Invite System

Overview

The invite system allows organization members to invite new people to join their organization. Each person receives a personalized invitation link that is unique to them.

How Invites Work

Creating an Invite

When someone creates an invite, they:

  1. Give the invite a name (e.g., "Marketing Team Onboarding")
  2. Add email addresses of people they want to invite
  3. Optionally set an expiration date
  4. Optionally assign a specific role the invitees will receive

Example:
Sarah creates an invite called "Sales Team Q4" and adds three email addresses: john@example.com, jane@example.com, and bob@example.com.

What Happens Next

The system automatically:

  • Creates a unique invite link for each person
  • Sends an email to each person with their personal link
  • Starts tracking the status of each recipient
  • Schedules reminder emails (if the invite hasn't been accepted)

Important: Each person gets their own unique link. This means:

  • Links cannot be shared between people
  • We can track exactly who accepted or rejected
  • The invite creator can see the status of each recipient individually

Recipient Statuses

Every person invited can be in one of four states:

1. Pending (Yellow)

  • What it means: The invitation was sent but hasn't been responded to yet
  • What happens: The person will receive reminder emails every few days
  • Who can change it: The recipient (by accepting or rejecting) or the system (if the invite expires)

2. Accepted (Green)

  • What it means: The person clicked their invite link and joined the organization
  • What happens:
    • The person becomes a member of the organization
    • All other pending invitations to that person are automatically cancelled
    • No more reminder emails are sent
    • We record who accepted and when
  • Who changed it: The recipient who accepted

3. Rejected (Red)

  • What it means: The person declined the invitation
  • What happens:
    • The person does not join the organization
    • No more reminder emails are sent
    • We record who rejected and when
  • Who changed it: The recipient who rejected

4. Cancelled (Gray)

  • What it means: The invitation was cancelled by the system
  • What happens: No more reminder emails are sent
  • Why it happens:
    • The invite expired
    • The invite was deleted by the creator
    • The person accepted a different invitation (and this one was automatically cancelled)

Auto-Rejection: Why It Happens

Scenario: You invite the same person through multiple invites.

Example:

  • Sarah invites john@example.com to the "Sales Team" invite
  • Tom invites john@example.com to the "Marketing Team" invite
  • John accepts the Sales Team invite

What happens:

  • John joins the organization through the Sales Team invite
  • The Marketing Team invitation to john@example.com is automatically cancelled
  • Tom can see that john@example.com's status is "Cancelled" in his invite

Why? A person can only accept one invitation from only one organization. Once they join, all other pending invitations to them are no longer needed.

Email Behavior

Initial Email

  • Sent immediately when the invite is created
  • Contains the person's unique invitation link
  • Explains what they're being invited to

Reminder Emails

  • First reminder: 3 days after the initial email (if not responded)
  • Second reminder: 3 days after the first reminder (if still not responded)
  • Final reminder: 3 days after the second reminder (if still not responded)

When Reminders Stop

Reminder emails automatically stop when:

  • The recipient accepts the invitation
  • The recipient rejects the invitation
  • Another recipient accepts (causing this one to be cancelled)
  • The invite expires
  • The invite is deleted

Viewing Recipients

Who Can See Recipients?

Only people with the "Invite Users" permission can see the list of recipients and their statuses.

What Information Is Shown?

For each recipient, you can see:

  • Email address: Who was invited
  • Status: Pending, Accepted, Rejected, or Cancelled
  • Last updated: When the status last changed
  • Action by: Who performed the action (for accepted/rejected statuses)

Example:

john@example.com    | Accepted   | 2 hours ago    | John Smith
jane@example.com    | Rejected   | 1 day ago      | Jane Doe
bob@example.com     | Pending    | 5 days ago     | -
alice@example.com   | Cancelled  | 3 days ago     | -

This tells us:

  • John accepted his invitation 2 hours ago
  • Jane declined her invitation 1 day ago
  • Bob hasn't responded yet (invitation sent 5 days ago)
  • Alice's invitation was cancelled 3 days ago (probably because another recipient accepted)

Declining an Invitation

How It Works

Recipients have two ways to decline an invitation:

  1. Ignore it: Simply don't click the link (it will eventually expire)
  2. Actively decline: Use the rejection feature in the application (if your organization has enabled this)

What Happens When Declined

  • The recipient's status changes to "Rejected"
  • We record who declined and when
  • No more reminder emails are sent
  • The invitation creator can see that the invitation was declined

Can They Change Their Mind?

