Assigning passwords

Hi,

I have a database of 500+ users who have never received a password (up until this point the database was being used purely for administration purposes).

I understand all passwords are hashed and cannot be resent, however I now want to give users access to the site.

I could send out an email advising every user to click Lost Password, but would prefer a password be sent to them.

Is there any reason why I can't export the entire database, delete all the users in Joomla/CB, and then re-import the database with generated passwords sent to each user in the email confirmation?

Is there any reason why I can't export the entire database, delete all the users in Joomla/CB, and then re-import the database with generated passwords sent to each user in the email confirmation?

I suppose you could. I think CB Juice will send the emails, but I can't recall. I'd recommend testing this with 1 test user to see if it works as expected. Then do it in batches of 50 users if working ok (500 registrations at once would likely timeout or run out of memory).

Another option is to enable admin approval and random password generation within CB > Configuration > Registration. Then unapprove all of your users (ensure they're confirmed and enabled first). Now approve them and it should send them an email with their newly generated password informing them their sign up has been approved. This also works with confirmation so you can use either/or to attempt to generate passwords. As with the above suggestion test with a test user to ensure it's working as expected.