Invitations

The Invitations feature allows you to grow your team by sending secure, time-limited email invites to new users. Instead of creating accounts manually, you can send a link that allows recipients to set up their own profiles and credentials.

This tool provides a centralized dashboard to track who has been invited, monitor the status of those invites, and manage access before a user even joins the platform.

Page Overview

• Purpose: To manage the lifecycle of user invitations from initial send to account activation.
• When to use it: Use this page when you need to add new members to your organization or check if a colleague has accepted their pending invite.
• What you can do here:
  • Send new invitations with custom messages.
  • Monitor invitation statuses (Pending, Accepted, Expired, etc.).
  • Resend invitations to users who missed the original email.
  • Cancel pending invitations to revoke access.
  • Filter and search through your invitation history.

Page Layout

• Top bar: Displays the page title and the Invite User button for starting new invitations.
• Main area: Contains a searchable, filterable table listing all invitations with details like recipient email, status, and expiration date.
• Filters: Located above the table, featuring a search field for emails and a status dropdown.
• Dialogs: Pop-up windows used for entering invitation details or confirming the cancellation of an invite.

Main Features

User Invitation

• What it's for: Sending a registration link to a specific email address.
• Typical use: Inviting a new employee or contractor to the platform.
• Result: The recipient receives an email with your personal message and a link to create their account. Each invitation carries a unique, random 32-character token, so links can only be used by the person who receives the email.

Status Tracking

• What it's for: Seeing the real-time progress of sent invites.
• Typical use: Checking if an invite has "Expired" or if the user has already "Accepted."
• Result: Visual badges update automatically as recipients interact with the email. An invitation moves through five possible states: Pending, Accepted, Declined, Expired, and Cancelled.

Invitation Management

• What it's for: Controlling active invites that haven't been used yet.
• Typical use: Resending an invite that is about to expire or cancelling one sent to the wrong address.
• Result: Resending refreshes the expiration timer; cancelling immediately invalidates the link in the user's inbox.

Who can use it

• Workspace admins (users with the "Send and manage user invitations" permission) can see and act on every invitation sent from the workspace.
• Other team members with invitation rights only see invitations they sent themselves — they cannot see or cancel invitations created by colleagues.
• If the workspace admin has turned invitations off globally, the Invite User button disappears for everyone, regardless of individual permissions.

Detailed Feature Documentation

Send Invitation

• Purpose: To initiate the onboarding process for a new user.
• Where to find it: In the Top bar, look for the Invite User button.
• What you'll see: A "Send Invitation" dialog box with fields for email, message, and expiration.

How to use it:

1. Click Invite User.
2. Enter the recipient's address in the Email Address field.
3. (Optional) Type a note in the Personal Message field to provide context to the recipient.
4. Set the Expiration (Days) (default is 7 days).
5. Click Send Invitation.

Search and Filter

• Purpose: To quickly find specific invitations in a large list.
• Where to find it: In the area above the table.
• What you'll see: The table rows update instantly to match your search terms or selected status.

How to use it:

1. Type an email address into the Search by email... field and click Search (or press Enter).
2. Click the Filter by status dropdown to show only specific types, such as "Pending" or "Expired".
3. To clear filters, select the "Filter by status" placeholder or clear the search text and click Search.

Resend or Cancel

• Purpose: To manage "Pending" invitations that have not yet been accepted.
• Where to find it: In the Actions column of the invitations table (only visible for Pending status).
• What you'll see: A "Resend" icon (circular arrow) and a "Cancel" icon (X).

How to use it:

1. To resend: Click the Resend invitation icon. The system will refresh the link and send a new email.
2. To cancel: Click the Cancel invitation icon.
3. In the confirmation dialog that appears, click Cancel Invitation to finalize.

Complete Workflows

Workflow: Inviting a New Team Member

• Goal: Successfully send an invite and ensure the user receives it.
• Prerequisites: You must have administrative permissions to manage invitations.

Steps:

1. Click Invite User in the top right.
2. In Email Address, type the user's work email.
3. In Personal Message, type "Welcome to the team! Please set up your account by Friday."
4. Set Expiration (Days) to "5".
5. Click Send Invitation.

• Expected result: A success message appears, and a new row with "Pending" status appears in the table.
• If it doesn't work: Check that the email address is formatted correctly. If you see a "Failed to send" error, verify your internet connection or contact your system administrator.

Workflow: Renewing an Expired Invite

• Goal: Give a user more time to accept an invitation that has already passed its expiration date.
• Prerequisites: The invitation must currently show as "Expired" or "Pending".

Steps:

1. Locate the user in the list (use the Search field if necessary).
2. Click the Resend invitation icon in the Actions column.
3. Wait for the loading icon to disappear.

• Expected result: The "Expires" date in the table updates to 7 days from today, and the status returns to "Pending".
• If it doesn't work: If the user has already "Accepted" or "Declined," the resend button will not be available.

Limits and guardrails

• Expiration window: Invitations expire after 7 days by default. You can set any value from 1 to 90 days when sending.
• Personal message length: Up to 1,000 characters. Leave it blank if you prefer.
• Email length: Up to 255 characters, and must be a properly formatted address.
• No duplicates: If a pending, unexpired invitation already exists for an email address, the system will refuse to create a second one — resend the existing invite instead.
• No invites to existing members: If the address already belongs to a Freedam account, the invite will be rejected with a clear message.
• Send limit: A single user can send at most 10 new invitations per minute, and resend at most 5 invitations per minute. This protects recipients from accidental flooding.
• If the email can't be delivered: The invitation is rolled back automatically, so you won't see ghost "Pending" rows for failed sends.

What happens behind the scenes

• When someone clicks a valid invitation link and creates their account, Freedam automatically links the new user to the invitation, marks the invitation as Accepted, and skips the usual email verification step — the invite itself proves the address works.
• When an invitation is resent after it has already expired, its clock is reset: the status flips back to Pending and a fresh 7-day window begins.
• Cancelled invitations cannot be resurrected. If you cancel by mistake, simply send a new invitation to the same email.
• Recipients who open an expired, cancelled, accepted, or declined link see a clear explanation page rather than a generic error.

Tips and Best Practices

• Check Expiration: Invitations expire after 7 days by default. If you know a recipient is on vacation, set the Expiration (Days) to a higher value (up to 90) when sending.
• Personalize: Use the Personal Message field so recipients know the email isn't spam.
• Monitor Status: Regularly filter by "Expired" to see which users failed to sign up, so you can follow up or reclaim the seat.

Troubleshooting

Issue: Invitation link doesn't work for the recipient

• Symptoms: User reports an "Invalid" or "Expired" error page when clicking the email link.
• Cause: The invitation may have passed its expiration date, or it was cancelled by an admin after being sent.
• Fix: Find the invitation in your list and click the Resend invitation icon to generate a fresh link.
• Prevention: Ensure the Expiration (Days) provides enough time for the user to respond.

Issue: "Invite User" button is missing

• Symptoms: The top bar only shows the title "Invitations" without the action button.
• Cause: You may not have the required administrative permissions, or invitations have been disabled for your account.
• Fix: Contact your system administrator to verify your "Admin Invitations" permissions.