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Sharing a Site: Getting Started Guide

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Prepare your content, give users the right access, and publish the site when it is ready. A Published site is available only to users who have permission; it is not open to the public internet.

Prepare the Site

A new site normally starts as Draft. Only administrators can access it while you organize documents, review site settings, and add users. Draft sites hold site invitations until publication.

Before sharing:

  • Check that documents and folders are organized for the intended audience.
  • Review the site's settings and the information it contains.
  • Choose the minimum access each user needs.

Add Users

  1. Open Users for a site you administer, or use the main Users page to manage access across sites.
  2. Choose New User to open the Add users dialog, then enter each user's name and email address. You can add rows, enter a list, or import a supported file.
  3. Continue to Access. Select the existing sites to share and choose a permission for each site. Set access expiry where available.
  4. Review the users, effective access, and invitation outcomes before confirming Add users.
  5. Check Results for completed users and any issues that need attention.

You can share several sites with the same users and use different permissions for each site. An eligible administrator can also create a separate site for each user. See Bulk User Onboarding for supported imports, limits, groups, tags, and advanced options.

Adding users requires a plan and administrative permissions that support sharing. Existing users retain their existing profile and interface preferences.

Choose Permissions

Use the minimum role needed for the user's work:

  • Viewer: View files.
  • Downloader: View and download files.
  • Uploader: View, download, and upload files.
  • Editor: View, download, upload, and organize files.
  • Admin: Manage the site's users, settings, and content.

Available roles and actions depend on site and organization policies. Review the effective access shown before confirming. See Managing Users for details.

Publish When Ready

  1. Open Site Settings > General.
  2. Change the site status from Draft to Published.
  3. Save your changes.

Publishing makes the site available to users you have given access to and sends pending site invitations. Each newly available Published site sends its own email with a link to that site. Existing Clear Ideas users receive a site access email; new users receive an invitation to join and access the site.

You can publish several prepared sites together: open the Sites list, show the selection controls, select the sites, and choose Publish. Review the results for any status changes or invitations that need attention. You can also use Move to Draft to limit access to administrators again.

Sharing a Fund Site and a Separate Site

If an investor is added to a Published fund site and their own Draft site, the fund site's invitation is sent immediately. Their separate site's invitation is sent when you publish that site. If both sites are Draft, neither sends a site invitation until publication. If both are Published, each sends its own email.

These invitation emails are separate from ordinary activity notification digests. An hourly notification preference can combine eligible activity across sites; it does not combine or delay site invitations. See Notifications.

Help Invitees Get Started

Newly invited free users may start with a simplified interface focused on reviewing their shared sites and documents. They can restore the additional navigation tools by selecting Show the full Clear Ideas interface in Settings > Profile and saving. This preference changes the interface; their site permissions still determine what they can access or change.

See Profile Settings for details.