Sharing

Cothon's enterprise sharing system enables secure collaboration with team members, teaming partners, and external stakeholders. Share bid analyses and proposals with granular permission control, time-limited access, and comprehensive audit trails.

Whether you're coordinating with internal teams, collaborating with subcontractors on joint pursuits, or providing read-only access to executives, Cothon's flexible sharing options balance security with collaboration efficiency. Track who accesses your content, revoke access instantly, and maintain complete control over sensitive procurement data.

Sharing Methods Overview

Cothon provides three distinct sharing approaches optimized for different collaboration scenarios:

Team Member Sharing

Share directly with colleagues in your organization for seamless internal collaboration:

Share with Individual Team Members

Smart Suggestions: When you start typing, Cothon suggests people based on:

• Previous collaboration history (people you've shared with before)
• Organization chart relationships (direct reports, manager, peers)
• Project team memberships
• Frequent collaborators on similar analyses

Share with Groups and Teams

For recurring collaboration patterns, share with entire teams:

Creating Teams (Admin/Manager only):

1. Go to Settings > Organization > Teams
2. Click Create Team
3. Name team (e.g., "Proposal Writers", "Technical SMEs", "Pricing Team")
4. Add members from organization
5. Set default permission level for team

Sharing with Teams:

Team Sharing Benefits:

• Automatic Updates: New team members automatically gain access to all content shared with their team
• Consistent Permissions: Ensure entire team has appropriate access level
• Simplified Management: Update team's permission once instead of individually
• Audit Clarity: Activity logs show team-level access patterns

Example Team Structure:

Proposal Development
├── Leadership Team (Manage permission)
│   ├── Proposal Manager
│   ├── Capture Manager
│   └── Technical Director
├── Writing Team (Edit permission)
│   ├── Technical Writers (5)
│   ├── Subject Matter Experts (8)
│   └── Compliance Specialist
└── Review Team (Comment permission)
    ├── Quality Reviewers (3)
    ├── Executive Sponsors (2)
    └── Legal Review

Organization-Wide Sharing

Make content accessible to entire organization:

When to Use:

• Company capability statements
• Proposal templates and style guides
• Best practice examples
• Reference materials and past performance summaries
• Training analyses for onboarding

How to Enable:

Organization Library: All organization-wide content aggregates in Organization Library (accessible from main navigation):

• Filter by content type (analyses, proposals, templates)
• Sort by popularity (most viewed), recency, or alphabetically
• Tag system for categorization (technical, financial, compliance, etc.)
• Curated collections created by admins

Public Link Sharing

Create shareable links for external stakeholders who don't have Cothon accounts:

Creating Public Links

Link Settings Explained

Permission Levels in Detail:

Note: Public link recipients can never reshare content, regardless of permission level. Only organization members with Manage permission can share.

Expiration Strategies:

Password Protection Best Practices:

• Generate strong passwords (use password manager: uV9$kL2@pQ4!)
• Share password via different channel than link (link via email, password via phone/Slack)
• Rotate password if suspected compromise (regenerate link with new password)
• Use password for all Edit-level public links (prevent unauthorized modifications)

Managing Multiple Links

Create multiple links for same content with different settings:

Use Case: Share analysis with multiple partners, each with different access levels

Link Management Dashboard: Access all your active public links in one place:

1. Go to Settings > Shared Links
2. See all active links across all your analyses
3. Filter by:
   • Expiration status (active, expiring soon, expired)
   • Permission level
   • Content type
   • Access count (popular vs. unused)
4. Bulk actions:
   • Extend expiration for multiple links
   • Revoke multiple links at once
   • Export access analytics to CSV

Permission Levels Deep Dive

Understanding capabilities at each permission level:

View Permission

Can Do:

• Read all analysis content (summary, requirements, recommendations)
• View comments and discussions (but not participate)
• Export to PDF/Word (unless downloads disabled)
• See requirement status and categorization
• View attachments and linked documents
• Access version history (read-only)

Cannot Do:

• Edit any content
• Add or reply to comments
• Change requirement status or priority
• Share with others
• Modify analysis settings or metadata
• Resolve comment threads

