diff --git a/src/com/silverwrist/util/DOMElementHelper.java b/src/com/silverwrist/util/DOMElementHelper.java
index 28ee6ae..c5cef6b 100644
--- a/src/com/silverwrist/util/DOMElementHelper.java
+++ b/src/com/silverwrist/util/DOMElementHelper.java
@@ -271,6 +271,27 @@ public final class DOMElementHelper
 
   } // end getAttributeInt
 
+  public final Boolean getAttributeBoolean(String name)
+  {
+    String tmp = elt.getAttribute(name);
+    if (StringUtil.isBooleanTrue(tmp))
+      return Boolean.TRUE;
+    else if (StringUtil.isBooleanFalse(tmp))
+      return Boolean.FALSE;
+    else
+      return null;
+
+  } // end getAttributeBoolean
+
+  public final Boolean getAttributeBoolean(String name, boolean default_val)
+  {
+    if (this.hasAttribute(name))
+      return this.getAttributeBoolean(name);
+    else
+      return (default_val ? Boolean.TRUE : Boolean.FALSE);
+
+  } // end getAttributeBoolean
+
 } // end DOMElementHelper
 
 
diff --git a/src/com/silverwrist/venice/core/AdminOperations.java b/src/com/silverwrist/venice/core/AdminOperations.java
index 5f51bb5..52fd357 100644
--- a/src/com/silverwrist/venice/core/AdminOperations.java
+++ b/src/com/silverwrist/venice/core/AdminOperations.java
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
  * 
  * The Initial Developer of the Original Code is Eric J. Bowersox <erbo@silcom.com>,
  * for Silverwrist Design Studios.  Portions created by Eric J. Bowersox are
- * Copyright (C) 2001 Eric J. Bowersox/Silverwrist Design Studios.  All Rights Reserved.
+ * Copyright (C) 2001-02 Eric J. Bowersox/Silverwrist Design Studios.  All Rights Reserved.
  * 
  * Contributor(s): 
  */
@@ -36,12 +36,17 @@ public interface AdminOperations
 
   public abstract AdminUserContext getUserContext(String username) throws DataException;
 
+  public abstract CommunityContext getCommunityContext(int cid) throws DataException;
+
+  public abstract CommunityContext getCommunityContext(String alias) throws DataException;
+
   public abstract GlobalProperties getProperties();
 
   public abstract void setProperties(GlobalProperties props) throws DataException;
 
   public abstract AdminUserContext createNewAccount(String username, String password, String reminder,
 						    boolean verify_email, boolean lockout, Role base_role,
-						    String description) throws DataException, AccessError;
+						    String description, boolean auto_join)
+      throws DataException, AccessError;
 
 } // end interface AdminOperations
diff --git a/src/com/silverwrist/venice/core/impl/AdminOperationsImpl.java b/src/com/silverwrist/venice/core/impl/AdminOperationsImpl.java
index e7cee63..9431515 100644
--- a/src/com/silverwrist/venice/core/impl/AdminOperationsImpl.java
+++ b/src/com/silverwrist/venice/core/impl/AdminOperationsImpl.java
@@ -140,6 +140,18 @@ class AdminOperationsImpl implements AdminOperations
 
   } // end getUserContext
 
+  public CommunityContext getCommunityContext(int cid) throws DataException
+  {
+    return CommunityUserContextImpl.getCommunityContext(env,cid,true);
+
+  } // end getCommunityContext
+
+  public CommunityContext getCommunityContext(String alias) throws DataException
+  {
+    return CommunityUserContextImpl.getCommunityContext(env,alias,true);
+
+  } // end getCommunityContext
+
   public GlobalProperties getProperties()
   {
     return env.getEngine().getProperties();
@@ -154,7 +166,8 @@ class AdminOperationsImpl implements AdminOperations
 
   public AdminUserContext createNewAccount(String username, String password, String reminder,
 					   boolean verify_email, boolean lockout, Role base_role,
-					   String description) throws DataException, AccessError
+					   String description, boolean auto_join)
+      throws DataException, AccessError
   {
     if (logger.isDebugEnabled())
       logger.debug("createNewAccount(\"" + username + "\",<password>,<reminder>)...");
@@ -166,11 +179,14 @@ class AdminOperationsImpl implements AdminOperations
     ReturnNewUser rnu = UserContextImpl.createAccount(env,env.getRemoteAddress(),username,password,reminder,
 						      verify_email,lockout,0,base_role,description);
 
