Allowing external users to view live Jira issues and Confluence pages is a great first step towards better collaboration.
But it is indeed only a step. If the user has something to say about the issue or page, what then? If all they’re able to do is view the data, but they have to send feedback by email or a different platform, then that collaboration stops being live. And it stops being in Jira or Confluence.
This is why adding comments and attachments is essential.
With External Share for Jira and Confluence, you can let your external users add comments and attachments simply by checking a couple of boxes. That way you can gather feedback directly in Jira and Confluence and keep everyone on the same page.
Let’s walk through it, shall we?
First of all, an introduction to External Share
External Share for Jira and External Share for Confluence are sister apps that allow an external user (anyone without access to your Jira or Confluence instance) to view a read-only version of whatever Jira issue or Confluence page you decide to share with them. These read-only versions are totally secure, with unique 16-character URLs and the option to add passwords and time limits.
These apps make outsourcing work to external contractors, partners, and other teams in your organization, as well as collaborating with or updating customers, a lot easier. And they save you from having to purchase a new Jira/Confluence license for each user.
This article explains more about the problems commonly faced by companies trying to collaborate with external users and how External Share can solve them.
But for now let’s home in on adding comments and attachments…
Viewing comments on Jira issues and Confluence pages
With External Share you can allow external users to view comments on Jira issues and Confluence pages simply by checking the box “View comments”. Easy.
Adding comments on Jira issues and Confluence pages
Similarly, you can allow external users to add comments on your Jira issues and Confluence pages by checking the box “Add comments”.
This is what the comments section looks like for an External Share page. You can see that when an external user adds a comment, it shows as being by ‘External Share for Jira’ or ‘External Share for Confluence’, with the user’s details (name and, optionally, email) displayed beneath.
We recently added a feature to External Share for Jira that allows external users to subscribe to the Jira issues you’ve given them access to, thereby getting automated updates every time something changes. This includes if a comment is added, updated, or replied to. This is really useful because it means the external user doesn’t have to go looking for updates, making collaboration more immediate. (Read more about this feature.)
Comments on your Jira Service Management issues
With Jira Service Management, things are a little different. When sharing a Jira Service Management issue with an external user, you can let them view or add “public comments” or “internal comments”. These map directly onto Jira Service Management’s “internal notes” (internal comments) and “replies to customers” (public comments). That way, you and your external contractors can communicate privately or publicly depending on the work being discussed.
Sharing and adding attachments in External Share
It’s similarly straightforward to enable external users to view or add attachments in External Share. Simply check the relevant boxes as before.
You also have the option of embedding attachments in the description in both Jira and Confluence. External Share will always display embedded files (images, PDFs etc) in the description, even if “view attachments” is turned off. This means the option to turn off “view attachments” only refers to the attachments section of Jira or Confluence.
External Share attachment download limits
Our systems handle files of up to 8000 MB and the connection can last up to 48 hours. In other words, you have 48 hours to download the file. Any download links you share will expire after 12 hours for security reasons.
As per our Data Security Statement, the people you have given access to will be able to access your attachments, but we won’t.
The link structure for an attachment will look like this:
https://jira.external-share.com/issue/c5544950-bb12-cc9a-9f05-1234567/name.png?mediaId=YTdTVQ[…]ES09
Wanna give it a try? Try External Share for Jira and External Share for Confluence FREE by visiting to the Atlassian Marketplace.
Christopher is a self-confessed nerd who’d probably take the cake on Mastermind if Star Trek: Voyager was his specialist subject. He writes fiction about time travel, conspiracies and aliens; loves roller coasters, hiking and Christmas; and hates carpet, rom-coms and anything with chilli in it. He’s written extensively for technology companies and Atlassian partners and specializes in translating complicated technical concepts, specs and jargon into readable, benefits-driven copy that casual readers will understand.