Ideal For: Executives, clients, external reviewers who need awareness but not interaction

Comment Permission

Can Do: All View permissions, plus:

• Add new comments on requirements or sections
• Reply to existing comment threads
• @mention other users in comments
• Attach files to comments
• Mark comments as important/question/suggestion
• Edit their own comments (within 5 minutes of posting)

Cannot Do:

• Edit analysis content
• Resolve comments (only comment authors and Editors+ can resolve)
• Change requirement status
• Share with others
• Delete others' comments

Ideal For: Compliance reviewers, quality assurance, subject matter experts providing feedback, teaming partners

Edit Permission

Can Do: All Comment permissions, plus:

• Edit all analysis content (summary, requirements, justifications)
• Change requirement status, priority, complexity scores
• Add, remove, and organize requirements
• Resolve any comment threads
• Upload attachments
• Create and restore version snapshots
• Modify analysis metadata (tags, folder, custom name)

Cannot Do:

• Share analysis with others (requires Manage)
• Delete the analysis
• Change ownership
• Modify sharing permissions

Ideal For: Proposal writers, technical leads, contributors who need full content control

Manage Permission

Can Do: All Edit permissions, plus:

• Share analysis with other team members
• Create and manage public links
• Change permissions for existing shares
• Revoke access for specific users
• View comprehensive access analytics
• Configure workflow assignments
• Delegate management to others

Cannot Do:

• Delete the analysis (only owner can delete)
• Transfer ownership
• Change organization-wide settings

Ideal For: Proposal managers, capture leads, team leads who orchestrate collaboration

Owner (Automatic)

Can Do: All Manage permissions, plus:

• Delete the analysis permanently
• Transfer ownership to another user
• Recover deleted content (within 30-day retention window)
• Export full audit trail
• Configure data retention policies

Note: Only one owner per analysis. Owner is automatically set to user who created the analysis. Ownership can be transferred via ⋮ More > Transfer Ownership.

Access Tracking and Analytics

Monitor who accesses your shared content and what they do:

Real-time Activity Feed

View recent access activity:

Access Analytics Dashboard

Aggregate analytics across all shares:

Navigate to: Settings > Shared Links > Analytics tab

Metrics Available:

Engagement Metrics:

• Total views across all shared content
• Unique viewers
• Average viewing duration
• Engagement rate (viewers who took action vs. passive viewers)
• Most viewed content (ranked list)

Collaboration Metrics:

• Comments per viewer (engagement depth)
• Edit contributions by user
• Response time to shared content (how quickly do people view after sharing?)
• Completion rate for assigned workflows

Security Metrics:

• Public link access attempts (successful and failed)
• Access from new geographic locations (potential security flag)
• Password failures (if password-protected links)
• Expired link access attempts

Time-Based Analytics:

• Access patterns by time of day (when is team most active?)
• Day-of-week collaboration patterns
• Access velocity before deadlines

Visual Reports:

• Heat map of access times
• Geographic access map (where are external viewers located?)
• User contribution breakdown (pie chart)
• Access trend lines (growing or declining engagement)

Access Notifications

Get proactive alerts when content is accessed:

Notification Configuration:

1. Open Share dialog on analysis
2. Click ⋮ More > Notification Settings
3. Configure alerts:

Notification Triggers:

• First Access - When someone first views shared content (confirm they received it)
• Download/Export - When someone exports to PDF/Word (track distribution)
• New Location - When content accessed from new IP/location (security)
• Comment Added - When recipient adds comment (engagement)
• Daily Digest - Summary of all access activity (avoid notification overload)

Delivery Channels:

• In-app notification (bell icon)
• Email notification (immediate or batched)
• Slack/Teams message (for high-priority shares)
• SMS (for critical security alerts, requires setup)

Smart Filtering:

• Suppress Known Users: Only notify for external/unknown accessors
• Threshold Alerts: Notify only if >N people access (avoid noise for popular content)
• Anomaly Detection: Notify only for unusual patterns (access at 3am, from unexpected country)

Watermarking and Attribution

Track content distribution beyond Cothon:

Watermark Configuration: When creating public link, enable Watermark Exports:

Watermark Contains:

• Your organization name
• Access date and time
• Unique watermark ID (traces back to specific share link)
• Viewer identifier (email if collected, otherwise link ID)
• "Confidential - Do Not Redistribute" notice (if enabled)

Watermark Placement:

• Header/footer on every page (PDF export)
• Semi-transparent diagonal overlay (aggressive mode for sensitive content)
• Metadata embedded in PDF (invisible but trackable)

Use Cases:

• Track if content is forwarded beyond intended recipient
• Demonstrate content provenance in legal disputes
• Discourage unauthorized distribution
• Comply with export control or proprietary markings

Revoking Access

Immediately remove access to shared content:

Remove Individual User Access

Graceful Revocation (Optional): Instead of immediate revocation, you can:

1. Downgrade permission (Edit → Comment → View)
2. Set expiration (maintain access for N more hours, then auto-revoke)
3. Notify user of pending revocation (give them time to save notes)

Useful when collaborator needs to finish their current work before losing access.

Disable Public Links

Bulk Link Revocation: Revoke multiple links at once:

1. Go to Settings > Shared Links
2. Select checkboxes next to links to revoke
3. Click Bulk Actions > Revoke Selected
4. Useful when cleaning up old shares or during security incident response

Emergency Revocation (All Shares): In security emergency (e.g., departing employee, suspected breach):

1. Open analysis ⋮ More menu
2. Click Emergency: Revoke All Access
3. Immediately revokes ALL shares (team members AND public links)
4. Only you (owner) and organization admins retain access
5. Requires mandatory reason documentation for audit trail

Access Revocation Notifications

When you revoke access, recipients are notified:

Notification Contents:

• Which analysis they lost access to (name and brief description)
• Who revoked access (your name)
• When access was revoked (timestamp)
• Reason (optional, you can add explanation)
• Next steps (e.g., "Contact owner if you believe this is an error")

Suppress Notifications (Stealth Revocation): Disable notification checkbox when revoking if:

• Security incident requiring stealth action
• Preventing notification spam during bulk cleanup
• Departed employee (notification would fail anyway)

Sharing Best Practices

Security Best Practices

For Sensitive Government Bids:

1. Never use permanent public links - Always set expiration (24-72 hours max)
2. Require passwords - Generate strong passwords, share via separate channel
3. Collect emails - Enable "Require email before access" for accountability
4. Disable downloads - Prevent uncontrolled distribution
5. Watermark everything - Track content if it leaks
6. Regular audits - Monthly review of all active shares, revoke unused
7. Separate workspaces - Use different Cothon organizations for classified vs. unclassified

For Teaming Partnerships:

1. Comment permission only - Give Edit only when absolutely necessary
2. Limited duration - Match expiration to teaming agreement timeline
3. Individual accountability - Share with named individuals, not generic company emails
4. Track carefully - Monitor what sections partners view (indicates interest/capacity)
5. Revoke post-decision - Immediately revoke access after go/no-go decision

For Internal Teams:

1. Use teams, not individuals - Share with "Proposal Team" not 10 individual members
2. Least privilege - Give minimum permission needed for their role
3. Time-bound access - Remove access after project completion
4. Separate by project - Don't give blanket access to all analyses

Organizational Best Practices

Naming Conventions for Shares:

• Tag analysis names with sharing level: [Internal] RFP-2024-123, [External] RFP-2024-456
• Label public links descriptively: "Partner Review Link - Expires 3/20", "Client Deliverable - Read Only"
• Use folders to separate shared vs. private analyses

Documentation: Maintain sharing log (especially for compliance-heavy industries):

• Who was given access to what
• What permission level
• Business justification
• Duration of access
• Revocation date

Cothon's activity log provides this automatically, but exporting to central repository ensures long-term compliance.