-    // Need to create a normal user context here for just a minute to autojoin the communities.
-    UserContextImpl rc = new UserContextImpl(env.getGlobalSite(),env);
-    rc.loadNewUser("0.0.0.0",rnu.getUserID(),base_role.getLevel(),username,0,rnu.getCreationDate(),
-		   rnu.getCreationDate());
-    rc.autoJoinCommunities();
+    if (auto_join)
+    { // Need to create a normal user context here for just a minute to autojoin the communities.
+      UserContextImpl rc = new UserContextImpl(env.getGlobalSite(),env);
+      rc.loadNewUser("0.0.0.0",rnu.getUserID(),base_role.getLevel(),username,0,rnu.getCreationDate(),
+		     rnu.getCreationDate());
+      rc.autoJoinCommunities();
+
+    } // end if
 
     // Now reload the user context and return it.
     return AdminUserContextImpl.getAdminUserContext(env,rnu.getUserID());
diff --git a/src/com/silverwrist/venice/core/impl/CommunityUserContextImpl.java b/src/com/silverwrist/venice/core/impl/CommunityUserContextImpl.java
index 76fc760..e0ded1c 100644
--- a/src/com/silverwrist/venice/core/impl/CommunityUserContextImpl.java
+++ b/src/com/silverwrist/venice/core/impl/CommunityUserContextImpl.java
@@ -231,19 +231,23 @@ class CommunityUserContextImpl implements CommunityContext, CommunityBackend
 
   } // end testConferenceAccess
 
-  private static final CommunityUserContextImpl getCommunityPrivate(EnvUser env, Connection conn, int cid)
+  private static final CommunityUserContextImpl getCommunityPrivate(EnvUser env, Connection conn, int cid,
+								    boolean allow_null)
       throws DataException
   {
     Statement stmt = null;
+    ResultSet rs = null;
 
     try
     { // create the query to find the community in the table
       stmt = conn.createStatement();
       StringBuffer sql = new StringBuffer("SELECT signame, alias FROM sigs WHERE sigid = ");
       sql.append(cid).append(';');
-      ResultSet rs = stmt.executeQuery(sql.toString());
+      rs = stmt.executeQuery(sql.toString());
       if (!(rs.next()))
       { // the community entry was not found
+	if (allow_null)
+	  return null;
 	logger.error("Community " + String.valueOf(cid) + " not found in database");
 	throw new DataException("Community #" + String.valueOf(cid) + " was not found in the database.");
 
@@ -251,7 +255,6 @@ class CommunityUserContextImpl implements CommunityContext, CommunityBackend
 
       // initialize the object and check membership info
       CommunityUserContextImpl sc = new CommunityUserContextImpl(env,cid,rs.getString(1),rs.getString(2));
-      SQLUtil.shutdown(rs);
       sc.checkMembership(conn);
       return sc;
 
@@ -264,6 +267,7 @@ class CommunityUserContextImpl implements CommunityContext, CommunityBackend
     } // end catch
     finally
     { // shut down statement to conserve resources
+      SQLUtil.shutdown(rs);
       SQLUtil.shutdown(stmt);
 
     } // end finally
@@ -1674,7 +1678,8 @@ class CommunityUserContextImpl implements CommunityContext, CommunityBackend
 
   } // end getMemberCommunityEntries
 
-  static final CommunityContext getCommunityContext(EnvUser env, int cid) throws DataException
+  static final CommunityContext getCommunityContext(EnvUser env, int cid, boolean allow_null)
+      throws DataException
   {
     Connection conn = null;      // pooled database connection
 
