David Alexander, Sr. Product Manager
Let me start by saying I’m a control freak. There, I said it.
But there are times when I find it handy to loosen the reins a little and open myself up to the world. I’m not talking about an emotional catharsis here – I’m talking about sharing a document with as many people as care to view it. Let me explain.
You probably already know that Office Live Workspace allows you to store and share documents online. Typically, you choose the people you wish to share your document with (there’s that control aspect I love). But did you know that you can also share an entire workspace broadly so that anyone can see the content? Sounds scary, right? Well, not always. Imagine you’re a graduate student and you’ve written an in-depth research paper on Mesopotamian culture that you’re extremely proud of. It’s a lengthy document so rather than send it around in emails you post it to a workspace and invite your classmates and faculty to view it. You’d like to encourage these folks to pass the paper around to others so you lift the sign-in requirement for this document (more on how to do that in a minute). Doing this basically gives you a link to your workspace that you or others can publish and anyone can access. One of your professors posts the link to your paper on their widely read blog. Others in the world of academia see this and think your research is exceptional. You’re invited to guest lecture at universities and conferences. You gain worldwide fame and fortune. Alright, maybe that last part is a stretch but you get the idea.
Want to know how to do it? Just follow these easy steps:
1. Sign in to your Office Live Workspace account.
2. Create a new workspace, or open an existing workspace, that you would like to share.
3. Select Share, then Share Workspace.
4. Decide if you want to give someone Editor or Viewer permissions, and type their email address in the appropriate field.
a. Can’t think of someone to share with? Add one of your own email addresses.
5. Then, select Let everyone view this without signing in.
6. Hit Send.
Your sharing invitation is now sent, but wait… we’re not done yet! Copy the URL at the top of the page – this will be the link you share to access your workspace. (If you want a shorter URL, try using a service like http://tinyurl.com).
Want to see an example? Check out the workspace I created called Mr. Alexander’s Classroom, which you can access at http://tinyurl.com/brz65h.
David Alexander
Follow me on Twitter at @Davidalexander_