Sending bulk user invites

Discourse
Thu, 12 Jun 2014 07:49:47 +0000
Site Management

This guide explains how to invite multiple users to your Discourse instance using a bulk invite feature.

Required user level: Administrator

Inviting a large number of users to your Discourse instance can be time-consuming if done individually. Fortunately, Discourse offers a bulk invite feature that allows you to invite multiple users at once. This guide will walk you through the process of sending bulk invites.

It is not possible to invite users to predefined groups such as, trust level groups, admin, mod or staff groups. As a work around, you can configure a custom group to automatically set a users trust level in the Effects section of the group’s configuration page. Doing this will allow you to set the trust level of invited users to a trust level other than what is set by your site’s default invitee trust level setting

Overview

1. Ensure the Allow bulk invite site setting is enabled (it is by default)

2. Prepare a CSV file with user information

3. Upload the CSV file to your Discourse instance

4. Monitor the bulk invite progress

Ensure the Allow bulk invite site setting is enabled

The Allow bulk invite setting is enabled by default. If it has been disabled on your site:

1. Navigate to your site settings at Admin > All site settings, and search for bulk invite. Or go to {your.domain.com}/admin/site_settings/category/all_results?filter=bulk%20invite

2. If not already enabled, tick the box beside Allow bulk invite and click the check mark to save the site setting.

Preparing the CSV file

The first step is to create a CSV (Comma-Separated Values) file containing the information of the users you want to invite. Here’s what you need to know:

Each line represents one user

The email address is required and must be in the first column

Group assignments (optional) go in the second column

A specific topic ID (optional) goes in the third column

A locale (optional) goes in the fourth column

Any additional columns can be used to set custom user field values (the column header must match the user field name)

Here’s the structure of the CSV file:

email,groups,topic_id,locale

CSV file guidelines

Email addresses must be valid

Separate multiple groups with semicolons (e.g., group_1;group_2;group_3)

You can include existing users if you want to add them to groups

Only the email is mandatory; groups, topic ID, locale, and user fields are optional

If including custom user fields, the CSV must have a header row starting with email

There is a hidden site setting max_bulk_invites which allows 50k rows in a CSV by default

CSV file examples

user1@example.com,group_1;group_2,topic_id
user2@example.com,group_3,
user3@example.com,,

You can create CSV files easily using spreadsheet software like Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets. Here’s an example of how it might look in a spreadsheet:

Just be sure to save the file as CSV when you’re done.
Comma Delimited CSV format in Google Sheets (clicca per ulteriori dettagli) Comma Delimited CSV format in Microsoft Excel (clicca per ulteriori dettagli)
Uploading the CSV file

Once you’ve prepared your CSV file, follow these steps to upload it:

1. Navigate to the Invites tab on your Admin user’s profile. {your.domain.com}/my/invited/pending

2. Click the “Bulk Invite from File” button

3. In the modal that appears, upload your CSV file

4. Confirm the upload

After uploading, you’ll receive a confirmation message stating that you’ll be notified when the process is complete.

Monitoring bulk invite progress

Once the CSV file is processed, you’ll receive a personal message notification with a progress report. This report will include:

Total number of invites sent

Number of invites not sent (if any)

Any errors that occurred during the process

You can check your invites page on your user profile to see a list of successfully sent invites.

What happens next

Each email address in your CSV file will receive an invite email. The email will include:

The name of the person who sent the invite

Your community’s title

A brief description of your community (from the site description setting)

An invitation link

When an invited user clicks the confirmation link:

Their account will be immediately activated and associated with their email address

They will be added to the specified groups (if any were included in the CSV)

They will be directed to the target topic (if a topic ID was specified)

Invites that are not clicked will expire based on the invite expiry days setting (default: 90 days).

Customizing invite emails

If you wish to customize the text of the invite emails:

For general invites, edit the “Invite Forum Mailer” email template

For invites that include a specific topic ID, edit the “Invite Mailer” email template

Additional resources

Adding users from groups to other groups in bulk

Last edited by @MarkDoerr Tuesday, September 23, 2025 2:11 AM UTC

Last checked by @hugh Thursday, July 11, 2024 4:21 AM UTC
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