Draft Sharing is a feature that lets you share a draft SOP with designated users or groups separately from the approval workflow, allowing them to view it and leave comments. Use it when you want field staff or experienced team members to review the content before publishing.

Recipients cannot edit shared drafts. They cannot edit, save, approve, or delete steps—only comments can be left.

What is Draft Sharing

By default, draft SOPs can only be opened by the initiator and those in the approval workflow. This meant that when you wanted "field staff who are not approvers to see the draft before publishing," you had to either publish it temporarily or show the screen side-by-side.

With Draft Sharing, the initiator simply designates sharing recipients (users or groups), and those recipients can open the draft, review it, and leave comments. You can share with people who do not have folder access permissions (Draft Sharing operates independently of folder access restrictions). Since it is separate from the approval workflow, it does not affect the approval process.

●Screen: The "Draft Sharing" tab on the SOP editing screen (view from the initiator)

[Image: draftshare_tab_owner]

What you need

• Permission: Only the initiator of the draft can set sharing recipients. Approvers and those who have had the draft shared with them see no sharing settings—they can only use comments.
• Who can be a recipient: Users and groups from the same team. Guest users and users who are currently being invited but have not yet joined cannot be recipients.
• Scope: Draft SOPs only. The "Draft Sharing" tab does not appear on published (released) SOPs.
• Plan: Available on Lite plan and above.
• Location: Configure it from the [Draft Sharing] tab at the top of the SOP editing screen.

Set up sharing recipients (initiator)

1. In the left menu, open [SOP] → [Drafts / Approvals], and click the target SOP from the [Draft] tab.
2. Open the [Draft Sharing] tab at the top of the editing screen.
3. Click [Change shared targets].
4. Choose individuals in Shared users or groups in Shared groups (you can use both together).
5. Click [Save sharing settings].

●Screen: Sharing settings dialog opened by [Change shared targets]

When you save, a notification email with a direct link to the target SOP is sent only to recipients newly added to the share list. Recipients who already have the draft shared with them do not receive a duplicate email.

Share by group

Each time you click a group name in "Shared groups," the selection state changes as follows:

• First click: Share with the group and all subgroups members
• Second click: Share with only direct members of the group (subgroups not included)
• Third click: Deselect

Sharing recipients are confirmed when members are expanded. Users added to a group after saving are not automatically added; if needed, save the sharing settings again.

No need to share with approvers

Users in the approval request can automatically view the draft. You do not need to set them as sharing recipients again.

How it appears on the recipient side

Recipients can open the draft in either of these ways:

• Via the link in the notification email
• In the left menu, open [SOP] → [Drafts / Approvals], then open it from the [Shared drafts] tab (for view-only users, the menu item appears as [Shared drafts]).

●Screen: The [Shared drafts] tab on "Drafts / Approvals"

When opened, a tag showing [Shared draft (view/comment only)] appears at the top of the screen, and the [Comments on draft] tab opens first. You can review the step contents from the [Step details] tab.

In this state, you cannot edit, save, publish (request approval), approve, revise, duplicate, delete, or share via QR Code. Only comments can be left.

Exchange comments

1. Open the [Draft Sharing] tab (or if you are a recipient, the [Comments on draft] tab).
2. Enter a comment in the text field at the bottom of the screen and click [Post comment].

When you post, a notification email containing the comment is sent to the initiator and anyone else who has previously commented (excluding yourself). Recipients who have not yet commented do not receive the notification.

Comments are reflected immediately after posting and are updated on all screens viewing the draft. The poster name and posting time appear together.

●Screen: List of draft comments and input field

Stop sharing

The initiator opens [Draft Sharing] → [Change shared targets], deselects the user or group to remove, and clicks [Save sharing settings]. The SOP is removed from the [Shared drafts] tab for that recipient.

When an SOP is published, it is automatically removed from the [Shared drafts] tab. After publishing, who can view it depends on the folder access restrictions.

Frequently asked questions

Can recipients accidentally edit the SOP?
No. Recipients see no edit, save, or approval buttons—the screen is read-only.

Can I share with people who do not have folder access permission?
Yes. Draft Sharing operates independently of folder access restrictions to allow viewing. Since you are sharing a draft SOP before publishing, please confirm the sharing recipients carefully.

Can I share with guest users?
No. Guest users do not appear as options for sharing recipients.

What happens to comments on the draft after publishing?
After publishing, the "Draft Sharing" tab no longer appears on the SOP, so the comment section also disappears.

What if a shared draft is also in "Waiting for your approval"?
The approval workflow takes priority. If you open it as an approver, the screen is not read-only, and you can approve or reject normally.

Related information

Access restrictions on published SOPs and related materials

User permissions and number of accounts

How to re-edit an SOP that was rejected in the approval workflow