# Request to Join Group feature and requirement for Message/Mention rights by Everyone
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/request-to-join-group-feature-and-requirement-for-message-mention-rights-by-everyone/55264
**Category:** Feature
**Created:** [January 6, 2017, 5:30am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/request-to-join-group-feature-and-requirement-for-message-mention-rights-by-everyone/55264 "2017-01-06T05:30:20Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@scombs](https://meta.discourse.org/u/scombs)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2017, 5:30am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/request-to-join-group-feature-and-requirement-for-message-mention-rights-by-everyone/55264/1 "2017-01-06T05:30:20Z")
The group setting for `Allow users to send membership requests to group owners (Requires everyone to be able to mention the group)` seems a little dangerous.
We are asking users to request permission from the group owner to join a special group, but users on the site can send a PM to that entire group or start a topic and @mention the group.
Now that the PM for the request is going to the [last 5 active group owners](https://meta.discourse.org/t/improving-the-groups-page-for-1-7/53347/67), can we **remove the "message/mention requirement** or scale it back to only require `group members, moderators, and admin`?
The body of the PM for the request does include an @mention:
> I would like to apply for membership in @%{groupName}
which is nice since the owner can navigate back to the group easily from the PM, but that just requires the group to be visible to the sender, right? Also, @mentioning a group in a PM doesn’t notify the group members.
---
### Author:  [@dani14\_96](https://meta.discourse.org/u/dani14_96)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2017, 12:20pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/request-to-join-group-feature-and-requirement-for-message-mention-rights-by-everyone/55264/2 "2017-01-08T12:20:57Z")
> [@scombs](#):
>
> Also, @mentioning a group in a PM doesn’t notify the group members.
actually it does for me. Every time a new user requests to be in a group, all group members get notified
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### Author:  [@scombs](https://meta.discourse.org/u/scombs)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2017, 3:53pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/request-to-join-group-feature-and-requirement-for-message-mention-rights-by-everyone/55264/3 "2017-01-08T15:53:09Z")
> [@dani14\_96](#):
>
> Every time a new user requests to be in a group, all group members get notified
Correct. I was just not seeing the email notifications under the default settings.
I would like to see a fix here. A current workaround is `Admin > Customize > Text Content` to modifiy the text for `js.groups.request_membership_pm.body` to remove the @mention and replace it with a link:
```
I would like to apply for membership.
https://example.com/groups/{{groupName}}
```
I could not sort out how to pass the {{base\_Url}} variable for the site (so you must insert your URL here).
I also could not insert {{group}} or {{group\_name}} variables for the Group Title in the PM.
**I think the preferred approach would be to just include a sentence with a link using the Group Title.**
`I would like to apply for membership in .`
The workaround above doesn’t solve the issue on removing the requirement for “Everyone can Message/Mention.” Hopefully that requirement will be dropped.
---
### Author:  [@dani14\_96](https://meta.discourse.org/u/dani14_96)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2017, 4:08pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/request-to-join-group-feature-and-requirement-for-message-mention-rights-by-everyone/55264/4 "2017-01-08T16:08:56Z")
It does not solve it but it is a beggining. Is there a variable for Group owners? Would be good to insert it in the template.
---
### Author:  [@scombs](https://meta.discourse.org/u/scombs)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2017, 5:40pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/request-to-join-group-feature-and-requirement-for-message-mention-rights-by-everyone/55264/5 "2017-01-08T17:40:51Z")
Not sure about variables for owners or inserting in PM.
The owners/recipients would be listed in the online view (at bottom of first post) since they are in the To: part of the PM.
I agree it would be nice to see who is getting the PM in the body of the **email**.
I would love to see this fixed for all PMs [as discussed previously](https://meta.discourse.org/t/email-notification-recipients-unclear-when-pm-is-sent-to-multiple-users/26934/13)
I also plan to add instructions in the request PM for users (wait for a reply/approval) and a link for owners (how to add users).
---
### Author:  [@runofthemill](https://meta.discourse.org/u/runofthemill)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2017, 11:16pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/request-to-join-group-feature-and-requirement-for-message-mention-rights-by-everyone/55264/6 "2017-02-02T23:16:20Z")
Would you mind sharing the instructions you put in the message?
Is there a quick way to approve a request, or does the group owner still need to go to `Group->Edit Group->Add Members`?
---
### Author:  [@scombs](https://meta.discourse.org/u/scombs)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2017, 11:37pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/request-to-join-group-feature-and-requirement-for-message-mention-rights-by-everyone/55264/7 "2017-02-02T23:37:34Z")
No problem. Here is the change-- Admin\>Customize\>Text Content and update **js.groups.request\_membership\_pm.body** with the following (substitute [yourdomain.com](http://yourdomain.com) and the support email address):
```
I would like to join the following group.
https://yourdomain.com/groups/{{groupName}}
>This group requires approval by the owner to join. Please hit the Send button below and allow time for a response. If you need assistance, you can also email support@yourdomain.com.
```
Note: that I also customized the button text to change it from “Message” to “Send” just to stress that user action is required to “send” the PM. You can do that by customizing **js.composer.create\_pm**
> [@runofthemill](#):
>
> does the group owner still need to go to Group-\>Edit Group-\>Add Members?
Yes. That is the how it works. The PM will have the link in the body so that helps.
---
### Author:  [@runofthemill](https://meta.discourse.org/u/runofthemill)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2017, 11:50pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/request-to-join-group-feature-and-requirement-for-message-mention-rights-by-everyone/55264/8 "2017-02-02T23:50:33Z")
Thanks Steve!
Greatly appreciated 🙂
---
### Author:  [@tgxworld](https://meta.discourse.org/u/tgxworld)
#### Post date: [April 6, 2017, 7:15am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/request-to-join-group-feature-and-requirement-for-message-mention-rights-by-everyone/55264/10 "2017-04-06T07:15:53Z")
Some updates here.
[https://github.com/discourse/discourse/commit/8e23b7fbc95c780c9a0d561b7c32ba5af56db3ca](https://github.com/discourse/discourse/commit/8e23b7fbc95c780c9a0d561b7c32ba5af56db3ca)
I’ve removed the copy that is no longer valid since we’re only notifying the last 5 active group admins.