# Invite members to your community

https://help.circle.so/p/audience/onboarding/send-an-invitation-to-add-a-member-to-your-community

Category: [Audience](https://help.circle.so/p/audience) › [Onboarding](https://help.circle.so/p/audience/onboarding)

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_Last updated: June 18, 2025_

Adding members to your community is a crucial step in its growth and development. Our invite feature makes it easy for you to invite new members and update existing member accounts of the community. In this article, we will guide you through detailed steps to invite members to your community. 

## **About the invite feature**

The invite feature is one of the community entry points that enables you to effortlessly bring members into your community. You can invite individuals by manually entering their emails or by importing a file to invite them in bulk.

When inviting members, you have the flexibility to define roles, access levels, and membership, including:

- Assigning tags for organization and segmentation.

- Granting admin privileges to manage the community.

- Providing moderation privileges for specific spaces or space groups.

- Providing free access to spaces or space groups via access groups.

- Enrolling them in a paywall trial with a custom trial duration.

For bulk invites using the **import file** , you can also include additional member-specific data, such as tags and profile field information.

> 💡  **Tip:** While you can perform all the actions mentioned above, not all of them are required when using the invite feature. Assigning tags, providing members invite access (free access) to spaces and space groups, and adding members to a paywall trial is **optional** , and you can skip configuring them if they're not needed.

### **Important information** regarding access when inviting members

When inviting members, you can grant access to community spaces through [two methods](https://help.circle.so/p/audience/onboarding/understanding-invite-access-and-paywall-access-methods):

- **Invite access (free access)**: With invite access, members get free access to the spaces you specify and can stay as long as they like, unless they leave or you remove them. 

- **Paywall access:** If you have premium spaces that require a paywall purchase, paywall access is the way to go. Members gain access based on your paywall configuration, and it’s automatically revoked if their paywall membership ends or a [payment fails](https://help.circle.so/p/payments/paywall-management).

When configuring an invite, you can opt for one or both of these options based on your preferences. For instance, you can select an access group to provide free access to some spaces and also offer a paywall trial to experience exclusive membership access. 

### Using the invite feature for existing members

You can also utilize the invite feature to update various aspects of existing member accounts, including:

- Adding new tags to existing ones that are already assigned.

- Granting admin privilege. 

- Assign them as moderators of specific spaces or space groups.

- Provide free access to spaces and space groups, using access groups in addition to what they already have access to.

- Create a paywall trial with a custom trial duration on behalf of members.

When inviting existing members through the **import file** , you can include additional member-specific data like tags or profile fields in their profiles. The system handles profile field updates based on the field type:

- **Text, link, dropdown, and number fields** : The old value will be replaced with the new value provided in the file.

- **Checkbox and picklist fields** **(e.g., tags)**: New selections are added to existing ones. For example, if a member already has a “Pro” tag and you add a “Coach” tag in the import file, they’ll have both “Pro” and “Coach” tags.

## **Step 1: Get started**

To get started with member invites, follow these steps.

1. Click the community name or logo in the top-left corner and select **Audience**.

2. On the manage audience page, click **Add** in the top-right corner.

3. Select **Invite members**.

An **Invite members** form will appear on the screen. Follow the next steps to set up an invite as per your preference.

## **Step 2: Add details**

On the **Details** tab, you’ll start by adding the basic information. 

### **Choose a method to invite members**

You have two flexible options when it comes to choosing a method for member invitation:

- **Invite by email** : This method is ideal for inviting a small number of members using name and email.

- **Import CSV** : When you need to invite multiple members in bulk at once, this option offers a powerful and efficient solution. Once you are ready with the file, click **Import CSV** and add the file from your device.

### **Assign tags (optional)**

Tags help you categorize or identify community members based on their roles, unique groups, and accomplishments within the community. You can easily assign tags you have already created in the community to all members part of the invite.

To assign tags, click the  **Select tags**  dropdown menu and type the tag name. Then, choose a tag from the available options. You can assign multiple tags.

> 💡 **Tip** : If you have created internal tags (that has the **Show this tag on member profiles** toggle disabled in tag settings) for admin purposes, you can assign it to members while inviting them.

## **Step 3: Configure permissions**

To set up members’ permissions and space access, navigate to the **Access** tab. 

### **Give admin privileges**

Enable this toggle if you wish to provide administrative privileges for your community. 

