This article discusses the three levels of team status: guests, collaborators, and followers. The level of a user’s team status dictates both data access and notifications. This article will discuss team status levels from lowest to highest. To hear information about how to add users and manage teams from our Support team, skip to the Team Management section to watch the webinar video. 

Guests
Collaborators
Followers
Team Management 

Guests

Guests are special users that have highly limited access to a case. Guest status is usually used for third parties like clients, co-counsels, or anyone else who might need access to some parts of a project and not others. 

By default, when a user is added to a project, they are added as a guest. Invite a user to a single project by clicking on the “+ Invite” button in the top right of the Team section. (For steps on how to invite a new user to an Org, read Adding a User.) To learn more about using Filevine as a guest, read Using Filevine as a Guest.

When a guest is added to the case, they are only able to see an empty activity feed and an empty Docs section. By default, the guest can only see the items and documents that they add in the activity feed and Docs section.

Specific sections, documents, and activity items can also be shared with a guest. Read below for a step-by-step for sharing sections, items, and documents with guests.

Sharing with a Guest

To share a section of the project with the guest, follow the steps below. Sharing a project section with a guest will give them the ability to see all data in that section, with the exception of attachments in attachments fields, which need to be shared one-by-one in the Docs section. You can choose whether the guest has the capability to edit the information in that section, or only to view. 

1. Find the guest card in the Team section. In the correct project, select “Team” in the lefthand menu. In the Team section, select the “Guest” group across the top. Once in the “Guest” group, locate the user card of the guest you would like to share sections with.
2. Open and select “Share Project Sections.” Click on the guest’s card to open the options window. In this window, select “Share Project Sections.”
   
3. Select the sections that should be shared. Move any project sections that should be shared with this guest to the right “[User]’s Sections” box by doubleclicking or by selecting and then clicking the right-facing arrow. 
   
   
4. Choose whether the guest can edit the sections. A guest can either be given access to view a section, or to view and edit a section. For example, this user could view and edit the Case Summary section, but can only view the Defendants section.
   
   To give a guest access only to viewing the section, click on the check box next to that section to uncheck it.

The Activity section and the Docs section do not appear on the list of shareable sections. Items from the activity feed and documents from the Docs section need to be added separately, one-by-one. Follow the steps below to share an activity feed item or a document.

1. Locate the item/doc. In the correct project, navigate to the activity feed or the Docs section in the lefthand side menu, depending on what you’d like to share. In this section, locate the activity feed item or document you would like to share with the guest.
2. Share with the guest. Select the item or doc, and then click on the vertical ellipses on the top right. Hover over either “Guest Share” (for docs) or “Share with” (for items), and select the guest that you’d like to share with. Once a guest has had this item or doc shared with them, a check will appear next to the guest’s name.
   
   

Guests will have the ability to view and download the shared document, and will be able to view the item and all comments, as well as to add comments of their own.

Collaborators

Collaborators have viewing and editing access to all project data (with locked fields being the exception), but they do not receive notifications like a follower would. In most cases, most users in a project will have collaborator status. Collaborators are typically users who need to have access to the project but who aren’t likely to be involved in the day-to-day operations related to it.

Making a User a Collaborator

Collaborator status can be assigned on a project-by-project basis in the Team section, or at the Org-level by an Org Admin in the Org > Members tool in setup. To make a user a collaborator on multiple projects at once, follow the links above. To make a user a collaborator on a single project, follow the steps below.

1. Navigate to the Team section. Search for and click on the desired project in the “Search for a project” search box in the top left corner. In this project, find and select the “Team” section in the lefthand side menu. 
2. Find the user. In the Team section, find the user by click on the “Guests” or “Followers” links. If the user has jsut been added to the project, they will be under “Guests.” Search for the user in the “Filter project [team status]” box. 
3. Click on the user and “Move to Collaborators.” Once you’ve located the user card of the user, click on it to open the options menu. Click on the “Move to Collaborators” option in this menu. If this option is not available, the user might be a primary. Primaries must remain followers, ensuring that they receive notifications for the project.
   
   

Followers

Follower is the highest team status option. Followers receive full access to the project, just like collaborators. However, in addition, followers also receive notifications in their Feed anytime that project’s Activity Feed is updated and email alerts about upcoming deadlines and new text messages, according to their notification settings. 

Usually only one or a few people are followers for a project, since you don’t want to populate your Feed with too many project updates. Followers are users who need to know everything that’s going on in a project. At least one user, the project’s primary, must be a follower on a project. For small companies, it is normal to have every member of the team also be a Follower, since this lets the team keep up on the work being done. For larger companies, smaller teams are usually created depending on the project type. 

Making a User a Follower

Follower status can be assigned on a project-by-project basis in the Team section, or at the Org-level by an Org Admin in the Org > Members tool in setup. To make a user a collaborator on multiple projects at once, follow the links above. To make a user a follower on a single project, follow the steps below. 

1. Navigate to the Team section. Search for and click on the desired project in the “Search for a project” search box in the top left corner. In this project, find and select the “Team” section in the lefthand side menu. 
2. Find the user. In the Team section, find the user by clicking on the “Guests” or “Collaborators” links. If the user has just been added to the project, they will be under “Guests.” Search for the user in the “Filter project [team status]” box. 
3. Click on the user and “Move to Collaborators.” Once you’ve located the user card of the user, click on it to open the options menu. Click on the “Move to Followers” option in this menu.
   
   

Team Management

Watch the video below to hear two of our Filevine experts explain how to add users, the difference in team status, and tips and tricks from our Support team.