The discussion revolves around the need to send periodic emails to all users with a pre-defined message or link, specifically for updating the Terms of Service (ToS) due to compliance requirements. tmb-ltsdw inquired about a built-in feature to accomplish this, but couldn’t find one.
Helioursge suggested a plugin that might be able to achieve this, but tmb-ltsdw expressed concerns about its suitability. Heliosurge acknowledged the concerns but pointed out that plugins can extend usability and reduce risk.
tobiaseigen argued that Discourse is a community forum, not a mass email tool, and suggested using banners or pinned topics to announce changes. However, Heliosurge countered that, especially in regions with strict compliance laws like the EU, it’s essential for platforms to notify users about changes to the ToS and privacy policies, similar to how social platforms handle such updates.
Hello,
The main use case for this would be to periodically send all users an update to the Terms of Service of the discussion board. It could also be a link to the permalink of the ToS but basically is a compliance requirement. After a bit of searching there does not seem to be a built in feature to do this, just thought I’d pop around the community and see what you guys thought about this requirement and the possibility of a custom plugin for this if not.
Thanks
This plugin might be able to accomplish this.
Thank you I will consider this, I am a bit concerned that it is specifically for triggering actions, and for that to happen “Send an arbitrary mail to every registered user” should already be an inbuilt feature if I’m not mistaken? Definitely helpful though, thank you.
Your quite welcome. Agreed for things like updated TOS there should be a push. I think the plugin author is part of the team. So it might be merged into core at some point. But this can be a good way to do testing without it having a risk to the site as you can uninstall a plugin.
Plus that is also why plugins are there to extend usability
Discourse is not a mass email tool, but a community forum. When you make changes to your TOS or need to share an announcement of any kind, just add a banner or pin a topic to let people know when they log in.
If you want to be able to reach everyone by email, set up a newsletter and let people subscribe to it.
Thanks for confirming this I appreciate the explanation.
(This is more like a requirement coming from a compliance team rather than my intentions, I’m just the guy setting up the platform for a client but I understand this is not something discourse wishes to engage in)
Truth Tobias with Key things like changes in TOS, Privacy type things imho it should email users that this has had changes or at least notify users on logon it has changed. Much like when someone edits a post they are not the owner.
Especially in places like the EU where things can be very tricky with there compliance laws.
I have for example seen cases where a staff account makes a sweeping change then uses it to ban or silence users.
A discussion platform should inform users if the TOS & such has been modified. Especially as most might just skim it once.
Now sure I agree an Announcement Category for example a good host could ensure this info is passed along to all. But then you need a a good structured team running things that know this needs to be advertised.
When most social platforms make changes to TOS, Privacy a notification id generated to notify the clients of changes.