No. Once an invitation is rejected, it cannot be accepted. The invitation creator would need to send a new invitation.

Invite Lifecycle

Active Invites

An invite is considered "active" when:

  • It hasn't expired yet
  • It hasn't been deleted
  • At least one recipient is still pending

Expired Invites

When an invite reaches its expiration date:

  • All pending recipients are automatically cancelled
  • No more reminder emails are sent
  • The invite cannot be used to join the organization

Deleted Invites

When someone deletes (trashes) an invite:

  • All pending recipients are immediately cancelled
  • No more reminder emails are sent
  • The invite links no longer work

Permissions and Security

Who Can Create Invites?

Only organization members with the "Invite Users" permission can create invitations.

Who Can View Invites?

  • The person who created the invite can always see it
  • Anyone with the "Invite Users" permission can see all invites in their organization

Who Can Accept an Invite?

  • Only the person whose email address matches the invitation
  • They must log in or create an account with that exact email address

Security: The system verifies that the email address of the person accepting matches the email address the invitation was sent to. This prevents invitation links from being shared or misused.

Who Can Reject an Invite?

  • Only the person whose email address matches the invitation
  • They must be logged in with that email address

Common Scenarios

Scenario 1: Bulk Onboarding

Use case: Onboarding 20 new sales team members

How it works:

  1. Manager creates one invite called "Sales Q4 Onboarding"
  2. Adds all 20 email addresses
  3. System sends 20 personalized emails
  4. Manager can track who has joined and who hasn't
  5. Reminders automatically sent to those who haven't responded

Benefit: Single invite to manage, but personalized tracking for each person.

Scenario 2: Multiple Teams

Use case: Person invited to both Sales and Marketing teams

How it works:

  1. Sales manager invites john@example.com to Sales team
  2. Marketing manager invites john@example.com to Marketing team
  3. John accepts the Sales invite
  4. Marketing invite to john@example.com automatically cancelled
  5. Marketing manager sees John's status as "Cancelled"

Benefit: Prevents confusion and duplicate memberships.

Scenario 3: Invitation Expires

Use case: 30-day invite expires

Timeline:

  • Day 1: Invite sent to 5 people
  • Day 4: First reminder sent to those who haven't responded
  • Day 7: Second reminder sent
  • Day 10: Final reminder sent
  • Day 30: Invite expires
  • All pending recipients marked as "Cancelled"

Benefit: Keeps the system clean and prevents old invitations from being accepted.

Scenario 4: Person Changes Their Mind

Use case: Someone rejects but later wants to join

What happens:

  1. Jane receives invite to join organization
  2. Jane clicks "Reject"
  3. Jane's status becomes "Rejected"
  4. Later, Jane changes her mind

Solution: The invitation creator must send a new invitation to Jane. The rejected invitation cannot be undone.

Why? This ensures clear audit trails and prevents confusion about who accepted what and when.

Audit Trail

What We Track

For every recipient, we record:

  • When the invitation was sent
  • When the status changed
  • Who caused the status change (for accepts/rejects)

Why It Matters

  • Compliance: Know exactly when someone was invited and when they joined
  • Accountability: See who accepted or rejected invitations
  • Troubleshooting: Understand why someone's invitation was cancelled

Example Audit Trail

john@example.com:
- Oct 30, 10:00 AM: Invitation sent (Pending)
- Oct 30, 2:30 PM: Accepted by John Smith

jane@example.com:
- Oct 30, 10:00 AM: Invitation sent (Pending)
- Oct 31, 9:15 AM: Rejected by Jane Doe

bob@example.com:
- Oct 30, 10:00 AM: Invitation sent (Pending)
- Oct 30, 2:30 PM: Cancelled (auto-cancelled when John accepted)

This shows that when John accepted at 2:30 PM, Bob's invitation was automatically cancelled.

