Let’s be honest.
Sharing is complicated.
It shouldn’t be but in this day and age, the technology companies are trying to be all things to all people and so they give us lots of options.
OneDrive is no different.
There are a ton of options when you are ready to share. Read below to help make sense of the options so that you can be the best sharer.
To View or Edit
When getting ready to share, there are two things to consider.
Let’s start with the binary (and probably easier) choice first. Do you want the people you are sharing with to view or edit the document?
By default we have set it up so that when you share a document, everything is set to ‘view.’ This means that unless you change it, no matter how or who you share it with (the second choice) they will only be able to look at the document or download a copy. They won’t be able to edit it.
So if that’s what you want, you can skip to deciding on who and how you’re going to share the document.
If you do want people to be able to edit the document, you need to do the following.
1.) Select the file you want to share in OneDrive
2.) Click the share button
3.) Click the ‘Anyone with this link can view‘ button at the top of the window that opens
4.) The click the box next to ‘Allow editing‘ which you will find under ‘Other Settings‘
Speaking of Other Settings. You will also notice that there is an option to set an expiration date which will stop the ability to share the document at a certain date.
You can also choose to block downloads of the document which is a great option if you don’t want people to have copies of their own.
Now for the big choice…
Choosing how to share and who to share it with is the big choice and probably the most confusing. Please read below to understand each of the options.
Please note to change the share option, you have to click share and then click on ‘Anyone with this link’ button to get to the other options. Then, and this is important, click the Apply button. This will take you back to the ‘Send Link’ window where you should see your changes reflected.
Anyone with this link
This is the default and creates a shareable link that can be sent onto others. This is great for those situations where you don’t know who is going to be accessing the link and if you don’t particularly care if it is shared with others. This is also the option to choose if you want to make it the most easy for recipients (e.g.- they won’t be prompted to sign-in.)
People in issaquah.wednet.edu
This option works like ‘anyone with the link’ but requires that people trying to view the link sign-in with their ISD Office 365 accounts. This limits the ability of the document to be shared outside the district and is good for stuff that is not ready to travel beyond the borders of ISD.
Specific people
This is the option when you want to limit the number of eyes (and possibly hands) on your document (control freak.) It is great for teams that are working on drafting the next master lesson or letter home to parents. It is also a great way to manage who has access to the document.
So there you have it…sharing mostly explained. There is also the option to choose ‘people with existing access’ but that’s only really relevant after you’ve already shared it.
BITS AND PIECES 