Community Admins and Super Admins can add people to their Community Essentials site. After adding people, admins can alert them to the fact by composing and sending an invitation. When the recipients accept the invitation, they become members of the community.
Access the invitation page
There are two paths to the Invitation page; both are accessed from the Admin Settings menu.
Access the Invite to Community page from the Members page
- Click Members and on the Manage Community Members page, click Add Member.
- In the dialog:
- Type at least three characters in the Search & Find field to trigger the search.
- Choose the people you want to invite from the list of names that pops up. Repeat these steps to add more people.
- Choose Send an email invitation. from the dropdown, as shown.
This takes you to the Invite to Community page.
Access the Invite to Community page from the Settings panel
- Click Add or Invite Others to directly access the Invite to Community page.
This takes you to the Invite to Community page.
Create and send an invitation
To create and send an invitation, compose your message in the Invitation Message field. Then use the tabs, as described below, to select and invite contacts and others.
IMPORTANT: Your invitation-message text is not saved when you leave this page. If you'll be sending additional invitations and want to use the same text/information, copy the text and save it in a text or document file.
NOTE: You can work back and forth across the tabs; the page will not close until you click Finished.
Invite Your Contacts tab
NOTE: Contacts are community members who have either accepted your Add Contact request or have sent a request that you've accepted.
To invite contacts:
- Select individual contacts or click Check All. Contacts will be automatically added to the Selected Contacts list.
- When you've finished selecting contacts, click Send Invitation.
The page refreshes and indicates that the invitations have been sent.
TIP: Confirm the send on the Pending Invitation Requests tab.
- Click the Invite Others tab to invite people who are not contacts or
- Click Finish.
Invite Others tab
To select others:
- Type in any of the fields and click Search; the results display below.
- Check the boxes next to the people that you want to invite and click Add Selected to Invite List.
The page refreshes and the selected people display in a table with check boxes. The Status column indicates whether the person is already a member and has already been invited.
NOTE: The Invite and Add Immediately buttons are "activated" but they have no effect until at least one person's check box is checked.
To invite others:
- Check the box next to the name of each person you want to invite.
- Click Invite to send the invitation.
TIP: Confirm the send on the Pending Invitation Requests tab.
- Click Finish.
To bypass sending an invitation:
- Check the box next to the name of each person you want to add as a member.
- Click Add Immediately to add the person to the community.
- Click Finish.
NOTE: If you add someone as a member without sending an invitation, you'll have to notify them by some other means.
Pending Invitation Requests tab
This tab displays the invitations that you've sent and the send date.
To resend an invitation:
- Check the box next to the name of each person you want to re-invite and click Resend Invitation.
- Click Finished.
NOTE: As contacts and others accept the invitation, they are added to the Community Essentials site's Members list.
TIP: You can return to the invitation page to send additional invitations. Also, the Pending tab is an easy way to quickly see who has not yet accepted.