Hello, is it possible to set up an automatic message to be sent to every new user from the account of the team member? I don’t want to use Discobot. Thanks in advance!
AI-generated summary
In a Support thread titled “Welcome message,” Olga_Trykush asks if it’s possible to send an automatic welcome message to new users from a staff account, without using Discobot. tobiaseigen confirms Discobot can send tips via email but can’t be fully replaced for this purpose — though j.jaffeux notes Discourse Automation can handle this, such as triggering on “User added to group.” tobiaseigen questions if Trust Level 0 would trigger for all users, and j.jaffeux clarifies it’s not retroactive. tobiaseigen reflects on how pre-Discobot, welcome messages came from the system or site contact username, and questions whether this change is worth reverting without more demand (citing the Rule of Three). maiki adds that automated messages (like TL promotions) can be sent from @system or another user, and shares an example of using automation for welcome emails. manuel shares a guide that delays welcome messages 10–15 minutes to avoid interrupting users. Olga_Trykush thanks the team and plans to explore Automation, or alternatively edit Discobot’s message. tobiaseigen suggests customizing Discobot’s appearance, using a welcome topic + banner (e.g., Namati’s FAQ), or sending a newsletter for off-forum engagement. The thread concludes with ideas to reduce reliance on welcome messages as Discourse evolves toward in-context education popups.
Hi Olga! Welcome. I refreshed my memory on how this works, and it appears that you can have discobot send an email with tips instead of starting the narrative bot tutorial.
But you are right that it does not seem to be possible to disable discobot altogether and just send this welcome message from a staff user.
Maybe this can be done with automation? 
Yes automation can 100% do this, we use it ourselves for onboarding for example.
Thanks, Joffrey. I had a look and it seems you could use User added to group as the trigger. But if you choose trust level 0 would that then send it to all users on the site?
I dont think thats retroactive
Famous last words! 
Can someone with a sandbox and automation installed test this out to make sure? I don’t currently have one going.
On reflection.. has anyone else requested this in recent years? It seems unfortunate that the behavior we had pre-discobot is now changed so it requires discobot to be enabled to send a welcome message, and that it must come from the discobot account.
IIRC, it used to be these messages would come from the system user or the username specified in the site contact username admin setting.
I wouldn’t advocate any change here if we don’t have rule of three, of course. Folks seem to like the robot. 
And of course not everyone has the automation plugin, so relying on that to send welcome messages is also suboptimal.
There is a setting to have the various automated messages (TL promotion, etc.) from either @system or another user. I’ve always seen Discobot messages come from @discobot, though. 
I recently used automation for the a similar ask:
When I was done I thought, “could Discobot be implemented as a pre-seeded Automation?”
I wrote this guide once:
One goal with this was not welcoming with the bot. The other idea not interrupting users right after sign-up. They most likely sign up because they intent to do sth. so the welcome message comes 10 - 15 mins later.
Thanks @tobiaseigen and @j.jaffeux for your help! I’ll take a closer look at how automation works (hope the process is not too techie). In the worse scenario, I can edit the welcome message that is sent from discobot 
You can also edit your discobot user to make it look more like a staff or system message, as you see fit.
I liked Nolo’s guide to leverage the trust level notifications for this - nice job! But it does depend on your users being promoted to trust level 1 to get their first welcome message.
One other thought that comes to mind is that you can also write a welcome topic and bannerize it, so users see it when they first log in. This gives them an opportunity to read it and dismiss it when they are done, and then jump right into discussions! You can link it to your FAQ which will always be on the menu for those learners who like to read lists of instructions. Here’s an example of how this might look: https://community.namati.org/t/faq-frequently-asked-questions/1467
Also, the contents of the welcome message with tips will hopefully become less relevant in the not too distant future, when we implement more just in time education popups to help new users to learn about new features they are encountering as they move about your forum.
And finally, all of the above is very oriented around getting your users to learn their way around Discourse. You may also like to set up a newsletter or way to mail your users directly once they sign up so you can communicate with them by email outside your forum about opportunities to engage in your community.