Sooner or later, someone outside your workspace needs to see where a single task stands. A client asks how the new logo is coming along. A contractor needs the brief. A manager in another department wants to know whether their request has a date yet. Until now, the choice was to invite them into the workspace, which is a lot for one task, or to paste the details into an email that's out of date by the next morning.

Public links give you a third option. Create a link for a task and send it to whoever needs it. They open a clean, read-only view of the task in their browser, with no account to create, no invitation to accept and no seat to pay for. And because the link shows the task itself rather than a copy of it, it's never out of date.

Public links are included in the Pro, Business and Enterprise plans.

Here's what someone sees when they open one. The screenshots in this post are from Grand Cafe, a fictional demo workspace where a team is redesigning a logo.

The public, read-only view of a task called Graphics design: its tag, assignee, due date, description, two subtasks and the comment thread, with no Redbooth sign-in

Why Teams Use Public Links

Send it once, and it stays current

A status email is out of date the moment you send it. A public link always shows the task as it is now, so clients and colleagues in other departments check progress whenever they like instead of asking. And if a brief changes, contractors see the changes in-place instead of a new attachment named "brief_v3_FINAL" going around.

Illustration: before, status updates arrive as an email thread asking for an update on the logo, a chat asking how it is going, and an attachment called brief_v3_FINAL.pdf replacing brief_v2_final.pdf. Then one email carries a public link to the task. After, the read-only task shows an updated due date, a finished subtask and a new comment, with no sign-in needed.

Zero learning curve for stakeholders

No new tool, no login, no password reset. The link opens in their browser and shows the description, subtasks, due date, who's working on it and the conversation in the comments section, all on one page.

They see one task, not your whole workspace

The person with the link sees the task you chose and nothing else, so an executive can check on one deliverable without access to the whole project. That page includes the comments, so read the thread before you share a task.

You decide when the sharing ends

Click Stop sharing and the link stops working. While a task is shared, a banner at the top of it lets your team know.

Sharing Takes Three Clicks

Open the task, click the globe icon near the top right, and click Create link. The globe icon is there for your organization's admins and for whoever created the workspace; other members can ask one of them to share a task.

A Redbooth task called Graphics design with the globe icon clicked, showing a popover that reads 'Create a public link and share this task with anyone' and a Create link button

Then click Copy link and send it by email, Slack, text message or your weekly client update. The banner at the top of the task shows your team that it's being shared. To end sharing, click the globe icon again and choose Stop sharing.

The same task after the link is created: a banner says the task can be accessed publicly through a shared link, and the popover shows the public link with Copy link and Stop sharing buttons

Public Link or External User?

Redbooth also lets you invite clients and contractors as free external users, who don't take up a paid seat. Both are on the same plans, and the rule of thumb is simple. If someone only needs to look, send a public link. If they need to work with you, updating tasks and taking part in the project over time, invite them as an external user.

Illustration comparing a public link, to look, with an external user, to work. A public link shows one task, as a read-only view that stays current, with no account or invitation, and ends when you stop sharing. An external user joins the workspaces you invite them to, views and updates tasks, accepts an invitation and signs in, and does not take up a paid seat. Both are included in Pro, Business and Enterprise.

Close the Loop With Web Forms

On Business and Enterprise, public links pair naturally with Web Forms. A client submits a request through your form, and it lands in your workspace as a task. Share that task's public link back with them, and they can follow the work from request to delivery. They never need a Redbooth account, and your team never has to write a status update.

Illustration of the loop between a client with no Redbooth account and a team working in Redbooth: the client sends a Design Request for a new logo, it lands as a new task in the Inbox list, the team shares the task through its public link, and the client follows the task to delivery as subtasks are completed.

Try It on Your Next Status Update

The next time someone asks how a task is going, don't write the update. Open the task, click the globe icon and send the link. Public links are available on the Pro, Business and Enterprise plans, and the step-by-step guide is in our Help Center: Share Tasks with Anyone Using Public Links.