# Inviting users to secure topics
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/inviting-users-to-secure-topics/14324
**Category:** Feature
**Created:** [March 31, 2014, 1:21pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/inviting-users-to-secure-topics/14324 "2014-03-31T13:21:25Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@erlend\_sh](https://meta.discourse.org/u/erlend_sh)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2014, 1:21pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/inviting-users-to-secure-topics/14324/1 "2014-03-31T13:21:25Z")
If I invite a user to a private forum only available to a specific group, the invitee will not have access to the thread, even when following the invitation link.
Either this use case should be made possible, or it should not be possible to invite users to threads inside private forums.
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### Author:  [@sam](https://meta.discourse.org/u/sam)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2014, 8:20pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/inviting-users-to-secure-topics/14324/2 "2014-03-31T20:20:51Z")
I would love to support this, but it is far from trivial in some cases. What if the topic is viewable by 2 groups, which group do you add the new user to?
We would have to amend the upfront process.
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### Author:  [@riking](https://meta.discourse.org/u/riking)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2014, 8:31pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/inviting-users-to-secure-topics/14324/3 "2014-03-31T20:31:35Z")
You would also have to make sure that the inviter is allowed to add the user to the group. Perhaps this is a case for group-scoped permissions, but I wouldn’t go down that path yet.
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### Author:  [@erlend\_sh](https://meta.discourse.org/u/erlend_sh)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2014, 9:30pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/inviting-users-to-secure-topics/14324/4 "2014-03-31T21:30:13Z")
I’m gonna continue discussing this feature, but for the record, wouldn’t mind at all if you left this out for later.
Perhaps the easiest way around this would be an alternative invite feature, more akin to that of Google Groups when you “add user directly”. A simple interface to allow admins to bulk-add users to the forum, as well as to any groups of their choice.
Many mailing lists and newsletters have this feature (I’ve found Mailchimp to be an excellent example with its duplicates checks and smart format reader) and I don’t see why it shouldn’t be part of a forum as well. As long as you have users’ permission (as you are [required to by law](http://kb.mailchimp.com/article/what-is-required-to-meet-your-terms-of-use-and-the-can-spam-act/)), it is a highly effective way to kickstart your new community.
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### Author:  [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2014, 12:31am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/inviting-users-to-secure-topics/14324/5 "2014-04-01T00:31:28Z")
> [@erlend\_sh](#):
>
> A simple interface to allow admins to bulk-add users to the forum, as well as to any groups of their choice
This makes sense, like a larger scale invite system. That seems supportable, how much work do you think it would be @eviltrout to adapt? Just a scoping question, not asking for us to do it right now.
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### Author:  [@eviltrout](https://meta.discourse.org/u/eviltrout)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2014, 3:25pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/inviting-users-to-secure-topics/14324/6 "2014-04-01T15:25:11Z")
It probably wouldn’t be too tough to bulk add users in a “stupidest way possible”. If we’re going to allow choosing groups before importing and stuff that’s going to be a little more work obviously, but the 90% useful case is not tough.
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### Author:  [@manojdojo](https://meta.discourse.org/u/manojdojo)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2014, 9:29pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/inviting-users-to-secure-topics/14324/7 "2014-05-12T21:29:22Z")
hey - I’ve been desperately looking for a way to bulk add users! Based on this discussion, it doesnt seem to exist. Is there a way to edit any files outside of the UI to make this possible based on email address or usernames? Thanks…
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### Author:  [@sam](https://meta.discourse.org/u/sam)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2014, 11:32pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/inviting-users-to-secure-topics/14324/8 "2014-05-12T23:32:29Z")
We support this now:
> [@Invite users to a group](https://meta.discourse.org/t/invite-user-to-a-group/15544):
>
> bookmark This guide explains how to invite users to a group in your Discourse community, covering both staff and group owner methods. person_raising_hand Required user level: Administrator or Group Owner Forum staff and group owners can create invites to add new and existing users to groups. This guide will explain: How staff and group owners can send invites to users. Using the Discourse API for user invitations. Sending bulk invitations via CSV upload.information_source It is n…
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### Author:  [@manojdojo](https://meta.discourse.org/u/manojdojo)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2014, 3:53pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/inviting-users-to-secure-topics/14324/9 "2014-05-13T15:53:35Z")
thanks, Sam! you’re pretty stellar at responding fast. much appreciated.
It doesn’t seem like the UI supports “multiple emails” at the same time, or bulk inviting. is that correct?
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### Author:  [@erlend\_sh](https://meta.discourse.org/u/erlend_sh)
#### Post date: [May 15, 2014, 9:13am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/inviting-users-to-secure-topics/14324/10 "2014-05-15T09:13:04Z")
I’m also curious to know more about bulk invites.
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### Author:  [@sam](https://meta.discourse.org/u/sam)
#### Post date: [October 6, 2014, 12:04am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/inviting-users-to-secure-topics/14324/11 "2014-10-06T00:04:47Z")
This is also supported in the bulk invite system 🙂
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### Author:  [@sam](https://meta.discourse.org/u/sam)
#### Post date: [October 6, 2014, 12:04am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/inviting-users-to-secure-topics/14324/12 "2014-10-06T00:04:49Z")