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External Users

Collaborate with external users on your projects

Erin Gouveia avatar
Written by Erin Gouveia
Updated this week

External Users app is a Premium App, if you're interested in the pricing, you can check out our Pricing Page.

Using Hive's external users, you can invite individuals to collaborate on projects within Hive.
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External users are limited to the actions and messages within the assigned project and do not have access to your entire workspace. Let's dive into more details on the following topics:

Sending Invitation

*Note - External Users cannot have the same domain as a Full Access user.

For Example - Workspace with @hive.com as their email cannot invite an External User who has a @hive.com email address.

Option 1: Using the Invite button

You can start the invitation by clicking the "Invite" button located at the top right corner of Hive, then select the External option and click Next.

On the next page, you will be prompted to select which projects to invite External Users to. External Users must belong to at least one project when they are invited into Hive.

Once the invitation has been sent, the External User will receive an email from Hive, and they will be able to click the "Accept Invitation" link in the email.

The link will take the External User to a "Join your team in Hive" page, where they can create their account using Google or Microsoft credentials, but they also have the option to set up their account with Email & Password. To do so, they can click the "Sign Up with work email" button, fill in their details, and then click Start using Hive.

Option 2: From a project

Go to the members modal (within the project, click on the project members section on the top left side of the project)

Start typing their name or email address in the 'invite' input

Choose to add them as an external user, Set their access level and click 'Invite'

Note: If you do not have access to invite new members to your Hive workspace, you will not be able to add new external users via the members modal. You will only be able to add existing external users to a new project.

Navigating in Hive as External Users

When External Users open their Hive for the first time, they will land on the Home page. On the left side, they will see the Home page, Apps, and then the projects they have access to. On the right side, they will view Buzz, New, Notifications, their Profile, and then the support button.

How to convert an external user to a regular user

  1. Go to your profile dropdown

  2. Select Manage users

  3. Select the External User tab

  4. Find the external user in the list, select the drop-down on the right and then 'Convert to full access'

How to remove external users

  1. From the Manage Users tab (see above)

  2. Find the external user and select 'Remove' from the drop-down next to their name

Hide Actions from External users

To make external collaboration even more seamless, you can now toggle on a "hide action" setting on specific action cards with a few clicks. This enables total privacy for your organization while allowing you to remain on top of actions and projects.

To get started, you will first need to enable the Client Mode in project settings. To do that, go to More, then click "Enable Client Mode".

Once this feature is enabled, all actions in the project will have an external users toggle on the top of the card which indicates if the card is either private to the internal team, or visible to external users. All action cards will be private to the internal team by default.

Action card level visibility for External users – Figma 2021-01-13 13-45-05

Once the toggle is enabled, external users will be able to see and access the card.

External Users and Hive Messaging:

External Users may direct messages with users that are members of projects where they are also a member.

External Users may not be added to group chats, but they will be a member of a group chat created from a project where they are a member. To create a group chat from a project, select that option from the More menu on the project:

What permissions do external users have?

External Users Can:

External Users Cannot:

Create Actions

Change the project settings

Make Comments in the Action

Add/Remove members to the project

Upload Files in the Action

Delete/Archive a project

View all content in the project

Create a project

Apply labels to the Action

View projects they're not part of

Apply action card template

Access child projects (even if they have been given access to the parent project)

Submit forms

Create/Edit labels

Sent and receive direct and group messages in Project Group Chat

Created/Edit action card template

Be part of an External Users Team

Create forms

Add Time Entries in the Action

Be added to a group chat (outside of their project)

Delete/Archive an Action

Send Direct Messages to users outside of their project (They cannot initiate conversation but if someone outside of their project messages them, they can respond)

Link Action to a project

Create a group chat

Create Dependencies

Submit Timesheet

Access Premium/Workspace Apps (Except Dashboard, Note, & Portfolio View)

Q) What kind of access do they have in the Dashboard?

A) External users can move widgets around, view each widget individually, and apply filters to each one, but they cannot apply a global filter to the dashboard, rename it, delete it, or share it.

*Note - If you do not want External Users to change anything in the Dashboard and only show them what you see, I recommend enabling the "Share dashboard on behalf of creator." This will allow External Users to see the Dashboard from your perspective, and they won't be able to make any changes.


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