New board sharing: Teamspace types and member access levels

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Board sharing is critical to achieving alignment within and beyond the product team. By sharing your boards thoughtfully, you can ensure people have access to the information they need without being crowded by the information they don't. 

The following board types use the New board sharing system:

Grid Column Timeline Document *Insights

 

*Note: If your Productboard workspace was created before July 1, 2024, your insights boards use the Legacy board sharing system.

In this article:

Relevant to new boards only

Teamspace inheritance

Any board that uses the New board sharing system does not have individual sharing options. Instead, its access is determined by the type of teamspace it belongs to. In most workspaces, there is only one type of teamspace:

  • Open teamspaces are visible to everyone, meaning you can see them and look at their boards even if you haven't joined them. You can view Open teamspaces from the All teamspaces section in the main menu.

If you want to add a teamspace directly to your main menu for easier access, or if you're a maker and you want to be able to edit the boards in a teamspace, you need to join that teamspace. Locate the teamspace in the All teamspaces section and click Join.

See Getting started with Productboard teamspaces for information on joining and managing teamspaces.

Additional teamspace types

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There are two other teamspace types:

  • Closed teamspaces are visible, but their boards are hidden to non-members, and workspace users can't simply join them directly. Instead, they must be invited by the teamspace's owner, or else have their request to join accepted by that owner. Viewing and requesting access to closed teamspaces can be done in the All teamspaces section.
  • Private teamspaces are invisible. There's no way to even see one in the All teamspaces section unless you're already a member of it. The only way to become a member of a private teamspace is to create one yourself or be invited to one by an existing member. 
Note: Generally, only grids, timelines, columns boards, and documents can be placed in Closed or Private teamspaces. Features boards and roadmaps cannot be created in or moved to a Closed or Private teamspace. 

Member access levels

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When a user is added to a teamspace, they can be assigned one of three access levels. These govern how that user can interact with the boards in that teamspace. These access levels are not limited by teamspace type, but some are limited according to workspace member roles.

The access levels are:

  • View-level access: You can see boards but can’t edit them or create new ones. Users with the 'viewer' workspace role can only ever have view-level access.
  • Edit-level access (makers only): You can create, edit, and delete boards within the teamspace. 
  • Owner-level access (makers only): You have edit-level access, plus you can edit teamspace settings and membership, archive the teamspace, and change teamspace ownership. Users with the 'maker' workspace role are the only ones who can have Edit-level access. A teamspace can only have one owner.
Note: Admins have owner-level access to all boards that exist within a workspace, even boards inside Private teamspaces they aren't members of. The only exceptions are boards that reside in personal sections.

Default member access levels

The default access level you get for a given teamspace depends on whether you joined yourself or were invited/approved to join by an admin or owner. 

  • If you accept an invitation to a teamspace, or have your request to join approved by an existing member of that teamspace, you'll get edit-level access immediately. 
  • If you join an Open teamspace yourself without an invitation, you'll only have view-level access. It can always be changed later by an admin or teamspace owner.

Admins and teamspace owners can change the default access level for those who join without an invitation by adjusting the option from the More tab of a teamspace's settings menu.

Board access overrides

It's possible to change a member's access level to specific boards on a case-by-case basis, overriding their default member access level set by the teamspace settings.

See Board access overrides for details. 

FAQ

Do access controls apply to admins?

  • No. Productboard admins have access to all boards and documents that exist within a workspace, except those in personal sections.

Can a teamspace contain Legacy boards and New boards together?

  • Yes, but it must be an Open teamspace and the board types will have different behaviors. The visibility of Legacy boards will depend on each board’s sharing options, while all New boards will be visible and editable for all members of that teamspace. If you were to change the access level of the teamspace from Full to View, members would lose the ability to create, edit, or delete New boards, but Legacy boards would remain unaffected.

How do I enable teamspace types and access levels?

  • These features are automatically activated as part of our larger New boards launch.

Can I change an existing teamspace’s type? For example, from open to private?

  • Currently, you cannot change the type of an existing teamspace. You must determine the teamspace’s type during teamspace creation.

What happens if I move a board into a private teamspace?

  • If it's a Legacy board, nothing (because Legacy boards can only exist within open teamspaces). A New board’s editability and visibility will change to conform to the type and access level of its new parent teamspace.

See also

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