External sharing

When you need to show a file or a collection to someone without an Orbi account, you create a share link. Anyone who has the link opens the content in a browser, with no sign-in and no membership. What they see is read only, so they cannot edit, delete or comment.

#What can be shared?

Content	What the visitor sees
File	A preview of the file (image, PDF, text, markdown) and a download button. If the file is an artifact, the latest version is always shown, so when you update the report the link opens the new one.
Collection	The whole collection, meaning every record, every column and every view. The visitor can switch views, search, sort, filter and open a record to read its details.

Hiding a column in a view does not hide it from a shared collection, because the visitor can switch to another view and see it. If a column must not leave the workspace, do not share the collection, or keep that data in a separate collection.

Files in the trash cannot be shared. When a shared file or collection is deleted, its link stops working.

#The only thing that can be clicked on a shared page

A link covers one piece of content. The content's own data is visible, so a file in a table cell opens and downloads, because that file is part of the table. Anything that points elsewhere stays as plain text.

• Markers in text such as @task.12 or @file.report look like labels but are not clickable.
• Links to other files (such as ./architecture.md) do not open.
• Relation fields show only the name of the linked record, and the record itself is not reachable.
• People fields show a name and an avatar.

So when you share a link, the visitor sees that content only and cannot move from there to any other part of your workspace.

#Creating a link

• File. Open the file in the Files screen and press Share in the title bar.
• Collection. Press Share in the title bar of the collection screen.

In the dialog you can pick an expiry date, and after that date the link stops working on its own. Without a date the link stays open until you revoke it. Create link copies the address to your clipboard and adds it to the list, and you can copy it again at any time.

The same content can have several links, one without expiry and one for a week, for example. The list shows each link's status (active, expired, suspended), who created it, its expiry date and how many times it was opened. Who opened it is not recorded, because the counter only answers "was it opened at all".

Links can be created by Admin and Member roles. Viewers cannot create links.

#Content in a closed space

For a file or collection in a closed space, only that space's manager creates links. A link is suspended in three cases:

• When you move a file or collection into a closed space, links opened by someone who does not manage that space are suspended. The move report says how many there are.
• When you remove someone from a closed space or make them a viewer there, the links they opened in that space are suspended.
• When you demote a manager to member, the links they opened in that space are suspended. The confirmation says how many links this affects; the person also gets a notification.

A suspended link does not open. It is not deleted: the list shows it as Suspended and it is written to the Audit tab. A visitor opening the link sees why it is suspended: the content moved into a closed space, the person who opened the link no longer manages the space, or a manager suspended it by hand. It never reopens on its own; the space's manager brings it back with the Reactivate button in the share dialog, or creates a new link. The Copy button of a suspended link is inert, because the copied address opens nothing.

For content in a closed space the share dialog also warns you: anyone who opens the link sees the content. The shared page of closed-space content does not show the "Join this team" button, because joining the workspace would not open that space.

#Suspending and reactivating a link

In the share dialog every link has a Suspend button; on a suspended link the same spot says Reactivate. Suspension differs from revoking: the link is not deleted, and the same address works again once reactivated. The space's manager, an Admin or the link's creator can suspend and reactivate; a link in a closed space is reactivated only by that space's manager. A visitor of a manually suspended link sees the "suspended by a manager" explanation. Both actions are written to the Audit tab.

#Revoking a link

Press the trash icon in the same dialog and confirm. Revoking takes effect immediately, so people with the link can no longer see the content. It cannot be undone, and you create a new link if you need one. An Admin can revoke any link, a Member only the ones they created.

#Workspace-wide management (Admin)

The Settings › Sharing tab holds three things.

• The external sharing switch. When off, no new links can be created and existing links stop opening. Links are not deleted, and turning the switch back on restores the same addresses. If nothing should leave the workspace, this is the single move.
• The join button switch. This shows or hides the "Join this team" button on shared pages, described below.
• The link list. This shows the workspace's share links with their content, creator, date, expiry and views. Each row can be copied, opened or revoked. Links in closed spaces you are not a member of are not in this list.

#The page the visitor sees

The link opens a plain page. At the top sits which workspace shared what and a "read only" badge, in the middle the content itself, and at the bottom a "Shared with Orbi" note. The page works on phones too. If the visitor is also a member of that workspace and signed in on that browser, an Open in Orbi button appears at the top and opens the content inside the app.

A shared mind model opens for the visitor as a canvas too: they can fold and expand branches, zoom, and read a node's detail; but they cannot change anything, and the dashed links are not clickable. See the Mind models guide for how to read the tree.

The page language follows the visitor's browser. Append ?lang=en or ?lang=tr to the address to pin it.

#When a visitor wants to join the team

A Join this team button sits at the top of the page. When a visitor presses it they sign in with their Orbi account (or create one) and a join request is sent to your workspace. Admins get a notification and an email and approve or decline it under Settings → Team → Join requests. A role is picked on approval, and Viewer is preselected. Details: Roles, invites and sessions.

If you do not want the button at all, turn off the "Show the Join this team button" switch in Settings → Sharing, and share links keep working.

#Security notes

• The address is too long to guess, but anyone who has the link can see the content. For sensitive content set an expiry date and revoke the link when the job is done.
• The shared page is closed to search engines, and clicking an external link on the page does not pass the address on to the other site.
• Creating and revoking links and changing the switch are recorded in the workspace audit trail.
• Agents cannot create links, because opening content to the outside is always a human decision.