Creating and inviting members into whatsapp groups via links

WhatsApp group chats are now a common feature for WhatsApp users who want to organise a holiday, a meal or just keep in touch with friends who are miles apart. Although thanks to WhatsApp's 256 member rule (the maximum number of people in one group), the 'just a few friends connecting'message seems to have gone on the window. The +1.5 billion WhatsApp users are using Groups and businesses want to get into the arena. In the last six months, I have been approached by businesses that are using them for; news roundups, research panels, Insta-pod recruitment, traffic generators, social planning and (gulp) pitching stories. All interesting ideas - and there are millions more - but how do you keep the groups usable? Sure you can mute them (and large groups recommend you do) but that is not what admins or WhatsApp need. Instead, WhatsApp groups need to focus on be useful and give a good amount of signal.

whatsapp how to create a group

Go to the CHATS tab in WhatsApp.

Tap Menu > New group.

Alternatively, tap New chat  > New group.

Search for or select contacts to add to the group. Then tap the green arrow.

Type in a group subject. This will be the name of the group that all participants will see.

The subject limit is 25 characters.

You can add emoji to your subject by tapping Emoji .

Optionally, add a group icon by tapping the Camera icon, where you can choose to use your Camera, Gallery or Search Web for an image. Once set, the icon will appear next to the group in the CHATS tab.

Tap the green check mark when you're finished.

Inviting into groups via links

If you're the group admin, you can invite people to join a group simply by sharing a link with them. To share a group invite link:

1. Go to the group in WhatsApp, then tap the subject of the group.

Alternatively, tap and hold the group in the CHATS tab. Then tap Menu > Group info.

Tap Invite via link.

2. Choose to Send link via WhatsApp, Copy link or Share link via another app.

3. You can also share a group invite using a QR code by tapping Menu > Print group QR code. To print the QR code, your phone needs to be connected to a printer. Android recipients of the QR code can scan the code using a third-party QR code reader. iPhone recipients can scan the code using their phones' cameras.

The admin can Revoke link at any time to make the previous invite link invalid and create a new link.

Note: Any WhatsApp user you share an invite link with can join the group, so only use this feature with trusted individuals. It's possible for someone to forward the link to other people. If so, those other people can also join the group and the group admin won't be asked to approve those other people before they join.