Steven Zahm@ Ze’ev Ionis
re: I would like to have the user/contact be able to edit a sub-set of their own information (e.g. change phone number or add a picture or an email).
1) Can I do this?
Yes. You need at least the Link extension. Form is also recommended.
re: Can I use the import tool (CSV Import) to not only import the contacts, but automatically make them users with required level of security.
No, but there are a couple few free plugins that you could use to import your CSV file to create users. Here is one that seems to be highly rated.
re: I do not have email addresses for the contacts. If I create a bogus email, is that a huge issue? e.g. use street number @ street name.com
Yes, that will be a problem… how will the user know that… how would the user reset their password since a dummy email was added… what would prevent someone who knew that bogus email from taking over that account… and so on.
This is not even really a Connections issue as WordPress depends heavily on an accurate email address as a requirement. If you import a bogus email in Connections, then if a user were to register on the site with their real email, there would be no way to link their user account and their Connections entry.
I hope that helps!