How to let a colleague into a private record#

Adding a colleague to a private project, dataset, sample or measurement lets them open it, and you choose whether they may also change it. Do it when someone needs to read or work on a record that is not yet public.

Before you start#

You need to manage the record, which means holding the Can manage level on it or on the record above it. Your colleague needs a profile in the portal. If they have none, add them first as part of the steps below.

A level can be set for a person who has no active account yet. It takes effect when they have one.

Steps#

  1. Open the record’s page and choose its Contributors tab.

  2. Choose Add person.

  3. On the Already in the portal tab, type your colleague’s name and choose Search, then choose Choose beside the right match. To find them in ORCID or add them by hand, see How to add a person or organization.

  4. Choose the organization they are credited from, or No affiliation, and choose Add to this followed by the record’s kind. You arrive on the Edit a contributor screen. Your colleague is already added, at Can view.

  5. Under “What they may do on” the record’s kind, choose the level you want:

    • Can view lets them open the record and nothing more.

    • Can edit lets them also change the record and the data in it.

    • Can manage lets them also change its contributors and their levels, change its visibility and delete it.

  6. Choose Save.

The result#

Your colleague can open the record while it is private. They are listed on the Contributors tab with the level you chose. The portal sends them no message, so tell them yourself.

To close the record to them again, remove them. Unless they hold a level on a record above, the private record answers them as if it did not exist.

For what each level allows and how a level reaches the records beneath, see How access to a record is decided. The screens are described on Contributors.