# Watch category on bulk invite
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/watch-category-on-bulk-invite/21456
**Category:** Feature
**Created:** [October 23, 2014, 4:32pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/watch-category-on-bulk-invite/21456 "2014-10-23T16:32:03Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@evantill](https://meta.discourse.org/u/evantill)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2014, 4:32pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/watch-category-on-bulk-invite/21456/1 "2014-10-23T16:32:03Z")
Continuing the discussion from [Bulk Invite Users](https://meta.discourse.org/t/bulk-invite-users/15899):
> TLDR : what about adding watched categories in bulk invite CSV file ?
I would like to create a school parent discussion forum.
My need is to create a _private_ part of the forum for each class.
What I have already done :
- Create a user group for the class named CLASS1
- Create a category named CLASS1 where only user of CLASS1 group can access
- Bulk invite parents to CLASS1 group.
What is missing is to add CLASS1 category as a _watched_ category.
Is it generic enough to be considered as a feature of the bulk invite feature ?
---
### Author:  [@blau](https://meta.discourse.org/u/blau)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2014, 2:33pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/watch-category-on-bulk-invite/21456/2 "2014-10-24T14:33:51Z")
What is the business scenario of having a default watched category?
If I have understood watching/following right if all classA parents get notified whenever a parent opens a new topic or replies, it will get as noisy as the old bulk cc emails.
You could instruct the classA representative (the parent who is elected as pivot interface with teachers and school administration) to open a new category-pinned topic whenever there is something official (e.g. class meeting schedule, class outings, etc)
I keep meeting the requirement for a strong PING from a specific member of the community (a parent representative, the director of a no-profit association…), just as it happened with the old email list. I will test the scenario I just described and report.
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### Author:  [@blau](https://meta.discourse.org/u/blau)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2014, 2:46pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/watch-category-on-bulk-invite/21456/3 "2014-10-24T14:46:02Z")
@evantill your question is right, you can [bulk invite via csv](https://meta.discourse.org/t/sending-bulk-user-invites/) to a topic, but you can’t autowatch something.
Still, the parents will only access their own class category and optional school-wide categories, each member will have to develop her own habits and preferences regarding notifications.
But this situation is not optimal for important urgent messages (e.g.“Tomorrow’s trip to the museum canceled, bring kids to school directly.”).
EDIT: instead of compulsorily watching a category, one could think of group-wide @-like mentions. There was I think an obscure syntax to address a group by means of an #groupname syntax, but when I tested it it did not work.
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### Author:  [@evantill](https://meta.discourse.org/u/evantill)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2014, 5:28pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/watch-category-on-bulk-invite/21456/4 "2014-10-24T17:28:21Z")
> [@blau](#):
>
> one could think of group-wide @-like mentions
this feature would be great in my use case.
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### Author:  [@blau](https://meta.discourse.org/u/blau)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2014, 7:30pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/watch-category-on-bulk-invite/21456/5 "2014-10-24T19:30:10Z")
Reading meta literature on the subject, I became convinced that the ability to address a group should be limited to moderators or admins. In this case, the parent that is elected representative for the class.
A collection of links on this topic, for my reference:
This frames the problem of group alerts, and the reasons why this idea could be horribly abused:
[https://meta.discourse.org/t/can-include-a-group-of-participants-in-a-post-and-where-should-be-groups-management/7094?u=blau](https://meta.discourse.org/t/can-include-a-group-of-participants-in-a-post-and-where-should-be-groups-management/7094)
This documents a feature that I see on [meta.discourse.org](http://meta.discourse.org) but can’t reproduce on my setting:
> [@Prioritize showing group members (not posts) on group landing page, describe groups, provide groups directory](https://meta.discourse.org/t/prioritize-showing-group-members-not-posts-on-group-landing-page-describe-groups-provide-groups-directory/15719/5):
>
> See: [https://meta.discourse.org/groups/discourse](https://meta.discourse.org/groups/discourse) The only way I know of browsing to them is by looking at a user’s profile page, then clicking on the group name.
There’s a 200 member limit in the UI, not in the application itself:
[https://meta.discourse.org/t/group-seems-to-have-a-limit-of-201-members/11366?u=blau](https://meta.discourse.org/t/group-seems-to-have-a-limit-of-201-members/11366)
A discussion of proposed feature:
[https://meta.discourse.org/t/give-groups-full-names-and-allow-mentions/11168?u=blau](https://meta.discourse.org/t/give-groups-full-names-and-allow-mentions/11168)
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### Author:  [@evantill](https://meta.discourse.org/u/evantill)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2014, 9:44pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/watch-category-on-bulk-invite/21456/6 "2014-10-25T21:44:48Z")
> [@Default email settings for a new user](https://meta.discourse.org/t/default-email-settings-for-a-new-user/14980/13):
>
> The general request, which I have heard many times is, this: We need a way to site-wide override any user preference We need to figure out a way to make this happen.
and also on bulk invite 😊 ?
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### Author:  [@blau](https://meta.discourse.org/u/blau)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2014, 10:52am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/watch-category-on-bulk-invite/21456/7 "2014-10-29T10:52:14Z")
@evantill, the #groupname syntax where you write a private message and then add #groupname to the recipients does not work in my setup. I tested several combinations (@#groupname, #groupname, from an admin, from a group member).
The nearest think to the mass email sent to all parents in the class is to publish a Topic or Message containing @ notifications for all the parents in the class. There is a defalt 10 notification limit that you can configure in [www.example.com/admin/site\_settings/category/posting](http://www.example.com/admin/site_settings/category/posting)
```
max mentions per post
Maximum number of @name notifications anyone can use in a post.
```
However, a large notifications limit may lead to abuse, and it is cumbersome to write such a mass-CC Topic. In a class with 27 children you may easily end up with 40+ parents (both fathers and mothers).
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### Author:  [@evantill](https://meta.discourse.org/u/evantill)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2014, 11:56am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/watch-category-on-bulk-invite/21456/8 "2014-10-29T11:56:06Z")
> [@blau](#):
>
> the #groupname syntax where you write a private message and then add #groupname to the recipients does not work in my setup
@blau, I understand that watching a category by default is not the default way to go. But my parents community need to be educate on tools like discourse. The only tools that they are using at them moment is email.
In my case watching _by default_ is the best approach for beginners IMHO.
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### Author:  [@nukeador](https://meta.discourse.org/u/nukeador)
#### Post date: [October 22, 2015, 7:29pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/watch-category-on-bulk-invite/21456/9 "2015-10-22T19:29:14Z")
Sorry for resurrecting this topic but I’ve found myself in a similar situation.
I need to invite a lot of people to a category and I would like to have them notified by email by default (watching).
Maybe having a link I can send to people like /c/catname/subscribe so they click to get subscribed would be a good first step.
**Edit:** Related:
[https://meta.discourse.org/t/category-based-watching-field-to-mass-add-remove-users/25617](https://meta.discourse.org/t/category-based-watching-field-to-mass-add-remove-users/25617)
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### Author:  [@Johannes\_Winter](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Johannes_Winter)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2017, 8:26pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/watch-category-on-bulk-invite/21456/10 "2017-05-09T20:26:10Z")
I would urgently need this feature too, and the lack of it keeps me from promoting it…
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### Author:  [@chapoi](https://meta.discourse.org/u/chapoi)
#### Post date: [December 4, 2025, 11:32am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/watch-category-on-bulk-invite/21456/11 "2025-12-04T11:32:47Z")