> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.magicpages.co/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Connecting your Discourse forum - URL: https://www.magicpages.co/help/community/connecting-your-discourse-forum/ - Published: 2026-10-15T06:57:04.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-15T10:04:33.000Z - Description: Create an API key in Discourse, paste two settings from your portal into your forum, test the connection and turn sign-in on. Step by step, with what to do when a check fails. - Author: Jannis Fedoruk-Betschki - Tags: Help Center & Guides, Community Connecting your forum means pasting one thing from Discourse into your portal, and two things from your portal into Discourse. Then you test the connection, and turn sign-in on when every check passes. Keep two tabs open: your Discourse admin, and the **Discourse** tab in your [Customer portal](https://www.magicpages.co/help/trial/where-can-i-find-the-magic-pages-customer-portal/). Click **Connect your forum** to start. ## 1\. Create an API key in Discourse In Discourse, go to **Admin → Advanced → API keys** and click **New API key**. - Description: anything you'll recognise later, like "Magic Pages". - User level: All users. - Scope: Granular, then tick these: - users: sync sso, show, suspend, anonymize, delete, log out - groups: administer groups - global: read Save it and copy the key. Discourse shows it only once. \[Screenshot: the Discourse API key form with the granular scopes ticked\] ## 2\. Fill in the form in your portal Under **Your Discourse forum**: - **Forum address:** your forum's address, starting with `https://`, like `https://community.example.com`. Use the address the forum ends up on, with or without `www`. - **Admin API key:** the key you just copied. We store it encrypted and never show it again. - **When a member is deleted in Ghost:** what happens to a deleted member's forum account. **Suspend their forum account** is the default, and you can undo it. See [what each choice does](https://www.magicpages.co/help/community/deleted-members-and-discourse/). ## 3\. Paste two settings into Discourse The **Paste these into Discourse** card holds two values. In your forum's admin, open **Login & authentication → Discourse Connect**, and paste them into these settings: - **Discourse Connect URL:** copy it from your portal. It's your site's address followed by `/content/files/discourse/sso`. - **Discourse Connect secret:** click **Copy**. We created this secret for your site, so only paste it into Discourse. ## 4\. Change the other settings The other settings are on three pages of your forum's admin. Change them in this order: - On the same page, turn on **Enable Discourse Connect**. This is the one that sends forum sign-ins to your site, so do it after the two settings above. - Under **Users → Settings**, turn off **Email editable** first. Discourse won't let you turn on **Auth overrides email** while it's on. - On the same page, set **Max username length** to 30\. Discourse counts group names as usernames, and its default of 20 is too short for many tier names. There's more on [group names here](https://www.magicpages.co/help/community/tier-groups-in-discourse/). - Under **Login & authentication → Social logins**, turn on **Auth overrides name** and **Auth overrides email**, so name and email changes in Ghost reach the forum. From the moment **Enable Discourse Connect** is on, the forum's **Log in** button goes to your site. Members see "Forum sign-in is turned off for this site" until you finish step 6, so do steps 4 to 6 in one go. If you ever lock yourself out of the forum, open `yourforum.com/u/admin-login` and Discourse emails you a sign-in link. ## 5\. Test the connection Back in your portal, click **Test connection**. It saves the form and checks eight things, in order: | Check | If it fails | | -------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | The forum answered | Check the forum address and that the forum is online. If it says the address redirects, use the address your browser ends up on. | | Discourse accepted the API key | Copy the key again in full. Check it hasn't been revoked, has the user level "All users", and has the "global › read" scope. | | "Enable Discourse Connect" is on | Turn it on. | | "Discourse Connect URL" points to your site | Paste the URL from your portal again. The test shows what it is now and what it should be. | | "Discourse Connect secret" matches | Copy the secret from your portal again. | | "Auth overrides name" is on | Turn it on. | | "Auth overrides email" is on | Turn off **Email editable** first, then turn it on. | | "Max username length" fits every tier's group name | Raise it to the number the test gives you. Discourse allows at most 60; if a tier needs more, email [help@magicpages.co](mailto:help@magicpages.co). | Fix what's listed in Discourse and click **Test connection** again. If the test says "Your forum is limiting requests", wait the seconds it gives you, then test again. You can close the form after a failed test and come back to it later. **Edit settings** opens it again with every field, the forum address included. \[Screenshot: a passed connection test\] ## 6\. Turn on forum sign-in When every check passes, click **Turn on forum sign-in**. We create a group in Discourse for each paid tier straight away. Then try it yourself: open your forum in a private window, click **Log in**, and sign in with a member's email. ## What you see afterwards The **Forum sign-in** card shows how many members are on the forum, how many tier groups are synced, when the last sync ran, and what happens to deleted members. **Edit settings** opens the form again, and **Open forum** takes you to the forum. Below it, the **Tier groups** card lists every tier and its forum group. [Use the groups to keep categories for paying members](https://www.magicpages.co/help/community/tier-groups-in-discourse/).