Share a File or Folder with a Specific Person
Sometimes a folder full of team files isn't the right fit — you just need to hand one file, or one whole folder, to one specific person. Maybe it's a review copy for your pastor, a worksheet for a substitute teacher who isn't on any team yet, or a resource for a volunteer between assignments. Person shares do exactly that, independent of team membership: share it, they get notified, and it shows up for them personally.
Sharing with a Person
- Open Lessons from the admin sidebar, in folder view.
- Find the file or folder you want to share:
- For a folder, hover its tile and open the ••• menu (or use the toolbar button when the folder is open), then choose Share with people….
- For a file, use the share icon on that file's row.
- A panel opens showing anyone the item is already shared with, plus a search box.
- Search for the person by name and click them to add them.
- Choose their permission — View or Contribute (see below) — and optionally add a short message that appears in their notification.
- They're added right away. You can change their permission or remove them entirely at any time from the same panel.
You can share the same file or folder with as many people as you like, on top of any team shares it already has — the two aren't exclusive.
What Happens for the Recipient
The moment you share, the recipient gets one notification (in-app, and by email if they have notifications turned on) letting them know what was shared and by whom, along with your optional message. Updating their permission level later doesn't send another notification — only the first share does.
They find everything shared with them under Shared with me — a card on their member portal home page that appears once at least one item has been shared with them directly. This works for any portal member, whether or not they're on a serving team; it's completely separate from Team Files.
- Shared with a folder: they see the folder and the files inside it.
- Shared with a file directly: they see just that file.
- Shared with a folder that has a file individually shared too: the higher of the two permission levels applies.
View vs. Contribute
- View — the recipient can see and download the item. That's it.
- Contribute — everything View allows, plus uploading new files into a shared folder.
Person shares don't include a "manage" level — renaming or deleting things stays with whoever already manages the folder or owns the file. If someone needs that level of control, share the folder with their team at the Manage level instead, or make them a leader/co-leader of a team it's shared with (see Share a Drive Folder with Your Team).
Prefer a Link Instead of Naming Someone?
If you'd rather hand out a link that works for anyone — no TimelyChurch account needed — use Get link from the same menu instead. It creates a shareable URL for the file or folder, optionally locked behind a 6-digit PIN, that you can turn off or regenerate whenever you like. It's a good fit for a visiting speaker, a printed handout, or a link in a bulletin; person shares are the better fit when you want to notify someone specific and track exactly who has access.
Who Can Do This
- Church admins, and anyone with the Lessons edit permission, can share any file or folder with any person.
- Anyone with Manage on a folder — including a team leader/co-leader whose team the folder is shared with — can also share that folder (or its files) with individual people, even without the broader Lessons edit permission.
- The person who uploaded a file can share that specific file with someone, even if they don't manage its folder.
- You can share with anyone in your church directory. If they don't have a portal login yet, the share is still created and waiting for them — they just won't get the notification email until they have an account to receive it at.