> **❗Important** : Please use this option with caution. When enabled, members with admin privileges will gain unrestricted access to content management options, all space and community settings, including community billing, community plans, and member management.

### **Make moderator of spaces/space groups**

Enable this toggle to provide[](/p/administration/moderation)[moderation](/p/administration/moderation) privileges for a specific space or space group.

> ℹ️ **Note** : Each community plan has a specific limit of admin and moderator seats. If you exceed this limit when inviting members, you will be prompted with a message indicating this information before the invite goes through. You can either remove those permissions or members from the invite configuration or upgrade your plan before proceeding.

Once you enable the toggle, a table will appear to help you set up moderation grants:

- The left column, labeled **No moderation** , lists all the spaces and space groups from your community. 

- The right column, labeled **Moderation granted** , shows spaces or space groups that have been granted moderation. 

- 💡  **Tip:** Use the search bar at the top of the moderation access table to quickly locate spaces or space groups.

📚 To learn more about moderation, see our guides [here](/p/administration/moderation).

## **Step 4: Configure free access**

Setting up access in the **Access** section is useful, especially when you want to provide your members with access that is meant to be accessible for free and not part of the paywall. Please keep in mind that members will have forever free access until the member leaves or is manually removed by the admin.

You have two ways of providing access within this section:

- Access groups

- Space access

### **Access groups**

Access groups help you effectively define which spaces (and space groups) members get access to. This helps you streamline access management and eliminate the need for repetitive manual setups for entry points.

When using access groups, please review the following key considerations:

- **Impact of default onboarding access** : If you have configured default access in your community’s [onboarding settings](https://help.circle.so/p/audience/onboarding/automatically-grant-free-access-to-spaces-when-members-join-your-community), when members accept invites, they will also be added to the spaces and space groups from the onboarding settings.

- **Automatic access type conversion:** If you include an access group that is also part of the paywall you've added in the paywall trial section, the invite access will be superseded by the paywall access. However, for overlapping spaces from access groups, the invite access stays as is. To learn more about the access conversion rule for access groups, see[](/p/audience/onboarding/understanding-invite-access-and-paywall-access-methods)[Understanding invite access and paywall access](/p/audience/onboarding/understanding-invite-access-and-paywall-access-methods).

To provide access to spaces using [access groups](https://help.circle.so/p/basics/community-access/access-group-overview), select the **Access groups** option and then choose one from the list. You can add more than one access group here to provide members with access to multiple groups.

> 💡  **Tip:** If you add an access group by mistake, click the **More actions (three dots)** icon next to the group and select **Remove**.  
>   
> To update the settings of a connected access group, click the **More actions** **(three dots)** icon next to the group and select **Edit**. This opens a new browser tab where you can modify the group settings.

 ![](https://assets-v2.circle.so/nqsmxik3p1yq01l9nss8mje55rd1)

### **Space access (legacy space access)**

For communities created before January 29, 2025, you also have the option to manually provide access to various spaces and space groups instead of using access groups.

To use the legacy space access option, select **Space access**. Then, manually select the spaces and space groups to which you want to grant free access to your members. 

When using legacy space access, please review the following key considerations:

- **Automatic access type conversion:** If you include a space or space group in this **Space access** that is also part of the paywall you've added in the paywall trial section, the invite access will be superseded by the paywall access. To learn more about the access level in your community, see[](/p/audience/onboarding/understanding-invite-access-and-paywall-access-methods)[Understanding invite access and paywall access](/p/audience/onboarding/understanding-invite-access-and-paywall-access-methods).

- **Impact of default onboarding access** : In the space access form, you’ll see some spaces listed by default if you have selected legacy space access in your default [onboarding settings](https://help.circle.so/p/audience/onboarding/automatically-grant-free-access-to-spaces-when-members-join-your-community). However, you have the flexibility to override it for this specific invitation by modifying the access form. To remove access to any spaces included from the default onboarding settings, enable the **Add to selected spaces** toggle, hover over the space in the **Access** column, and click **Remove**.

To select spaces, turn on the **Add to selected spaces** toggle and follow these steps:

1. To grant access: 

2. To remove access: 

> 💡 **Tip** : In the access form, each space is represented with an icon indicating the space access setting:
> 
> - 👥 A people icon indicates an open space.
> 
> - 🔒 A lock icon indicates a private space.
> 
> - 👁️ A crossed-eye icon indicates a secret space.

