When I make a doc public, I’d like ALL of the information in the doc to be visible. If the doc contained sensitive information, I would just not make it public facing, which is already an option. Widgets should be able to be publicly displayed on Workdocs if I create a public link for that Workdoc.
What are you trying to achieve
I’m trying to create an effective Portal for clients to view, which guest users have access to. I want to be able to add Workdocs onto that portal. In order for those to be visible to guests, I need to add them as public links, but that makes the widgets stop working.
That’s a great use case, and you’re definitely not alone in trying to use Workdocs as a client-facing portal.
Since widgets don’t render when a Workdoc is shared via a public link, the workaround we use is by splitting the “story” from the “live data”:
Use the Workdoc as the narrative layer:
Keep the explanations, context, links, and documentation in the Workdoc and share it publicly so guests can always access it.
Surface live data through dashboards or boards:
Add links in the Workdoc to dashboards or boards that guests have access to. Dashboards are especially popular here since they display widgets cleanly and feel very “portal-like.”
Use guest access instead of public links when possible:
If your clients can be added as guests (rather than using a public link), widgets will continue to work based on their permissions, and everything stays in one place.
This setup tends to give clients a smooth experience while still keeping your data structured and secure on the backend.
Thank you for your reply. I do have some concerns about how this approach impacts the overall experience for our guest users. Splitting the narrative from the live data means that guests won’t be able to follow the full story within the Workdoc itself, and will instead need to navigate between multiple pages. For our use case, this breaks the cohesive, streamlined experience we were hoping to provide through the Portal.
I’m also trying to understand the security distinction here better. If guests are permitted to access the same data through dashboards, I’m not sure why displaying that information within a Workdoc, with the same underlying permissions, would introduce additional risk. From the user’s perspective, they’re ultimately viewing identical content.
I completely appreciate that the suggested workaround is the best available option today, but it may not fully meet the expectations we had for delivering a unified and intuitive experience. If there are any upcoming enhancements or alternative approaches that could support this more integrated workflow in the future, we’d definitely be interested in exploring them.
