Working with External Collaborators and Clients in Atarim

Atarim is built so external people can give feedback without learning a project management tool and without you giving away access to anything else. A client opens a link, selects the thing they want changed, and types a sentence. That becomes a task on your board.

The whole thing is controlled from one place — the Share modal on a project — and this article covers the choices it gives you.

Bringing a client in for the very first time has its own walkthrough. Discover How To Invite Clients To Collaborate

Team Member, Collaborator, or Guest?

Three levels of involvement, and picking the right one is most of the decision. The differences are about how much of Atarim someone needs to see.

The Share Modal

Everything about external access is in one place, headed Collaborate on this project with the line “Invite others to share their thoughts on this project.”

Opening it takes two steps, and there are two places to start from depending on where you already are.

1. Open the project and select Share. You can do this from the project card on the Projects screen, or from the Share control in the Collaborate toolbar — its tooltip reads Invite others to collaborate and provide feedback.
2. Choose the tab that matches what you are doing.

Inviting a Client by Name

This is the route to use when you know who you are inviting. They get their own invitation, and you can see and revoke their access later.

1. Open Share on the project and go to Guests and Clients.
2. Enter an email address and press Enter. The field prompts you to add an email address then press Enter to add another, so you can invite several people in one go.
3. Use Add a Note to explain why you are inviting them. This note goes out with the invitation, and it is the difference between a client who knows what to do and one who opens the link and closes it again.
4. Send the invitation. A confirmation appears reading Invitation has been sent. Until they accept, they are listed as Pending.
5. If the invitation goes astray, resend it from the same tab. A failure shows Failed to resend invitation — check the address before trying again.

Sharing a Link Instead

Sometimes an invitation is more ceremony than the situation needs. The share modal also gives you a link you can paste into an email or a chat.

1. Open Share on the project.
2. Select Copy Link, described in the modal as copying a quick link to this project.
3. Paste it wherever your client already talks to you.

Controlling Who Can View the Project

The Manage Access tab holds the setting that governs everything else. It asks “Who can view this?” and offers two levels.

1. Open Share and go to Manage Access.
2. Under General Access, open the access selector. The current level is shown with a padlock for restricted, or an open padlock for anyone with the link.
3. Choose the level you want. A confirmation reads Project access level updated.

Guest Mode

Guest Mode removes the invitation step entirely. Anyone who opens the project can leave feedback, and Atarim describes what it does plainly: it launches Atarim in Comment Mode for guests by default.

That last part matters more than it sounds. The most common thing that confuses a first-time reviewer is landing in Browse mode and wondering why clicking does nothing. Guest Mode removes that step.

1. Open Share and go to Manage Access.
2. Switch on Enable Guest Mode. A confirmation reads Guest Mode enabled; switching it off confirms Guest Mode disabled.
3. Share the project link. Anyone opening it arrives ready to comment, with no account and no invitation.

What External People Can and Cannot Do

Clients and collaborators get a deliberately reduced version of Collaborate — enough to give good feedback, not enough to change anything.

How clients leave feedback, and what the tools look like from their side, is covered separately. Explore The Visual Collaboration Tools

Managing Who Has Access

The People with Access list on the Manage Access tab shows everyone who can currently reach the project, with a Search people… box for longer lists.

1. Open Share and go to Manage Access.
2. Find the person under People with Access.
3. Select Remove access from this project on their row. A Revoke Access confirmation opens, warning that this removes them from all tasks and activities within the project, and that the action cannot be undone.
4. Confirm. A message reads Access has been revoked, and they can no longer open the project.

Running the Feedback Loop

Getting people in is the easy part. Keeping the loop tight is what actually shortens a project.

1. Set the page to Needs Review before you share, so the client knows it is their turn. Discover Page Approvals
2. Send the link with one sentence about what you want reviewed.
3. Watch feedback arrive as tasks in your Inbox or Boards. Each carries a screenshot, the element, the page, and the screen size it was left at.
4. Reply in the task to clarify anything ambiguous. The conversation stays on the task, so context is not scattered across email.
5. Work through the tasks, then set the page back to Needs Review for the next round — or wait for the client to mark it approved.

Benefits of Collaborating This Way

Example Use Cases

Known Limitations

• Restricted access is a paid feature. On lower plans, projects cannot be locked to invited people only.
• Guest Mode and restricted access are mutually exclusive. Turning one on switches the other off.
• Guests self-identify rather than being verified. They give a name and email, but nothing checks that either is genuine.
• Access is per project. There is no single control granting a client access to several projects at once.
• Collaborators cannot be given dashboard access without being converted into a team member, which uses a seat.

FAQs

Common issues

• Your client cannot open the link — check General Access. If the project is restricted, they need an invitation, or switch on Guest Mode.
• Guest Mode switched itself off — you restricted the project’s access level. The two cannot both be on.
• The access selector opens an upgrade panel — restricting projects is not included on your plan. The panel names the minimum plan required.
• Your client says clicking does nothing — they are in Browse mode. Ask them to switch to Comment, or enable Guest Mode, which starts them in Comment mode.
• An invitation never arrived — resend it from the Guests and Clients tab and check the address. Ask them to look in spam.
• Someone still shows as Pending — they have not accepted yet. Use Resend the invitation via email on their row, or copy the invitation link and send it another way.
• You need to remove someone quickly — revoke their access from People with Access. Their feedback stays.
• A client can see more than you expected — check whether they were added as a team member rather than a collaborator.

Conclusion

The point of external collaboration in Atarim is that your client does not have to learn anything. Pick the right level of access, send a link, and their feedback arrives as work with the context already attached — no email threads, no screenshots pasted into documents, no guessing which button they meant.

Bringing a client in for the first time has its own guide. Learn More About Inviting Clients To Collaborate