One of the most frequent questions I hear about SharePoint is “how do I enable external access?” Most people have at least 1 person outside their organization they need to coordinate with. Most people have heard SharePoint can be shared externally, but setting up an external facing site can feel like an enormous, and daunting task.
With Office 365 that myth has been debunked. As long as you have administrative privileges to SharePoint you can create an external facing site in under 10 minutes.
- Go to office.com
- Sign in with your administrative credentials
- In the top left corner of your browser window click the “Admin” application block under the all apps icon:
- Now in the list on your left, scroll down to the Admin section, then SharePoint:
- Next select the site you want to make external facing (or create a new site), and then click Sharing:
- Select the level of external access (invitation only, or open to anyone), then click Save:
- Now navigate to that SharePoint site, so you can send the sharing invitation. Once you get the site loaded, click “Share” in the top right corner:
- In the share dialog enter the email addresses of the individuals you want to invite to the site, and set their level of permission (owner, can edit, can view):
- Once the individual receives the invitation they will be asked to verify their identity, and then they will have access to your SharePoint site!
That’s all there is to it. As with any software there can be hiccups along the way, and that’s what we’re here to help with!
Allison Sousa, PEI
