Client Gallery access is controlled by several separate settings. The most important starting point is the gallery’s privacy level: Public, Semi-private or Private.
What each privacy level means
Public
A public gallery can be displayed through your website’s gallery portal or gallery widgets. Anyone who opens the gallery can view the photographs without entering a password.
Choose Public only when the photographs are intended for open viewing and you have the appropriate permission to display them.
Semi-private
A semi-private gallery can appear in your website’s gallery portal, but visitors entering it through the portal are asked for the gallery password.
The important difference is that the gallery’s direct shared link can open without the password. This makes Semi-private useful when you want the gallery represented in your portal while giving selected people a convenient direct link.
Do not use Semi-private when everyone must enter a password, even if they receive the direct link. Use Private instead.
Private
A private gallery is not included with the public and semi-private galleries displayed through your gallery portal. Someone needs the direct gallery link and must enter the gallery password before viewing the photographs.
Choose Private when access to the photographs must remain restricted even if the link is forwarded.
Remember: Private controls access to the photographs, but it does not guarantee that the gallery’s existence, title or URL is completely hidden. Avoid putting sensitive identifying information in the gallery title or URL. See Protect client privacy when naming and sharing galleries.
Choose the setting by asking one question
- Anyone may view the photographs: choose Public.
- Portal visitors should enter a password, but recipients of the direct link may enter without it: choose Semi-private.
- Everyone must enter a password, including people using the direct link: choose Private.
Decide whether to require an email address
Require Email on Login is a separate setting. It records the email address used to enter the gallery and can support registered-user activity and Gallery Sales Workflows.
Requiring an email address does not make a public gallery private, and it does not replace permission to send general marketing emails.
Set the access period
Use Collection Expiration when the gallery should stop being available after a particular date. Make the expiry clear in your client communication and send an appropriate reminder if needed.
Understand Archive
Archiving only moves the gallery out of your active list in Workspace. It does not take the gallery offline and does not replace Collection Expiration.
Check the complete access journey
Before sharing the gallery:
- Open your website’s gallery portal while signed out and check whether the gallery appears there.
- Enter the gallery through the portal and confirm whether the expected password prompt appears.
- Open the direct gallery link in a separate private or incognito browser window.
- Confirm whether the direct link requires the password.
- Check any required email prompt, expiry wording and Gallery Sales Workflow messages.
This final check is particularly important for Semi-private galleries because the portal and direct-link experiences are intentionally different.
