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Go to
example.com/groups/custom/newand create a new group (eg. “testing”) -
Go to the categories page (
example.com/categories) and add the group to the security settings of the category you want your group to watch (eg. “Test Category”). Be sure to remove the groupeveryoneif this is a new category._More info about groups and categories: https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-to-use-category-security-settings-to-control-access-to-content/87678._
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Go to your site settings (
example.com/admin/site_settings) and add “Test Category” indefault categories watching
New members entering the “testing” group from now on will begin to receive notifications for each topic and each post in the Test Category. At the same time they will also be able to receive email notifications only if they are NOT active on the site (by default). The email is always sent only if users modify their email preferences to indicate they want emails even when they are also active on the website.
If the user is already present on the site instead, sending the email will be automatically skipped. See also the site setting max emails per day per user, which is 100 by default.
Users will be able to see (and modify) which categories are among the Watched Categories via their preferences:
An admin now can force this user preference for all users.
Note that only those belonging to the “testing” group will receive notifications, as Test Category will be visible only to them. For the same reason admins will see the private category added among the Watched Categories in the profiles of users who do not have access to this category. The category will be invisible to users who do not belong to the “testing” group. To verify this, simply log in as a new user.