Creating Shareable Links

You can create a shareable link, similar to the one in Google Docs, for an article. You can give this link to anyone, and they will be able to view it and perform certain actions on it depending on the type of permissions that's been set.

Creating a Shareable Link

To generate a shareable link, click the share button next to the save draft button.

You can configure additional options, most of which are similar to Google Docs, that allow you to control how much access someone has over the shared article.

• Allow content approval - allows viewers to approve an article. This will not affect the said article's workflow status.
• Hide guidelines and instructions - hides all field guidelines from guest view.
• Allow to view all comments - will show all comments on the content item.

To configure sharing options, click Anyone with the link can view. 

You can select between the following:

• Can view - can view but can't leave comments or edit the article, no login required
• Can comment - can view and comment, but can't edit the article, requires login
• Can edit - can view, comment, and make unrestricted edits to the article, requires login
• Disabled - turns off link sharing

Note that no matter the sharing options you select, any files such as images and zipped files attached will be viewable and downloadable by anyone with the link. It's important to make sure that no files containing sensitive information are attached to an item before generating and sharing its link.

Working on a Shared Article

Viewing a shared article doesn't require logging in. Approving, commenting, and editing it, however, requires that a user be logged in.

If they don't have an account, they can create a guest account. This account only requires a name, an email address, and a password.

Creating a Guest Account

To create a guest account, click the create a guest account link. This is only visible if certain permissions are enabled for the shared article.

Fill out the name, email address, and password fields, then click Create my account and you're good to go! No other actions are necessary.

A guest account can be used to approve, leave a comment, or edit any shared article from EasyContent if the appropriate permissions are enabled.

However, keep in mind that a guest account can't be used to log in to EasyContent normally.

Approving a Shared Article

If approval permission is granted, a shared article will have an approve button above its title.

Clicking this marks the article as "approved by N person" in the workflow status widget in the content editor, but it won't affect its actual workflow status.

This will also change the approve button on the shared link to display cancel approval instead, which can be used to revert the approval decision at any time, provided that it remains in the same workflow status in the backend.

In the workflow status widget in the content editor page, hovering over the guest approval notice will display the names and email addresses of guest users that approved it:

If the article moves on to the next workflow status, the guest approval status will be reset, allowing guest users to approve it again.

Editing a Shared Article

If editing permission is granted, a shared article will have a save draft button and the content editor will be unlocked.

A logged-in guest user will be able to make changes to the article's content, add and delete images and files, and edit information in the metadata & files tab as well as in any additional custom tabs that may be present.