 ![](https://assets-v2.circle.so/iyeu8ia8w5z9f31mehcrmgs9ph9o)

## **Step 5: Customize invitation emails**

When inviting members to join your community, you have the option to customize email invitations for members.

- **Customize the invite for new Circle members** : This email invite is sent to members who haven't signed up for any Circle community before. Using the invite link from the email, members can create a new member account on Circle and a member profile when joining the community.

- **Customize invite for existing Circle members:** This email invite is sent to members who’ve already signed up for a Circle community before. Since members have used their email to join any other community powered by Circle, they will be able to sign in using the same credentials, join the community, and create a member profile.

> ❗ **Important** : Please note that any changes you make to invitation emails here will also apply to all future invitations. You have the flexibility to update it later from the [onboarding settings](https://help.circle.so/p/audience/onboarding/customizing-the-onboarding-experience).

To modify the invite, follow these steps:

1. Click **Customize** under the invite you’d like to modify. 

2. In the **Customize email** dialog, make changes to the content. 

3. Click **Save**.

> ℹ️ **Note** : Invite emails require the invite link hyperlinked within the email body. If the link is missing or broken, you will be prompted to re-insert the link. You have the flexibility to hyperlink the invite link to your preferred CTA text, such as “Join the community.”

## **Step 6: Provide a free paywall trial (optional)**

On the **Paywalls** tab, you can configure paywall trial details to provide your members with a free trial of your exclusive membership offering. 

You have the ability to choose subscription or installment pricing **without upfront payments** for a trial paywall membership. You can provide up to 730 days of trial duration without requiring credit card details upfront, regardless of your paywall’s trial configuration. This custom trial duration won’t interfere with your paywall’s original trial configuration or vice versa.

> 💡  **Tip:** Since you are creating a paywall trial on behalf of members, they do not have to go through the paywall checkout page or take any additional steps when joining the community. Similarly, if you are setting it up for existing members, they won’t need to do anything.

> ❗ **Important:** As soon as you invite members, their trial duration will automatically start. To ensure that members are aware of the trial, you can choose to send an email confirmation of the paywall trial initiation. 

To provide the paywall trial for your invited members, configure the following fields:

- **Paywall** : Choose your desired paywall for the trial.

- **Term:** Select a price from the eligible prices on the paywall.

- **Coupon (optional):** Choose a coupon code if you want to automatically apply a discount when a member’s paid membership starts.

- **Trial days:** Specify a custom trial duration of up to 730 days.

- **Notify members of new trial** : If you want to send an email to your members letting them know you've started a trial subscription for them, turn on the **Send members an email confirmation** toggle. 

📚 For detailed information about providing a free trial via invites and trial notifications, see[](/p/payments/paywall-trials/add-members-to-paywall-trial-using-invitation-methods)[Add members to paywall trial using invitation methods](/p/payments/paywall-trials/add-members-to-paywall-trial-using-invitation-methods).

## **Step 7: Send invites**

Once you are ready to invite your members, follow these steps:

1. Click **Send invites**.

2. Choose one of the following options:

1. Once the invite is on the way, you can track its progress in the [bulk logs](https://help.circle.so/p/audience/onboarding/viewing-logs-for-bulk-imports) dashboard. Click **View progress** in the dialog to navigate to the bulk logs.

### **After sending invites**

Once you have sent the invite, a member record will be created for each invitee, and their record will appear on the **Invited** tab of the **Manage audience** page. 

 ![](https://assets-v2.circle.so/i2aa3dijc8ngfprxxk56srg7gr4c)

This indicates that the invite has been sent to members, but they have yet to complete the onboarding process. This process involves accepting the invitation and creating their member profile. Once members have completed the onboarding process, their profile will become active and move from **Invited** to the **Members** , **Admins** , or **Moderators** tab depending on their role.

📚 To learn more about the onboarding process and invited status, please see the following article:

- [Guide members through the community onboarding process](https://help.circle.so/p/audience/onboarding/guide-members-through-the-community-onboarding-process)

- [Understanding reasons some members appear on the invited tab](https://help.circle.so/p/audience/onboarding/understanding-reasons-some-members-appear-in-the-invited-tab)