Best Practices

Creating Invites

DO:

  • ✅ Use descriptive names ("Q4 Sales Team" not "Invite 1")
  • ✅ Set reasonable expiration dates (30-90 days)
  • ✅ Group people by logical teams or purposes
  • ✅ Review the recipient list before sending

DON'T:

  • ❌ Create multiple invites for the same person
  • ❌ Use generic names that don't explain the purpose
  • ❌ Set very short expiration dates (people need time to respond)
  • ❌ Include people who are already members

Managing Invites

DO:

  • ✅ Check recipient status regularly
  • ✅ Follow up personally with people who haven't responded
  • ✅ Delete expired or unused invites to keep things organized
  • ✅ Use the audit trail to understand what happened

DON'T:

  • ❌ Delete active invites unless absolutely necessary
  • ❌ Assume everyone reads their email immediately
  • ❌ Create duplicate invites for people who haven't responded yet

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can I send the same invite link to multiple people?

A: No. Each person gets their own unique link. Links cannot be shared because they're tied to a specific email address.

Q: What happens if someone forwards their invite email to someone else?

A: The system verifies email addresses. If someone tries to accept an invitation with a different email than it was sent to, the system will reject it.

Q: Can I see who opened their invite email?

A: Currently, we only track whether they accepted, rejected, or haven't responded. We don't track email opens.

Q: How do I know if someone rejected my invitation?

A: Check the recipients list on the invite details page. Rejected invitations will show a red "Rejected" status.

Q: Can I cancel a specific person's invitation without deleting the whole invite? --- NOT TRUE Specific invited people can be cancelled by the invite creator.

A: Not directly. However, if you delete the entire invite and create a new one without that person, you can achieve the same result.

Q: What happens to invitations when someone leaves the organization?

A: If the person who created the invite leaves, the invitations remain active. The organization can still track and manage them.

Q: Can I change the role assigned to an invite after it's sent?

A: Yes, you can update the invite. However, people who already accepted will keep their original role assignment.

Q: Why did all my pending recipients get cancelled?

A: This happens when one recipient accepts. Since a person can only join once, all other pending invitations from other people/organizations are cancelled to prevent duplicate memberships.

Q: Can I resend an invitation to someone who rejected it?

A: You need to create a new invitation. Rejected invitations cannot be reactivated.

Q: Do recipients need to have an account to accept an invitation?

A: They can create an account when accepting the invitation. The system will guide them through the process.

Support and Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Issue: Recipient says they didn't receive the email

  • Check: Verify the email address is correct in the recipient list
  • Solution: Ask them to check spam/junk folders, or create a new invitation

Issue: Recipient can't accept the invitation

  • Check: Has the invite expired?
  • Check: Is the recipient using the correct email address?
  • Solution: Create a new invitation if needed

Issue: All recipients showing as "Cancelled"

  • Reason: One recipient likely accepted, causing others to be auto-cancelled
  • Solution: This is expected behavior; create new invitations for others if needed

Issue: Recipient wants to accept but clicked "Reject" by mistake

  • Solution: Create a new invitation; rejected invitations cannot be undone

Summary

The invite system is designed to:

  • Make onboarding new members simple and trackable
  • Ensure security through personalized, unique links
  • Provide visibility into who has joined and who hasn't
  • Automatically handle edge cases (expiration, auto-cancellation, reminders)
  • Maintain a clear audit trail for compliance and troubleshooting

By understanding how the system works, you can effectively manage your organization's growth and ensure everyone who needs to join can do so smoothly.

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