# Inviting members to a group

URL: https://wpusermanager.com/article/345-inviting-members-to-a-group/
Last updated: 2026-10-07

This needs Groups 1.3.0 or later.

You can invite people to a group instead of adding them straight away. Each person gets an email with a link, and they become a member when they follow it. Until then they're listed as **Invited**: they aren't counted as members, and they can't see a hidden group.

There are three ways to invite someone.

From the group editor (hidden groups)
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1. Go to **User Groups** and edit the group. Its privacy must be **Hidden**.
2. In **Add New Members**, pick the users to invite.
3. Tick **Invite user to Group** below the list.
4. Click **Update**.

The users you picked are emailed an invitation instead of being added. The box only shows while the privacy is Hidden, and it only applies to that save: next time you add members they're added straight away unless you tick it again.

![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/helpscout.net/docs/assets/5d6cea4404286350aeeb5235/images/6ac633ed7296b2aaabcbde0b/02-editor-invite-box-c6012476.png)

From the Edit User screen (any group)
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1. Go to **Users** and edit the user.
2. In the **Groups** section, choose a group under **Invite to group**.
3. Click **Update User**.

The dropdown lists every group the user isn't already in, hidden ones included. The same section shows the groups they're a member of. You need to be able to promote users (administrators can) to see it.

![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/helpscout.net/docs/assets/5d6cea4404286350aeeb5235/images/6ac633fd5d694b44a06b9ce3/03-edit-user-groups-007e6b33.png)

From the group page (group admins of hidden groups)
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Group admins of a hidden group see an **Invite members** box at the top of the group's **Members** tab.

1. Enter usernames or email addresses, one per line or separated by commas.
2. Click **Send invitations**.

The page then says how many invitations were sent, and how many couldn't be: either there's no account with that username or email, or the person is already in the group. Up to 20 people can be invited at a time. Below the box, **Waiting to accept** lists everyone who hasn't accepted yet.

Only people who already have an account on your site can be invited.

![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/helpscout.net/docs/assets/5d6cea4404286350aeeb5235/images/6ac633fece7c1db042bc87a2/01-invite-members-tab-b48c7f36.png)

Accepting an invitation
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The email has a link to accept. When the invited person follows it:

- If they're logged in, they join the group and land on the group page.
- If they're logged out, they're sent to the login page first, then join.
- If someone else is logged in, they see an error: the link only works for the person who was invited.

Links expire after a week. To send a new one, invite the person again: the new link replaces the old one.

An invited user can also accept by clicking **Join** on a public or private group's page, where they'll see "You have been invited to join this group. Click Join to accept."

The invitation email
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Edit the email under **Users > Emails > Group invited**. It must include the `{group_join_url}` tag, which is the accept link. Other useful tags are `{group}` and `{username}`.

For developers
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- `wpumgp_invite_user_to_group( $group_id, $user_id )` invites a user and sends the email.
- `wpumgp_invitation_key_lifetime` filters how long links last, in seconds (default one week).
- `wpumgp_max_invitations_per_submit` filters how many people a group admin can invite at once (default 20).
- `wpumgp_can_invite_from_group_page` filters who sees the Invite members box.
- `wpumgp_user_after_invitation` and `wpumgp_after_invitation_accepted` fire after an invitation is sent and accepted.

Related: [Moderating group members](https://wpusermanager.com/article/251-moderating-group-members/), [Managing group members](https://wpusermanager.com/article/346-managing-group-members/).