Boards
Sharing a board
Three levels of access, from a workspace teammate to a link that needs no account, and what each one can actually do.
If somebody needs to see a board, the first question is whether they should also see everything else in the workspace. That decides which of the three routes you want. ## The three routes | Route | Who it suits | What they get | |---|---|---| | Workspace membership | Colleagues on the project | Every board in the workspace, plus the shared library and pool | | Board invitation | Someone who needs one board | That board only, as Editor or Viewer | | Public link | Clients, review, anyone external | That board, read-only, no account needed | Most access happens through the first one and never touches the Share panel. Anyone in the workspace can already open the board and will show up as a cursor while you work. ## Inviting to one board Open **Share** and add them by email, choosing a role. - **Editor** can change the board: add, generate, move, delete, comment - **Viewer** can look and cannot change anything An invitation that has not been accepted can be resent or removed from the same panel. :::caution[An Editor spends your credits] Generating costs the workspace that owns the board, so an Editor on your board is spending from your pool. That is usually what you want with a collaborator and rarely what you want with a client. ::: ## The public link **Copy public link** produces a read-only URL that works without an account. Send it and the recipient sees the board. They see live updates, so a link sent on Monday shows Tuesday's work without being resent. That suits an ongoing review. It also means anyone still holding the link is watching whatever you do next, so for a fixed review, share a board that holds only the work you want seen. What a public viewer does not get: - Tool cards, so they never see the machinery - The pills of runs in progress - Other people's cursors - Any route into your library or your other boards :::note[The link is the credential] Anyone holding the URL can open the board, so it travels as far as the person you sent it to chooses to forward it. Treat it as public rather than as private-but-unlisted. ::: ## Which to reach for - A colleague who will be on this project for weeks → **workspace** - A freelancer helping on one thing → **board invitation as Editor** - A client who only needs to look → **public link** - A stakeholder who wants it inside their own page → **embed**, covered in [embedding a board](/docs/using-plnty/boards/embedding-a-board/) ## Working together once they are in Everyone on a board sees the same thing at the same time, with cursors labelled by name. There is no checkout, no saving and no conflict to resolve, which [working at the same time](/docs/using-plnty/the-canvas/working-at-the-same-time/) covers properly.If somebody needs to see a board, the first question is whether they should also see everything else in the workspace. That decides which of the three routes you want.
The three routes
Section titled “The three routes”| Route | Who it suits | What they get |
|---|---|---|
| Workspace membership | Colleagues on the project | Every board in the workspace, plus the shared library and pool |
| Board invitation | Someone who needs one board | That board only, as Editor or Viewer |
| Public link | Clients, review, anyone external | That board, read-only, no account needed |
Most access happens through the first one and never touches the Share panel. Anyone in the workspace can already open the board and will show up as a cursor while you work.
Inviting to one board
Section titled “Inviting to one board”Open Share and add them by email, choosing a role.
- Editor can change the board: add, generate, move, delete, comment
- Viewer can look and cannot change anything
An invitation that has not been accepted can be resent or removed from the same panel.
The public link
Section titled “The public link”Copy public link produces a read-only URL that works without an account. Send it and the recipient sees the board.
They see live updates, so a link sent on Monday shows Tuesday’s work without being resent. That suits an ongoing review. It also means anyone still holding the link is watching whatever you do next, so for a fixed review, share a board that holds only the work you want seen.
What a public viewer does not get:
- Tool cards, so they never see the machinery
- The pills of runs in progress
- Other people’s cursors
- Any route into your library or your other boards
Which to reach for
Section titled “Which to reach for”- A colleague who will be on this project for weeks → workspace
- A freelancer helping on one thing → board invitation as Editor
- A client who only needs to look → public link
- A stakeholder who wants it inside their own page → embed, covered in embedding a board
Working together once they are in
Section titled “Working together once they are in”Everyone on a board sees the same thing at the same time, with cursors labelled by name. There is no checkout, no saving and no conflict to resolve, which working at the same time covers properly.