Sharing items (setting permissions)

ePortfolio is a user-focused tool that empowers you to share your learning experiences and showcase your work. For example, ePortfolio provides an easy way to seek feedback from your peers, mentors, and members of the broader community.

ePortfolio items are shared with other users through permissions. Separate permissions options exist for each artifact, collection, reflection, and presentation in your portfolio so you can pick and choose what content you share with others. You can give permission to see an item to individual users, groups of users based on course or department enrollment, or the general public through a URL (presentations only). You choose whether others can see the item, see comments, see assessments, add comments, add assessments, and/or edit the item.

Table of contents

1. Access the Permissions area for an item
2. Permission options
3. Sharing items with internal users
4. Sharing items with external users
5. Sending invites
6. Inherited (cascading) permissions

Access the Permissions area for an item

1. Click the ePortfolio link in the navigation bar or My Settings widget.
2. Open the edit page for the item you want to add permissions to.
3. Select Permissions on the top tool menu.

Permission options

Note to use the comments and assessments permissions you must make sure the comments and assessments check boxes are enabled on the item's properties page and that a rubric for assessing items has been attached to the item. These check boxes are selected by default, but it is possible to clear them (if you want to temporarily remove the ability to comment on or assess an item), and you can change the default setting so they are not selected on new items.

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Sharing items with internal users

You can share items with other users at your organization by selecting individual users, all users in a course or group you are enrolled in, or a previously saved permission profile.

For information on saving permission settings using a permission profile see the Setting up permission profiles topic.

Assign new permissions for a user or group of users

1. Select when you want users to be able to see the item on the General Availability tab of the Permissions page.
2. Click the Users tab.
3. Select Add Users.
4. Select the course or org unit the users you want to add belong to.
5. Select the users you want to assign permissions for, and click Next.
6. Select the permissions you want the users to have, and click either Add or Add and Send Invite.
7. If you select Add and Send Invite, complete the invite and click Send.

Assign permissions to a previously saved permission profile

1. Select when you want users to be able to see the item on the General Availability tab of the Permissions page.
2. Select the Users tab.
3. Select Add Profiles.
4. Select the profiles you want to add, and click either Add or Add and Send Invite.

Change permissions

1. Select the Edit Permissions icon for the user or profile on the Permissions page.
2. Select the new permissions.
3. Click Save.

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Sharing items with external users

ePortfolio presentations may be shared with people who are not a part of your organization, such as friends, parents, or potential employers, through a URL.

You can share presentations with external users in one of two ways:

• You can make the presentation publicly available to anyone through a stable URL. When you share a presentation this way people can only view the presentation. They cannot see, add comments to, add assessments to, or edit the presentation.
• You can send a personal invite to view your presentation via an email and the recipient can follow the attached link to view the presentation. The recipient must set up a username and password, and then they can see and add comments and assessments based on the permissions you gave them. External users cannot edit presentations.

Make a presentation publicly available through a URL

1. Select when you want users to be able to see the presentation on the General Availability tab of the Permissions page.
2. Select the External Users tab.
3. Select the Allow presentation to be viewed publicly without a username or password option.
4. Click Save.

Make a presentation externally available to specific people and assign them permissions

1. Select when you want users to be able to see the presentation on the General Availability tab of the Permissions page.
2. Select the External Users tab.
3. Click Add Users.
   1. Enter the Email address of the external user you want to send an invite to.
   2. Select the permissions you want the external user to have.
   3. Click Add and Send Invite.
4. Click Save.

   Note The recipient must follow the link in the invite and set up a username and password to view the presentation. The invite expires after three days (or another amount of time set by your organization).

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Sending invites

When you send an invite to internal users you are sharing an item with, you have the opportunity to leave them a message about why you are sharing the item and what you’d like them to do with it. Depending on how the user’s preferences are set up the message is delivered to their email, the Invites area of their portfolio, or an RSS Reader.

Send an invite

1. Click the ePortfolio link in the navigation bar or My Settings widget.
2. Click the Add and Send Invite button when setting up permissions for an item.

   Warning  If you send an invite to a permission profile that includes all users at your organization or all users in a particular course or department, all of the users in the profile will receive the invite. This may be bothersome to users who do not know you.

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Inherited (cascading) permissions

Items in collections and presentations

When you include an item in a collection or presentation the item inherits permissions from the collection or presentation (permissions are cascading), with the following exceptions:

• The Add Assessments permission is not inherited because it requires that a rubric be associated with each item.
• The Edit permission is not inherited because it would allow users to make major, possibly unwanted, changes to your portfolio. If you want individuals to be able to edit items in a collection or presentation, you must give them the Edit permission on each item.

Inherited permissions do not override existing permissions on items. For example, if you give an individual the view, see comments and add comments permissions for a specific item, but only the view permission for a collection that contains the item, the individual is able to see and add comments to the item. This is the case regardless of whether it is accessed from the collection or outside the collection.

Items associated with a reflection

When you associate a reflection with another item, the reflection does not inherit permissions from the item, nor does the item inherit permissions from the reflection.

The only exception to this rule is that when you share a reflection with an associated item the individuals you share the reflection with can open (view) the associated item from the reflection.

This design gives you the flexibility to reflect on items without worrying about whether those reflections are visible to other users. At the same time, it ensures that when you choose to share a reflection the individuals you share with can see the item you are reflecting on and understand the context of the reflection.

Quicklinks to ePortfolio items and eP item links

If you include a quicklink or an eP item link to an ePortfolio item in a form, reflection, artifact, or presentation, the referenced item does not inherit permissions from the item containing the link. This means that individuals viewing an item from the quicklink or eP item link must also have direct permission to view the referenced item and follow the link; otherwise, they receive an error message letting them know they do not have permission to view the item.

Similarly, if you include a quicklink in an ePortfolio item to a Learning Environment item, such as a content file, individuals can only follow the link if they have permission to view that item; otherwise they receive an error message letting them know they do not have permission to view the item.

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See also

• Setting up permission profiles
• Removing permissions
• Viewing feedback
• Viewing, commenting on, assessing and editing others’ shared items