Access Review Cadence:

• Monthly: Review public links, revoke expired/unused
• Quarterly: Audit team member access, remove departed employees
• Annually: Comprehensive access review across all analyses

Sharing Approval Workflows (Enterprise): For organizations requiring approval before external sharing:

1. Enable Share Approval Workflow in organization settings
2. When user creates public link, request routes to manager
3. Manager reviews justification, approves/denies
4. Link activates only after approval
5. Audit trail includes approver attribution

Communication Best Practices

When Sharing, Always Include:

1. Context: Why you're sharing (review, feedback, collaboration)
2. Expectations: What you need from them and by when
3. Permission explanation: Why they have this permission level
4. Expiration notice: If time-limited, remind them when access ends
5. Contact info: How to reach you with questions

Sample Sharing Message:

Hi Sarah,

I'm sharing our draft technical approach for RFP-2024-789 with you for review.

Please focus on Section 3 (Network Security Requirements) and verify our proposed solution meets NIST 800-171 controls. I need your feedback by EOD Friday 3/22 to incorporate before final review.

You have Comment permission - please leave inline comments on specific requirements where you see gaps or concerns. @mention me if anything is urgent.

This share link expires in 7 days (3/27). Let me know if you need more time.

Questions? Reply to this message or ping me on Teams.

Thanks,
John

Follow-up Protocol:

• Send reminder 48h before expiration for unviewed shares
• Thank reviewers when they add comments (encourages engagement)
• Notify when you address their comments (close the feedback loop)
• Share final version after incorporating feedback (show their input mattered)

Shared With Me

Manage content others have shared with you:

Accessing Shared Content

Navigation:

• Click Shared With Me in main navigation (left sidebar)
• Or use quick switcher: Press and type "shared"

View Options:

List View (default):

• Chronological list of all shared content
• Shows: Title, owner, shared date, permission level, unread status
• Quick actions: Open, Remove from list (doesn't revoke your access, just hides)

Grid View:

• Visual cards with content previews
• Larger thumbnails for quick identification
• Grouped by owner or project

Filter Options:

• By owner: See all content shared by specific person
• By permission: Show only content you can edit vs. view-only
• By content type: Analyses vs. proposals vs. templates
• By date shared: Recent vs. older shares
• By read status: Unread (new) vs. already viewed

Sort Options:

• Most recent (default) - Latest shares first
• Priority - Owner-flagged urgent shares first
• Alphabetical - By content title
• Owner - Grouped by who shared

Managing Your Shared Content

Actions on Shared Content:

Open and Collaborate:

• Click any item to open full analysis
• Your permission level displayed in top banner
• Presence indicators show if owner or others currently viewing

Mark as Unread:

• Right-click > Mark Unread to flag for later review
• Unread badge appears on navigation icon

Add to Favorites:

• Star icon to add to favorites
• Quick access from Favorites folder in sidebar

Remove from View:

• Hide from "Shared With Me" list without rejecting share
• Content remains accessible via search or direct link
• Useful for decluttering long shared lists

Request Different Permission:

• Click ⋮ More > Request Edit Access (if currently Comment/View)
• Owner receives notification with your request
• They can approve/deny directly from notification

Leave Shared Content (Reject Share):

• Click ⋮ More > Remove My Access
• You can no longer access content
• Owner notified of your rejection (optional)
• Useful if mistakenly shared or no longer relevant

Notifications for Shared Content

When Content is Shared With You:

• In-app notification (bell icon) with preview
• Email notification with direct link
• Slack/Teams notification (if integrated)
• Badge on "Shared With Me" navigation item

Configure Notification Preferences:

1. Go to Settings > Notifications > Sharing
2. Choose notification triggers:
   • All shares - Notified for every share
   • Urgent shares only - Only when owner marks urgent
   • @Mentions only - Only when explicitly mentioned in share message
   • Daily digest - Batch notifications into daily summary

Smart Notification Grouping: If same person shares multiple items at once, notifications group: "John shared 3 analyses with you: RFP-123, RFP-456, RFP-789"

Bulk Sharing Operations

Efficiently share multiple analyses at once:

Multi-Select Sharing

Bulk Share Use Cases:

• Project handoff: Share entire project folder with new team member
• Client deliverables: Share all final analyses with client at once
• Training: Share example analyses with new proposal writer
• Portfolio: Share past performance examples with teaming partner

Template-Based Bulk Sharing

Create sharing templates for recurring patterns:

Example Templates:

