have access, which is super helpful. However, for private messages, it’s very hard to find the correct person to reach out to. Often people have very similar names/usernames, and we’ve had problems of people messaging the wrong person without realizing it.
We were wondering if you have a solution for this use case. Our idea was to restrict who you can PM, allowing only staff + people in the same groups as you. Is this possible? Is there a different/better work around?
We’ve had a few requests lately to make groups ‘private’ so that only group members know who is in the group. I think that would make a lot of sense for several use cases.
Your request for limiting PMs to group members would be a natural extension of that. I’m not sure if we’ve actually road mapped this though. @jomaxro can you remember?
I don’t believe limiting PMs to group members is on the road map at this time. Groups can be private though, simply set Who can see this group? to Group owners, members and admins.
Yeah, I’ve mixed things up a bit here with my words. Sorry about that.
The request I’m thinking of is to make a group visible so that people know it exists, but to hide who is in it.
For clarification, on our end, we already restrict who can see the group, by using precisely the setting that Joshua mentioned. I don’t think we care about people seeing who is in the group (since we only show groups to members/admins). But it would be vastly helpful to be able to restrict who you can message based on group memberships, because we’ve had a number of messages sent to the wrong person.
Another thing that would help here is being able to have more than 6 people show up in the dropdown so that people can scroll down and find the correct user. Dunno if that’s closer on the roadmap.
Yes, I can’t believe we didn’t include this back then! I don’t recall the reason why, but it’s an obvious candidate for an upgrade to the New Way™.
I am counting on this to allow Premium members of my site to access support PM system, similar to the one used here for hosted customers but locked down. There is only one of me and I need to keep down the noise!
For now I am relieved to have the plugin option. I’ve tested it and it works!
and released as 
