Allow both group and individual bulk invites/RSVPs for all event attendance types

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nathank proposes a feature enhancement for the Calendar & Events plugin to decouple the Attendance type setting from the invite method. Currently, public events only allow individual invites, while invite-only events restrict invitations to groups, limiting flexibility in real-world scenarios.

The post outlines several use cases where this limitation is problematic, such as bulk-notifying specific groups for public events or adding individual exceptions to invite-only workshops. The proposed change allows organizers to select both groups and individual usernames regardless of whether an event is public or invite-only. Under this system, attendance type would continue to determine who can discover and self-RSVP to an event, but it would no longer restrict whom an organizer can proactively invite.

Additional details include:

  • For public events, group invites would function as notifications rather than access gates.
  • For invite-only events, individual exceptions could bypass group-membership requirements.
  • The CSV bulk-upload path should support a group-name column alongside usernames.

This request aims to improve event management by allowing mixed audiences and more granular control over notifications and RSVPs.

1

Problem

The Calendar & Events plugin currently ties the Attendance type setting to a single invite method:

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  • Public events → only individual users can be notified/bulk-invited (no group selection)
  • Invite-only events → only groups can be selected as invitees (no individual user selection)

I find this abstraction unhelpful in practice because many real-world scenarios require a combination of groups and individuals.

Use cases where the current limitation hurts

  1. Public event, targeted group invitation — A community-wide meetup is public (anyone can RSVP), but you want to bulk-notify a specific group (e.g., event-organizers, local-chapter-leaders) to ensure key members don’t miss the announcement.

  2. Invite-only event, individual exceptions — A private workshop is gated to a group, but you need to individually invite one or two guests who aren’t yet members of that group (e.g., a speaker, a board observer).

  3. Mixed audiences — An event is open to the general public, but you also want to ensure that an entire group is notified and the group members appear on the invite list and sync’d calendar without each person having to find the event organically.

  4. Manual RSVPs — As human beings are human, some RSVPs inevitably flow in ‘off-piste’ - maybe in a reply to the OP, a PM / DM, or an email. The existing “Bulk invite” dropdown (post-creation) is very useful for managing this for individuals in public events, but doesn’t support adding RSVPs for members of a whole group to a public event, nor individual members of groups (or individuals per se) to a private event.

Proposed change

Decouple who can be invited from attendance type:

Attendance type Invitable Current Proposed
Public Individuals :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:
Public Groups :cross_mark: :white_check_mark:
Invite-only Individuals :cross_mark: :white_check_mark: (per-user exceptions)
Invite-only Groups :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:

In the Create/Edit Event modal and the post-creation Bulk invite action, allow selecting both groups and individual usernames regardless of whether the event is public or invite-only. The attendance type would continue to govern who can discover and self-RSVP, but not restrict who an organiser can proactively invite.

Additional notes

  • For public events, group invites would act as notifications (the event remains open to all), not as access gates.
  • For invite-only events, individual exceptions could optionally be flagged so they bypass the group-membership requirement for RSVP.
  • The existing CSV bulk-upload path should also accept a group-name column alongside usernames.

Related existing discussion