# How to Join Wusoup > [!info] Before joining > > Please first read the site's [[About/Standards|Community Standards]] and [[About/Mission|mission]] to make sure that this is actually something you're interested in doing. There's effort involved, and _many_ folks won't like Wusoup's strict standards. Wusoup is a **members-only** community with an emphasis on [[About/Mission|quality over quantity]]. The number of spots for new members may be tuned over time to make sure that the community's [[About/Mission|mission]] and unique culture can be safeguarded. For now, joining is simple: 1. Visit [www.wusoup.com](https://www.wusoup.com), or use an invite link from an existing member. 2. Create a free account with a non-disposable email address. 3. Confirm that you're at least 19 years old and accept the Community Standards. 4. Set up a profile and start exploring. ## By invitation Wusoup's invitation system is experimental, and may be enabled or disabled while the community is being tuned. When invites are available, members can earn single-use [[Usage/Invites|invites]] that they can share with friends to allow them to join the community. By sharing an invite with someone, you **vouch for them**: - If they become a quality contributing member, you'll **earn extra karma**. - If they break the [[About/Standards|Community Standards]], you'll **lose karma**. The idea is to encourage members to be discerning with who they invite, and maybe check in with the person _before_ inviting them - to see if they're on board with Wusoup's unusual [[About/Mission|mission]]. ## By application Application-based joining isn't currently active. If it's added later, it'll be for the obvious reason that not everyone interested in joining will know someone who's already a member. Such users may have a few extra hurdles to pass: 1. Applicants may be asked to **set up their profile in advance** and to **write a little about why they want to join**. They may then need to be approved by an existing member or two. The motivation would be to help weed out the most common zero-effort users that don't contribute anything. 2. New members will initially be **in probation**, limiting their exposure and some features - until they've interacted with some existing members and received [[Usage/Reputation#When to upvote|upvotes]]. The idea would be to provide a path for *genuinely interested* folks to join, but to make it _just a bit of a hassle_ as a positive filter. If it's too much effort for someone to set up a proper profile and write a few sentences about themselves, then Wusoup's probably not going to be a good fit. ## Guest mode Guest mode isn't currently available. The idea is to later allow non-members to easily check out the community, its principles, and its standards. There'd be no commitment, and no sign-up necessary. Basically, if we're asking new users to make an effort to try join - it's only fair to first let them clearly know what the place is about. Then they can decide for themselves if it's worth the effort or not. > [!info] Limitations > Guest users do not have a profile, cannot send messages, and can only see a small proportion of Wusoup users that have *specifically opted in* to allow their profiles to be viewed by folks outside the community.