Once your content is uploaded and organized, distributing it to the right people is usually the next step. Collage offers two main ways to distribute content: your custom brand portal and share links. This article covers share links.
Choose what to share
All content in your account can be shared via a share link — folders, Collages, and individual assets, or a mix of folders and assets. Because sharing is a core operation, you'll find the Share option in many places: an item's three-dot menu, the asset detail page, and the bulk-action bar when you select multiple items.
Note: Empty folders and empty Collages can't be shared. Add at least one asset first.
Create a link
- Select the folder, Collage, or asset you want to share (or select several).
- Click Share.
- Review the link's Title and Description, and set any Advanced Settings (below) — do this now, because these options are hidden once the link is created.
- Click Create Link.
- Click Copy Link and send it however you like.
Anyone with the link can open it — no Collage account required.
Configure link settings
The link's Title defaults to the item's name and its Description to the item's description (both start blank when you share several items). Edit them so recipients understand what they're receiving.
Under Advanced Settings:
- Expiration Date (optional) — pick a date after which the link automatically stops working. Expired links appear under Expired URLs on the Sharing page.
- Password Protected — check the box and enter a password recipients must type to open the link.
- Hide Download — let recipients view the content but not download the original files.
Expiration and password protection depend on your plan. To change these settings after a link is created, use Advanced Settings on the Sharing page — see Managing your share links.
To embed a single asset on another website instead, use the Embed Code tab — see Embedding an asset on external sites.
What recipients see when they open the link
Recipients get a clean, branded page for the shared content — no Collage account needed. It shows your logo, the link's title and description, and who shared it.
- Browse — recipients can search within the shared content, open folders (with breadcrumbs to find their way back), and use Display to switch View (Grid or List, plus Mosaic for shared Collages), adjust Thumbnail size, and sort.
- Preview — the expand icon on an asset (or clicking a row in List view) opens a larger preview.
- Download — recipients can download single assets or whole folders, or select several (checkboxes, Shift+Click, or click-and-drag) and use Download in the action bar. Multiple items download as a ZIP file.
- Password — if the link is password protected, recipients enter the password first. It stays unlocked for the rest of their browser session.
If Hide Download is on, recipients can browse and preview but won't see any download buttons or selection options.
If a link has been revoked or has expired — or its content has been removed — recipients see a page saying the shared asset has been removed or the link has expired.
Manage your links
Every link you create appears on the Sharing page, where you can track views, revoke access, and clean up old links. See Managing your share links.
Trying to collect files from someone instead of sending them out? That's a different feature — see Share links vs guest upload.