@@ -1683,7 +1688,7 @@ class CommunityUserContextImpl implements CommunityContext, CommunityBackend
       conn = env.getConnection();
 
       // return the community we want
-      return getCommunityPrivate(env,conn,cid);
+      return getCommunityPrivate(env,conn,cid,allow_null);
 
     } // end try
     catch (SQLException e)
@@ -1700,10 +1705,12 @@ class CommunityUserContextImpl implements CommunityContext, CommunityBackend
 
   } // end getCommunityContext
 
-  static final CommunityContext getCommunityContext(EnvUser env, String alias) throws DataException
+  static final CommunityContext getCommunityContext(EnvUser env, String alias, boolean allow_null)
+      throws DataException
   {
     Connection conn = null;      // pooled database connection
     Statement stmt = null;
+    ResultSet rs = null;
 
     try
     { // get a database connection
@@ -1713,9 +1720,11 @@ class CommunityUserContextImpl implements CommunityContext, CommunityBackend
       stmt = conn.createStatement();
       StringBuffer sql = new StringBuffer("SELECT sigid, signame FROM sigs WHERE alias = '");
       sql.append(SQLUtil.encodeString(alias)).append("';");
-      ResultSet rs = stmt.executeQuery(sql.toString());
+      rs = stmt.executeQuery(sql.toString());
       if (!(rs.next()))
       { // no community entry found...
+	if (allow_null)
+	  return null;
 	logger.error("Community '" + alias + "' not found in the database");
 	throw new DataException("The community '" + alias + "' was not found in the database.");
 
@@ -1723,7 +1732,6 @@ class CommunityUserContextImpl implements CommunityContext, CommunityBackend
 
       // initialize the object and check membership info
       CommunityUserContextImpl c = new CommunityUserContextImpl(env,rs.getInt(1),rs.getString(2),alias);
-      SQLUtil.shutdown(rs);
       c.checkMembership(conn);
       return c;
 
@@ -1736,6 +1744,7 @@ class CommunityUserContextImpl implements CommunityContext, CommunityBackend
     } // end catch
     finally
     { // make sure we release the connection before we go
+      SQLUtil.shutdown(rs);
       SQLUtil.shutdown(stmt);
       SQLUtil.shutdown(conn);
 
@@ -1745,7 +1754,7 @@ class CommunityUserContextImpl implements CommunityContext, CommunityBackend
 
   static final CommunityBackend getCommunityBackend(EnvUser env, Connection conn, int cid) throws DataException
   {
-    return getCommunityPrivate(env,conn,cid);
+    return getCommunityPrivate(env,conn,cid,false);
 
   } // end getCommunityBackend
 
diff --git a/src/com/silverwrist/venice/core/impl/UserContextImpl.java b/src/com/silverwrist/venice/core/impl/UserContextImpl.java
index 740c3d8..ca58648 100644
--- a/src/com/silverwrist/venice/core/impl/UserContextImpl.java
+++ b/src/com/silverwrist/venice/core/impl/UserContextImpl.java
@@ -895,13 +895,13 @@ class UserContextImpl implements UserContext, ServiceProvider, PropertyProvider
 
   public CommunityContext getCommunityContext(int cid) throws DataException
   {
-    return CommunityUserContextImpl.getCommunityContext(env,cid);
+    return CommunityUserContextImpl.getCommunityContext(env,cid,false);
 
   } // end getCommunityContext
 
   public CommunityContext getCommunityContext(String alias) throws DataException
   {
-    return CommunityUserContextImpl.getCommunityContext(env,alias);
+    return CommunityUserContextImpl.getCommunityContext(env,alias,false);
 
