On Thu, Mar 22, 2018 at 09:07 am, Al Ludwick / NN4ZZ wrote:

If i create a “pending subscription” message, my understanding it that it
is sent out separately and a reply may come later or not at all. And the
owner/moderators would need to wait to get the reply and keep track of it.
And coordinate and decide when to make a decision on the application.

When you get the reply, make a decision. If you never get a reply, you may ignore the pending member.

If so, my preference would be to present the question when the user first asks
to join and include the reply in the approval email.

You need to create a Pending Subsription member notice anyway because potential members can request subscription via email.