Create an external invitation

Before you can use the API, you need to create a new external invitation in the application.

Create the invitation

  1. Open the activity.
  2. Click Distribute.
  3. Click External Invitations > New > External Invitation.
  4. In the Create New External Invitation dialog, type an internal name for the invitation.
  5. Select a community from the Community list.
    This step applies only if you have multiple communities.
  6. Click Create.
    Result: The external invitation details page appears.

Create the invitation message

  1. Type the message title in the Title field.
  2. Add a description of the invitation in the Description field.

Select the message recipients

  1. Click Select Recipients and select members to be included in the invitation.
  2. Select Set recipient size limit and enter the maximum number of recipients who will receive the message.
  3. Select Automatically send to new eligible recipients to send the invitation to new recipients when they become eligible.

Set the activity details

  1. In the Member Facing Activity Name field, type the activity name members will see.
    The member-facing activity name is visible:
    • In the browser tab
    • In Member Hub/Portal activity notifications
    • Wherever the Member Facing Activity Name variable ( [%MemberFacingActivityName%]) appears in the invitation and in subsequent reminders

    This field cannot be empty. If you do not provide a value, the application will use the last member-facing activity name that was provided in the same language. If this value does not exist, the application will use the internal activity name.

    You can change the member-facing activity name at any time while the invitation is open. The updated member-facing activity name is visible to any members who start the activity after the change is saved. However, members who have already started the activity under the old name will still see the old name.

  2. Select the theme recipients will see when they view the activity.
    Note:
    • The selected theme is only visible to this invitation's recipients. Therefore, the same activity can have multiple invitations, each one with a different theme.
    • The selected theme does not affect the appearance of the portal (which uses the active community theme).
    • For power surveys, you can only apply the Active Theme set for the community.
    1. In the Theme area, select a theme from the menu.

      By default, the theme is set to the active community theme.

    2. Click Preview Theme to see what the activity looks like with the selected theme.
      Result: The preview opens in a new browser tab.

Optional: Schedule the send date and time

  1. In theSchedule tab, click Later and add a schedule to this invitation.
  2. Set Date and Time fields.
    Note: Members are not queued until the schedule date and time. If you make a call to /invitationevents/queuedafter/{dateUtc}, no items are returned.

Send the External Invitation

  1. Click Send Now.
    Result: The Send Now dialog appears.
  2. Click Send to deploy this invitation.
    Result: You can now use the /invitationevents/queuedafter/{dateUtc} endpoint to GET a list of members queued to receive your external invitation.