   } // end getCommunityContext
 
diff --git a/src/com/silverwrist/venice/ui/helpers/ImportHelper.java b/src/com/silverwrist/venice/ui/helpers/ImportHelper.java
index 1fd2910..f4f238b 100644
--- a/src/com/silverwrist/venice/ui/helpers/ImportHelper.java
+++ b/src/com/silverwrist/venice/ui/helpers/ImportHelper.java
@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@ public class ImportHelper
 
     SecurityInfo sinf = adm.getSecurityInfo();
     Role default_role = sinf.getDefaultRole("Global.NewUser");
+    HashMap community_cache = new HashMap();
     ArrayList scroll = new ArrayList();
     NodeList nl = root.getChildNodes();
     for (int i=0; i<nl.getLength(); i++)
@@ -91,8 +92,9 @@ public class ImportHelper
 	String zonehint = null;
 	Role r = default_role;
 	boolean confirm = false, locked = false, hideaddr = false, hidephone = false, hidefax = false;
-	boolean hideemail = false;
+	boolean hideemail = false, autojoin = true;
 	VCard vcard = null;
+	ArrayList join_list = null;
 
 	// BUILD PHASE - Build the data to be used for this user.
 	try
@@ -125,12 +127,13 @@ public class ImportHelper
 
 	    } // end if
 
-	    confirm = hopts.hasAttribute("confirmed");
-	    locked = hopts.hasAttribute("locked");
-	    hideaddr = hopts.hasAttribute("hideaddr");
-	    hidephone = hopts.hasAttribute("hidephone");
-	    hidefax = hopts.hasAttribute("hidefax");
-	    hideemail = hopts.hasAttribute("hideemail");
+	    confirm = loader.loadGetAttributeBoolean(opts,"confirmed",confirm);
+	    locked = loader.loadGetAttributeBoolean(opts,"locked",locked);
+	    hideaddr = loader.loadGetAttributeBoolean(opts,"hideaddr",hideaddr);
+	    hidephone = loader.loadGetAttributeBoolean(opts,"hidephone",hidephone);
+	    hidefax = loader.loadGetAttributeBoolean(opts,"hidefax",hidefax);
+	    hideemail = loader.loadGetAttributeBoolean(opts,"hideemail",hideemail);
+	    autojoin = loader.loadGetAttributeBoolean(opts,"autojoin",autojoin);
 	    if (hopts.hasAttribute("zonehint"))
 	      zonehint = opts.getAttribute("zonehint").trim();
 
@@ -142,6 +145,75 @@ public class ImportHelper
 	    throw new ValidationException("no <vCard/> element found");
 	  vcard = new VCard(opts);
 
