Share reports and documents with people outside Onplana

Clients, sponsors, and auditors often need to see a report or a document without getting an Onplana login. Two sharing mechanisms cover this: public links for reports, and email-verified links for documents. Both are revocable at any time.

Share a report

1. Build or load a saved report on the Reports page, then select Share in the toolbar.

2. Select Create Share Link. Optionally check Password-protect this link (minimum 4 characters) and Set expiration date.

3. Copy the link and send it. Anyone with the link (and the password, if set) can view the report in their browser, no account needed.

A report can be shared by the person who saved it, and by organization owners and admins. To cut off access, open the same Share dialog and select Revoke next to the link; revocation is immediate and cannot be undone (you can always create a fresh link).

Share a document

Document sharing works differently, and deliberately so: instead of a password, each recipient proves they own their email address.

1. Open the file’s preview from its document folder and select Share.

2. In the Share document dialog, enter the recipient email addresses (one or more, up to 50).

3. Optionally set an expiry date, and choose whether to share a frozen snapshot (the default) or check Share live version. If your organization sets a default link expiry, the dialog says so, for example With no date picked, the link expires after 30 days, your organization’s default.

4. Send. Each recipient receives a personal link by email and must confirm their address with a one-time code before viewing.

Because every link is personal and email-verified, a forwarded link reveals nothing: whoever opens it still has to pass the code check for the original recipient’s address.

Note

By default you share a snapshot frozen at the moment of sharing, so later edits to the document never leak to outside recipients. Check Share live version only when recipients should always see the current content.

The dialog shows the access list for each share: who has verified, when they last opened it, and how often. From there you can revoke a single recipient or the entire share; either takes effect immediately, and revoking a share also deletes its frozen snapshot copy.

Set the organization’s sharing rules

Everything that leaves the workspace is set in one place: Organization settings → Sharing, which Owners and Admins can open. It has up to three sections; a section your workspace does not offer is left out.

Sharing outside the workspace

• Who can share documents outside the workspace shows which roles may share right now (Guests never can). The rule itself is the row Share documents outside the workspace in the permission matrix, and the link beside it opens that row on Roles and permissions.
• Default link expiry applies to new shares when the person sharing picks no date, quotes included. A date they pick still wins, and links already sent keep their expiry. It saves as soon as you pick.
• Show plans on other websites lets people who can share a project put a read-only copy of its plan on another website. Only the Owner can turn it on or off. See Embed the plan on your own website.

External access

• Access requests from outside lets people outside the workspace ask for access to a project or document whose owner allows it. Nothing is shared until you approve. Turning it off asks first, because every request link in the workspace stops working at once. See Request access.

What you send

• Onplana line on what you send adds a short “Run your projects with Onplana, free” line at the end of quotes, shared documents, status emails, intake forms and Teams cards. When off, they carry only your content. The Free plan keeps this line; any paid plan can hide it. The line comes after your content on quote emails and the quote page, document share emails and the shared document page, the one-time code emails, status report emails, the shared report and shared plan pages, the public intake form, and Teams channel cards. Invitation emails never carry it. Turning it off on a paid plan removes it from all of them at once.

Best practices

1. Default to snapshot, not live, for document shares. Snapshots freeze content at the moment of sharing. Live means future edits leak. Use live only when continuous updates are intentional.
2. Set expiry dates on shares. Open- ended shares accumulate. A 30-day or 90-day expiry forces refresh, which is the right moment to re-verify the recipient still needs access.
3. Use password-protection on reports carrying sensitive data. Reports are public-by-link; password protection adds the second layer. Documents use email verification, which is stronger.
4. Revoke immediately when access is no longer needed. Onplana revocation is instantaneous. Don’t wait for expiry if access shouldn’t continue.
5. Track shares via the access list. The dialog shows who’s verified, when they last opened the link, and how often. Useful for engagement metrics and security audits.

Troubleshooting / common pitfalls

• Recipient says the link doesn’t work. Three causes: (a) expired; (b) revoked; (c) wrong recipient (email mismatch). Check share status.
• Email verification code not arriving. Spam filter, or wrong recipient address. Verify the address was entered correctly; resend.
• Sharing rejected for a large binary. Per the 25 MB cap on most setups, large binary files don’t share by link. Use cloud storage for these.
• Snapshot stays linked to live edits. It shouldn’t, snapshots freeze content. If you see leaks, verify the share was created with snapshot mode (not Live).
• Share link still loads after folder restriction. Restriction revokes active links. If a link still loads after restrict, file a bug.

How this combines with other features

• External shares + Folder sharing. Per-folder restriction revokes active external links. See Share folders and lists.
• External shares + Office editor. External viewers see read-only; no editor access. See Edit Office documents in browser.
• External shares + Reports. Report share is link + optional password. Documents use email verification.
• External shares + Audit log. Document shares are fully audited: create, code-sent, verify, open, and revoke all write to the audit log. Report links are lighter-weight and track activity via a view count on the share dialog, not the audit log. See Read audit logs.

Coming from another tool

Tool	Mapping
Google Drive public links	Direct concept; Onplana adds email verification
Dropbox / OneDrive shares	Direct
SharePoint anonymous links	Direct
Box anonymous links	Direct
Custom internal sharing	Onplana’s email-gated model is stronger than password-only

FAQs

Why can’t I password-protect a document share? Documents use email verification instead, which is stronger: a password can be forwarded along with the link, but a one-time code sent to the recipient’s inbox cannot be passed around.

Who is allowed to share? Reports: the report’s creator, plus owners and admins. Documents: any organization member who can open the document; guests cannot create shares.

Are there limits on document shares? Up to 50 recipients per share, and very large binary files cannot be shared by link (the dialog tells you the cap, 25 MB on standard setups, and suggests downloading and sending directly). Externally linked boards and docs have no stored content, so they cannot be shared this way.

Does revoking a report link break old screenshots or exports? No. Anything recipients already downloaded stays with them; revoking only stops the link from loading anything new.

Can I share a share link with multiple recipients? Reports: one link works for many; recipients each enter the password if set. Documents: each recipient gets a personal link (email verification per recipient).

Does email verification timeout? The one-time code expires after a configured window (typically 15 minutes). Recipients can request a new code.

Are external shares included in plan AI token budgets? No, external sharing doesn’t consume AI tokens. It’s a free operational capability.

Related

• Share folders and lists, internal sharing + restriction
• Edit Office documents in browser, external view is read-only
• Read audit logs, share events are recorded