# How do I add users to a group?
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-do-i-add-users-to-a-group/143536
**Category:** Support
**Created:** [6 maart 2020 om 17:19 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-do-i-add-users-to-a-group/143536 "2020-03-06T17:19:15Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@CedODM](https://meta.discourse.org/u/CedODM)
#### Post date: [6 maart 2020 om 17:19 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-do-i-add-users-to-a-group/143536/1 "2020-03-06T17:19:15Z")
Hi,
I have created a public forum.
I would like now to create categories only open to people who will have subscribed to one for my training courses.
I read the best way to do it is to create a group and allow this group on a Category.
But how can the users subscribe to this group?
Can I automatically send them a link, a password, an invitation?
Thanks.
Ced.
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### Author:  [@ondrej](https://meta.discourse.org/u/ondrej)
#### Post date: [6 maart 2020 om 18:05 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-do-i-add-users-to-a-group/143536/2 "2020-03-06T18:05:01Z")
Hello on the group press this:
`Add Members`
* * *
In addition regarding
> [@CedODM](#):
>
> But how can the users subscribe to this group?
> Can I automatically send them a link, a password, an invitation?
there are may settings for this you can play around with:
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### Author:  [@Thomas\_G](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Thomas_G)
#### Post date: [6 maart 2020 om 18:06 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-do-i-add-users-to-a-group/143536/3 "2020-03-06T18:06:38Z")
Welcome to the official discourse community!
What you are trying to do is allowing a specific group to `see/create/reply` in a specific category.
> [@CedODM](#):
>
> But how can the users subscribe to this group?
> Can I automatically send them a link, a password, an invitation?
Fortunately for you, there are many options for groups. When you create a group, you can go to the settings and edit it to be **public** , **private** , or **join by request**. If you select the third option, a message will be sent to the owner(s) of the group and they will choose whether to allow the user to join the group or reject the application. If you want to have a group, where anyone can join, you just select the second option.
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### Author:  [@simon](https://meta.discourse.org/u/simon)
#### Post date: [6 maart 2020 om 19:12 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-do-i-add-users-to-a-group/143536/4 "2020-03-06T19:12:25Z")
> [@CedODM](#):
>
> But how can the users subscribe to this group?
[Configuring group access, membership, and visibility](https://meta.discourse.org/t/configure-custom-group-access-and-visibility/138296) gives details about setting up a group so that users can access it. (That topic needs to be renamed and/or linked to other #howto topics so that it is more easily searchable.)
> [@CedODM](#):
>
> Can I automatically send them a link, a password, an invitation?
Site admins and group owners can invite users to Discourse and include a list of group names in the invite. Users will be automatically added to the groups when they accept the invitation. This topic gives more details: [Configuring how users can create and send invites for others to join your community](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-to-send-configure-and-accept-discourse-invitation-emails/124096).
Another way to add users to a group is to use the [Data Explorer plugin](https://meta.discourse.org/t/data-explorer-plugin/32566) to write a query that returns a list of usernames or email addresses of users who should be added to a group. The results of the query can be copied into the group’s Bulk Add to Group form.
Users can also be added to groups through the Discourse API.
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### Author:  [@CedODM](https://meta.discourse.org/u/CedODM)
#### Post date: [7 maart 2020 om 07:15 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-do-i-add-users-to-a-group/143536/5 "2020-03-07T07:15:42Z")
Is there any Zapier integration?
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### Author:  [@pfaffman](https://meta.discourse.org/u/pfaffman)
#### Post date: [7 maart 2020 om 12:29 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-do-i-add-users-to-a-group/143536/6 "2020-03-07T12:29:14Z")
There is a search feature. Adding #howto to the words often helps.
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### Author:  [@CedODM](https://meta.discourse.org/u/CedODM)
#### Post date: [8 maart 2020 om 17:59 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-do-i-add-users-to-a-group/143536/7 "2020-03-08T17:59:02Z")
I see that I can create a link to allow people to join the group but this link is not generic, it is specific to an email address or user.
Is there anyway to create a link for the group that would work for anyone I would send the email to?
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### Author:  [@asirota](https://meta.discourse.org/u/asirota)
#### Post date: [7 januari 2022 om 17:51 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-do-i-add-users-to-a-group/143536/8 "2022-01-07T17:51:18Z")
I am an admin of my discourse at [talk.newpathconsulting.com](http://talk.newpathconsulting.com). When I look at a group I created a while back “staff” I cannot add members or change any settings related to who can join. When I create a new group I can set these settings.
What could be wrong? Here’s my group admin UI – ‘add members’ is missing…
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### Author:  [@JammyDodger](https://meta.discourse.org/u/JammyDodger)
#### Post date: [7 januari 2022 om 17:58 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-do-i-add-users-to-a-group/143536/9 "2022-01-07T17:58:53Z")
‘Staff’ is an automatic group for admins and mods. Are you sure you created your one, or did you repurpose the existing one? It may be that the one you created is now treated the same as the non-customisable version.
Can you create a new one instead?
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### Author:  [@asirota](https://meta.discourse.org/u/asirota)
#### Post date: [7 januari 2022 om 18:02 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-do-i-add-users-to-a-group/143536/10 "2022-01-07T18:02:32Z")
Maybe I used the existing one. It’s been so long — I’ll try to make a new one instead that includes our team staff.
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### Author:  [@pfaffman](https://meta.discourse.org/u/pfaffman)
#### Post date: [7 januari 2022 om 18:04 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-do-i-add-users-to-a-group/143536/11 "2022-01-07T18:04:43Z")
You could also make those members moderators or admins and then they’d appear in that group.
But you might rather make a new group that’s just for your staff (maybe you don’t want all of your staff to be a Discourse “staff” member as a moderator or admin).
You could also configure the group so that people with an email address from your organization were automatically added to the group