+	  // Now process all the child nodes which may have multiple instances.
+	  NodeList nl2 = n.getChildNodes();
+	  for (int j=0; j<nl2.getLength(); j++)
+	  { // get each node in turn, only handle it if it's an element
+	    Node cn = nl2.item(j);
+	    if (cn.getNodeType()!=Node.ELEMENT_NODE)
+	      continue;  // not an element, we don't care
+
+	    if (cn.getNodeName().equals("join"))
+	    { // "join" node - causes the user to join a specified community
+	      h = new DOMElementHelper((Element)cn);
+	      String alias = h.getElementText();
+	      if (StringUtil.isStringEmpty(alias))
+		continue;  // ignore this value - it doesn't make sense
+
+	      // Translate the alias into a community context.
+	      CommunityContext comm = (CommunityContext)(community_cache.get(alias));
+	      if (comm==null)
+	      { // call down to the AdminOperations object to get a community context
+		try
+		{ // attempt to get the community context
+		  try
+		  { // the "alias" may specify a numeric community ID - try that first
+		    comm = adm.getCommunityContext(Integer.parseInt(alias));
+
+		  } // end try
+		  catch (NumberFormatException nfe)
+		  { // well, it wasn't a numeric value, so fahgeddaboudit
+		    comm = null;
+
+		  } // end catch
+
+		  if (comm==null) // OK, try to get it by alias name
+		    comm = adm.getCommunityContext(alias);
+
+		} // end try
+		catch (DataException de)
+		{ // this should only happen in the case of database failures
+		  throw new ValidationException("database failure resolving alias \"" + alias + "\"");
+
+		} // end catch
+
+		if (comm!=null)  // cache it for next time
+		  community_cache.put(alias,comm);
+					       
+	      } // end if (we needed to look up community in database)
+
+	      if (comm==null)
+		continue;  // ignore this - the community is specified wrong
+
+	      // Figure out the role we want to join as.
+	      SecurityInfo csinf = comm.getSecurityInfo();
+	      Role my_role = null;
+	      String str_role = h.getElement().getAttribute("role");
+	      if (!(StringUtil.isStringEmpty(str_role)))
+		my_role = csinf.getRole(str_role);
+	      if (my_role==null)
+		my_role = csinf.getDefaultRole("Community.NewUser");
+
+	      // Save off join information in a list.
+	      if (join_list==null)
+		join_list = new ArrayList();
+	      join_list.add(comm);
+	      join_list.add(my_role);
+
+	    } // end if ("join" element spotted)
+
+	  } // end for
+
 	} // end try
 	catch (ValidationException e)
 	{ // record the error and continue
@@ -157,7 +229,8 @@ public class ImportHelper
 	// EXECUTE PHASE - make this user go!
 	try
 	{ // create the user context
-	  AdminUserContext uc = adm.createNewAccount(username,password,reminder,confirm,locked,r,description);
+	  AdminUserContext uc = adm.createNewAccount(username,password,reminder,confirm,locked,r,
+						     description,autojoin);
 
 	  // set up the contact info
 	  ContactInfo ci = uc.getContactInfo();
@@ -195,6 +268,20 @@ public class ImportHelper
 
 	  } // end if
 
+	  if (join_list!=null)
+	  { // set up the community membership
+	    for (int j=0; j<join_list.size(); j+=2)
+	    { // get the community and role, and set the membership status
+	      CommunityContext comm = (CommunityContext)(join_list.get(j));
+	      Role my_role = (Role)(join_list.get(j+1));
+	      comm.setMembership(uc.getUID(),my_role.getLevel());
+
+	    } // end for
+
+	    join_list.clear();  // dump the excess junk
+
+	  } // end if
+
 	} // end try
 	catch (AccessError ae)
 	{ // caught an access error creating user
@@ -221,9 +308,9 @@ public class ImportHelper
 	String tmp = "[id " + StringUtil.encodeHTML(id) + "] user \"" + username + "\" created successfully.";
 	scroll.add(tmp);
 
-      } // end if
+      } // end if ("venice-user" element found)
 
-    } // end for
+    } // end for (each element in the node list)
 
     // Gather the scroll items together to form the message.
     message = StringUtil.join(scroll,"<BR>\n");
diff --git a/src/com/silverwrist/venice/util/XMLLoader.java b/src/com/silverwrist/venice/util/XMLLoader.java
index 32175a1..92be19a 100644
--- a/src/com/silverwrist/venice/util/XMLLoader.java
+++ b/src/com/silverwrist/venice/util/XMLLoader.java
@@ -382,6 +382,22 @@ public class XMLLoader
 
   } // end configGetAttributeBoolean
 
+  public final boolean loadGetAttributeBoolean(Element elt, String attr_name, boolean default_val)
+      throws ValidationException
+  {
+    String tmp = elt.getAttribute(attr_name);
+    if (StringUtil.isStringEmpty(tmp))
+      return default_val;
+    if (StringUtil.isBooleanTrue(tmp))
+      return true;
+    if (StringUtil.isBooleanFalse(tmp))
+      return false;
+    logger.error(attr_name + "= attribute in <" + elt.getTagName() + "/> element is not a valid boolean");
+    throw new ValidationException(attr_name + "= attribute in <" + elt.getTagName()
+				  + "/> element is not a valid boolean");
+
+  } // end loadGetAttributeBoolean
+
   /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    * External static operations
    *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------