There might be a situation when you want to share your session plan with someone who may not want to sign up to create their own SessionLab account in order to view or comment on the session. In this case, you can create a Visitor Link: this allows the session plan to be shared with people without having them create an account or log in to SessionLab. This option is available on all paid plans, including the Individual plan.
Once you navigate to the ‘share’ button at the top of the Session Planner, you’ll see the Visitor Link option on the second tab of the pop-up screen.
You can click on the 'Create visitor link' button to create a Visitor Link, which you can then copy and share.
After creating the Visitor link, you will be able to choose which part of your session you want your visitors to land on. If you select Default, then by default they will first see Day 1 of your session.
This is useful if you want to point your visitor to a specific part of your session, whether it is a Day or perhaps a Page with your notes.
Note: Whichever setting you choose to share the visitor link to, all the Days, Pages and Forms in your session will be visible to viewers, however the link will open on the part of the session that you select.
You are able to deactivate the link by clicking on the 'Disable visitor link' button. The specific session link will always remain the same but in this manner you are able to control your session’s visibility.
Collaborators with the Visitor Link will be able to open and view the session including all its details and description. They will be able to leave comments on the agenda, and choose a name to assign to their remarks.
When you create a visitor link to your session, then the session does not become searchable publicly over the internet. The session can only be opened if someone has the link you created.
Commenting with the Visitor Link
With the Visitor Link, users can also leave comments on an agenda:
When your client opens the session from the Visitor Link, they can choose any block they’d like to leave a comment on, or comment on the session overall
Once they click on ‘Send’, they will have the option to log in to SessionLab, sign up, or simply add their name alongside their comment
The comment will now be added to the session plan, with the name the client entered. In case you come back later to add more comments, your browser will remember you, so long as you’re using the same browser to access the session.
Share selected Days, Pages and Forms with Visitor links
Now, instead of sharing your entire agenda, you can create visitor links that only include specific Days, Pages or Forms.
This is useful when you want participants, clients or stakeholders to see only the information that's relevant to them, and not the entire content of your session
What can you share?
When creating a visitor link, you can choose exactly which content to include:
One or more agenda days
Specific Pages
Specific Forms
You can combine these however you like. For example, you could share a single workshop day alongside a feedback Form, or provide access to a Page containing pre-work without sharing the rest of your session.
Note: If you share a day from your agenda, visitors will be able to see all agenda blocks and their content within that day. It isn't possible to hide individual blocks or columns within a shared day.
Ways you can use custom Visitor links
Sharing specific content is helpful in many situations, for example:
Send participants only the agenda for the workshop day they're attending.
Share pre-work Pages or Forms before a workshop without revealing the full agenda.
Give clients access to selected workshop days for review.
By sharing only the relevant parts of your session, you can keep the rest of your planning private while making collaboration and communication much simpler.
Creating a custom visitor link
Open your session.
Click Share.
Select ‘Create visitor link’ on the Visitor Link tab
Choose which Page, Form or Day the Visitor link should lead to, from the “Share link to” drop down menu.
Choose which Pages, Forms, or Days should be visible under the "What this link shows" drop-down menu.
Copy the generated link and share it with your audience.
Anyone with the link can view the content you've selected without needing a SessionLab account, and they will only see the resources you've allowed them to view.
In the example from the image above, someone clicking on the Visitor link will only see Day 1 and the Assessment Survey and will not be able to view the Brief & Objectives Page, and Day 2.
Updating a visitor link
You can change which content is shared at any time.
Simply open the visitor link settings, update the selected days, Pages or Forms, and save your changes. Anyone using the same visitor link will immediately see the updated content, you do not need to share a new link with them.
At any point, you can click on the “Disable Visitor Link” button, and the visitor link will no longer be active.