External links allow administrators to securely share specific files with clients, partners, or consultants outside the project, facilitating efficient collaboration with authorized individuals while maintaining control over access and permissions of shared content.
The main benefit of this feature is that such users don't have to be invited to the project and don't have to register an account with Ideals to access those files.
💡 Sharing files externally is available with Premier and Enterprise subscriptions only.
Creating external links
To create an external link:
Right-click the file you'd like to share.
Select Share and then Create external link.
💡 Only PDF convertible file types and Excel files can be shared externally.
In the appeared modal, select your preferences.
Access type:
Anyone with a link: allows anyone with the link to access the file, requiring email verification via a confirmation code.
Limited access: enables users to specify which emails or email domains can access the file, with verification via email code.
Expiration date: set the expiry date for link validity. By default, it is set to 90 days. The link will be automatically disabled when the expiration date is reached.
Notifications: enable notifications on link activity with the desired frequency:
Instantly: get notified immediately on each visit.
Daily in the morning: get summarized digest on link activity at 8:00 AM for the past 24 hours.
Daily in the afternoon: get summarized digest on link activity at 4:00 PM for the past 24 hours.
Weekly: get summarized digest on link activity on Mondays at 8:00 AM for the past 7 days.
ℹ️ Daily and weekly digests are sent only if there has been any activity in the past 24 hours and past 7 days, respectively. Only the link creator is notified about activity.
Watermarks: apply watermarks on viewing online and downloaded PDF versions. To ensure a uniform approach to the project watermarks, the applied pattern will be taken from the project settings.
Download permissions: allow downloading as PDF or in original format.
Once you have reviewed and selected all required settings, click Create.
You will be directed to the second screen, where you can send a link right away to any specified emails.
Managing external links
All created external links can be found in the Documents menu on the left navigation panel – External links.
You can edit all the parameters for the link, including enabling and disabling it, to ensure full control over link access as the project progresses.
Administrators can copy any of the already existing links to share them with external users or send via email.
Additionally, for a document with an already existing external link, you can quickly access these options in the Share menu:
Copy external link
Edit external link if there's one link or View external links if there's more than one.
Copying external link is also available in another context menu item: Copy link – External sharing.
Accessing shared links
External stakeholders receive the link via email or any other channel chosen by the administrator.
If the link was sent from the project, the automatic email informs them of who has shared the file and includes an additional message if added by the administrator. They can then click through to the sign-in flow.
Stakeholders need only verify their email address with a code to access the file.
Stakeholders who haven't previously accepted Ideals Terms of Use and Privacy Policy will need to check the box to agree before they can view the file.
If the file is moved or deleted or access is restricted, a generic error message is displayed to prevent information disclosure.
Insights
The insights page provides key analytics for documents shared via external links, helping administrators track engagement and usage. To access insights, click View insights on the External links page.
Here you may track the following key metrics:
Pages viewed, total visits, downloads, unique visitors, and total/average viewing time.
Page-by-page view time to identify high-interest sections.
Visitor list, number of visits, pages viewed, and last activity.
You can use the following filters to focus on specific data:
Narrow activity results in a chosen period.
Switch between different links if applicable.
Select a specific link's version if applicable.
Filter by individual visitors or specific domains to track particular users' activity.
