How to add and invite your audience to the content hub

The Users section of the content hub is used to manage the visitors (users) of your content hub.

In this article we'll explain the three ways that users can be added to the Users list of your content hub:

• Importing or synchronizing users from a connected event
• Adding a user manually
• Adding a direct content hub link to a connected event's app menu

We'll also explain:

• How to access the user list in the content hub (and the different user statuses).
• How to manage email templates and send emails to your content hub users.
• How the content hub users or visitors can actually access the content hub.

Importing and synchronizing users from connected events

Importing users from connected events

When you connect a content hub to a workspace, the workspace attendees (user list) is not automatically imported into the content hub.

You can choose whether or not to import the user list after the connection was made, and can manually synchronize the users between the content hub and the connected event(s) lists at any time after the connection was made.

To do so, in the content hub go to the Settings > Connected events tab. Here you can see a list of the events that are connected to the content hub:

To import the users from a connected event, click on the Import users button for the event. This will import the users from the event into the users list in the content hub.

Synchronizing the content hub user list based on user lists in connected events

Once you have imported a user list from connected event into a content hub, you can at any time go back to the Settings > Connected events tab, and use the Sync users button to update the user list in the content hub based on the user list of the connected event:

Frequently asked questions on user imports and synchronisations

Q: What happens during the first import of users from a connected event?
A: All users from the workspace are imported, except for users with a "canceled" status

Q: What happens when synchronizing the content hub user list with that of a connected event (whose users have already been imported or synchronized in the past)?
A: The content hub user list is updated with any new users that were added to the workspace since the initial import or the last snychronization (except for any newly added users who were subsequently canceled).

Q: What happens if, during a synchronization, a workspace user has already been imported to the content hub user list, and has subsequently been canceled on the workspace user list?
A: The user is not canceled in the content hub user list. This is to cater for the cases where a user can be in more than one connected workspace, and canceled in one workspace and not the other.

Q: What happens if a user has a "canceled" status in the content hub user list, but is not canceled in the connected workspace user list?
A: There is no change to the user's status in the connected workspace. The user remains  "canceled" in the content hub user list.

Q: What happens if a user present in the content hub list and the connected workspace list has diverging data (different user information)?
A: The content hub user data is always updated based on the workspace's user data.

Accessing the users list in the content hub in Backstage

Like for a workspace, the list of users for the content hub is available in the Users section via the main menu, and shows the users' names, email addresses, and status in the content hub:

• Not invited: User has not received an email from the content hub
• Invited, not activated: User has received an email from the content hub but has not accessed the content hub.
• Inactive: All users that have not yet accessed the content hub (irrespective of whether they have received an email or not).
• Active: User has received an email from the content hub and has accessed the content hub

This is also where you will see the users that are imported from connected workspaces, and where you can add users manually to the content hub, or remove (cancel) them.

Adding new users manually, searching the user list, canceling users

From the Users list in the content hub you can:

• Add new users manually, by clicking New user.
• Search for users using the Search bar.
• Cancel existing users by selecting them in the list and clicking on Cancel user.
  If a user is canceled they will no longer have access to the content hub, either via the container app or the email invitation link. Once a user has been canceled they cannot be un-canceled.
• Send emails to users, using the Send email button.
• Access and edit the individual users information, by clicking on a user's name in the list:
  

This user information is populated when importing users from the connected events, or when adding users to the content hub manually. The "first name", "last name", and "email address" fields are mandatory. Each user in the content hub must have a unique email address (two users cannot have the same email address in the content hub).

These user fields can be used to personalize the content of the emails (using placeholders tags) that are received by participants, and to set up custom targeting when sending emails.

Sending an email to users

You can send emails to your content hub audience from the Users section.

This is done in the same way as for a workspace. More information on how to send emails.

Managing emails in the content hub

Emails in the content hub are stored in the form of templates. To access the content hub email templates, go to the Design > Emails section of the content hub:

Your content hub will contain two default templates that you can edit and use:

• Invitation to join a content hub: A default email you can use to invite your visitors to access the content hub, that will contain a link to access the content hub via their browser.

• New content available: A default email you can use to inform users that new content has been added to the content hub, and that also contains a link to access the content hub.

You can also create new customized templates from scratch. For more information on how to edit the existing default templates, or how to create new email templates, please refer to the email editor article.

How do attendees access the content hub?

Users who are added to the content hub user list in Backstage can access the content hub:

• By clicking on the link in the invitation email sent from the content hub via Backstage. Content hubs are only shown when opening the invitation link in the browser. Content hubs are not visible in the mobile app.
  Clicking on the link in the email will by default allow the user to log in via Email login. Users can also log-in via SSO, if SSO is configured. More information
  
  
• Directly via the "My events" list in their browser only, on mobile or desktop (content hubs are not visible in the mobile app):
  • Users that were added to a content hub via import or sync from a connected event will only see the content hub there once they have accessed the connected event.
  • Users that were added manually to the content hub (via the Users tab) will always see the content hub in the event list.

Users who are not added to the content hub user list, but are added to the user list of a connected event can:

• Access the content hub by clicking on the content hub link in the app menu.
  Doing this will automatically add the attendee to the linked content hub's user list, therefore allowing them access to it.

If a user is on a connected event user list, but not actually added to the content hub user list:

• The user will not see the content hub on the "My events" list in their browser.
• The user will not be able to access the content hub, even if they use a direct link to the content hub.

Setting up a standalone and dedicated registration page for your content hub

In the same way as you can use a workspace registration page to register attendees for your event and give them access to the event app, you can also design a workspace registration page so that its purpose is to provide your attendees the ability to register to and gain access to a content hub.

This means that, for attendees who register, the access to the app serves as an intermediary for accessing the registration page:

1. Design your workspace registration page so that it focuses only on the content hub, by branding and configuring its look and feel:
   
   Content hub registration landing page
   
   
   Content hub registration form
   
   
2. Promote the content hub and share the registration URL with your audience (publicly or privately). If you are inviting your attendees to register via an email, you can customize the email template's branding and copy. The registrant must also verify their email address in order to finalize their registration:
   
   
   
3. Attendees can then access the event app associated with the registration page, and from there can access the content hub using the Content hub app menu item:
   
   The "intermediary" event app's design can be branded and its content can be configured based on your needs.
   
   
4. Attendees can then explore the content hub:To help them access the content hub again easily and quickly, they can:
   - Bookmark the content hub in their browser.
   - Use the magic link they received via email.
   - Return to the event app and use the Content hub app menu item.

Setting up SSO on your content hub

When you invite your audience to access the content hub by sending them an invitation email, the invitation link will by default take the user to a page where they can log-in to the content hub using their email address (via a magic link).

The link present in the default invitation email ("👉 Join the {{_event_name}} Content Hub") is a {{_webapp_link}}:

You can modify this link so that your users can also use any SSO that is configured on the container app. The link will need to be a direct link to the content hub on the browser, for example:

Remember to Save your changes in the email template.

With SSO enabled, when your attendees access the invitation link they will see the Email login and the Single Sign On access buttons:

IMPORTANT: users can only use SSO to access the content hub content hub IF:

1. The are added to the Users list of the content hub.
2. They follow an invitation link that has been modified (as explained above).
3. The content hub workspace is in Production status.
4. The content hub is associated to a container app that has SSO configured.