Who can open the board
Explains the three board access options, what a blocked visitor sees, and how people get access to a closed board.
The board access setting decides who can open your public board at all. It is the first visibility layer: it is checked before any item's own audience. A team admin sets it in Settings > Visibility, in the Board Access card, under Who can open the board.
The three options
| Option | Who can open the board | What everyone else sees |
|---|---|---|
| Everyone | Anyone with the link. | Nothing is blocked. |
| Signed-in people | Anyone who signs in. Any account works. | A Sign in to view this board notice with a Sign in button. |
| Invited only | Your team and your customers' people. | A This board is private notice. |
A new project starts on Everyone.
Board access only decides who gets in. Inside the board, each item still has its own audience. See Who sees each item.
Change who can open the board
- In the dashboard, open Settings > Visibility.
- In the Board Access card, find Who can open the board.
- Pick Everyone, Signed-in people or Invited only.
Only the project owner and team admins can change this setting.
What a blocked visitor sees
- On a Signed-in people board, a visitor who is not signed in sees Sign in to view this board. The notice says the board is open to signed-in people and that any account works.
- On an Invited only board, a visitor who is not signed in sees This board is private. The notice says only the team and invited customers can open the board, and asks invited people to sign in with the invited email address. A Sign in button is shown.
- On an Invited only board, a person who is signed in but has no access also sees This board is private. The notice tells them to ask the project owner to add them as a contact, or to sign in with the account that was invited.
How people get access to an Invited only board
On an Invited only board, these people can open the board:
- Your team.
- Contacts of your customers. A team admin adds contacts to a customer by email address in Settings > Visibility.
- People whose sign-in email matches an email domain added to a customer. For example, a customer with the domain example.com covers anyone with an @example.com email.
See Customers and contacts to add customers and contacts.
What visitors can do once inside
The Board Access card also has four switches that control posting, voting and commenting:
| Switch | What it does |
|---|---|
| Read-only mode | Nobody can post, vote or comment. While it is on, the other three switches have no effect. |
| Disable feedback submissions | Stops new posts on the board. Voting and comments stay on. |
| Require account login | Visitors must sign in before they can post, vote or comment. |
| Require admin approval | Only your team sees new posts until one of you approves them. |
On a Signed-in people or Invited only board, Require account login is always on and cannot be turned off, because visitors must already sign in to open the board.
Common questions
How do I make my board private?
Open Settings > Visibility and set Who can open the board to Invited only. Then only your team and your customers' people can open the board.
What is the difference between Signed-in people and Invited only?
Signed-in people lets anyone in once they sign in with any account. Invited only lets in only your team and the contacts of your customers.
Someone is signed in but still sees "This board is private". Why?
The board is set to Invited only. That account is not a contact of any customer, and its email domain is not added to any customer. Add the person as a contact of a customer in Settings > Visibility, or ask them to sign in with the email address that was invited.
Does Require account login make my board private?
No. Require account login only means visitors must sign in before they post, vote or comment. To control who can open the board, use Who can open the board.
Can visitors still read the board in Read-only mode?
Yes. Read-only mode only stops posting, voting and commenting. Who can open the board does not change.
How visibility works
Explains the two separate visibility layers in Feedvote, the defaults for a new project, and where each setting lives.
Who sees each item
Explains item audiences, the board's default audience, label rules, the audience picker on an item, and how imported Linear items get their audience.