• "Executive Review" - Share with exec team, Comment permission, 48h expiration
• "External Partner" - Public link, View only, password protected, 7 day expiration, watermarked
• "Team Collaboration" - Share with proposal team, Edit permission, no expiration

Advanced Sharing Features

Conditional Sharing (Coming Soon)

Share content that auto-reveals based on conditions:

• Time-delayed sharing: Grant access at future date/time
• Milestone-based: Access granted when analysis reaches specific status
• Approval-gated: Access granted only after manager approval

Embedded Sharing

Embed Cothon analyses in external platforms:

Supported Platforms:

• Notion - Embed live analysis as interactive block
• Confluence - iFrame embed with SSO integration
• SharePoint - Web part embedding
• Custom internal portals - iFrame or API integration

How to Embed:

API-Based Sharing

Programmatically share content via Cothon API:

Use Cases:

• Auto-share analyses created via integrations
• Bulk sharing driven by external systems (CRM, ERP)
• Custom approval workflows
• Integration with identity management systems

Example API Call (create team member share):

curl -X POST https://api.cothon.ai/v1/bid-analyses/{analysis_id}/shares \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "share_type": "user",
    "shared_with_user_id": "uuid-of-recipient",
    "permission_level": "comment",
    "message": "Please review by EOD"
  }'

Example API Call (create public link):

curl -X POST https://api.cothon.ai/v1/bid-analyses/{analysis_id}/shares \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "share_type": "link",
    "permission_level": "view",
    "link_expires_at": "2026-04-05T23:59:59Z",
    "password": "SecurePassword123"
  }'

See API Documentation for complete reference.

Compliance and Audit

Sharing features designed for regulated industries:

Audit Trail

Every sharing action logged with:

• Who: User ID and name of person performing action
• What: Action taken (shared, revoked, permission changed, accessed)
• When: Timestamp with timezone
• Why: Optional justification field (required in some configurations)
• Where: IP address and geographic location
• How: Method (UI, API, bulk operation)

Accessing Audit Trail:

1. Open analysis ⋮ More > View Audit Log
2. See complete chronological log of all sharing events
3. Filter by action type, user, date range
4. Export to CSV for external audit systems

Compliance Reports

Generate compliance-ready reports:

Navigate to: Settings > Compliance > Sharing Reports

Report Types:

External Access Report:

• All public links created in date range
• Who accessed, when, what they did
• Any security anomalies (failed password attempts, unusual locations)
• Useful for: ITAR compliance, export control audits

Permission Changes Report:

• All permission escalations (View → Edit, etc.)
• Who authorized the change
• Business justification
• Useful for: SOC 2 audits, internal security reviews

Data Sharing Inventory:

• All currently active shares across organization
• Categorized by sensitivity level (if configured)
• External vs. internal shares breakdown
• Useful for: GDPR data mapping, privacy impact assessments

Regulatory Compliance

ITAR / Export Control:

• Geographic restrictions on public links (block countries via org settings)
• Mandatory justification for external shares
• Automatic watermarking with export control notices
• Access logging for government audit requests

GDPR / Privacy:

• Data Processing Agreements (DPA) with external recipients
• Right to access: Recipients can download their access logs
• Right to erasure: Delete all traces of recipient from system
• Data retention: Auto-delete old share logs per policy

SOC 2 / Security Frameworks:

• Principle of least privilege enforced via permission levels
• Access reviews required quarterly
• Multi-factor authentication for sensitive shares
• Encryption in transit (TLS 1.3) and at rest (AES-256)

Troubleshooting

"Share Button Grayed Out"

Symptoms: Cannot click Share button on analysis.

Causes & Solutions:

"Recipient Can't Access Shared Link"

Symptoms: External recipient says link doesn't work or shows access denied.

Troubleshooting Steps:

"Notifications Not Sending"

Symptoms: Recipients not receiving share notifications.

Solutions:

For Team Members:

1. Verify recipient's notification preferences (they may have disabled share notifications)
2. Check email spam/junk folder
3. Verify email address correct in organization profile
4. Try re-sharing with "Force notification" option

For Public Links:

• Public link access doesn't send automatic notifications unless "Require email" enabled
• Enable email collection to send access confirmations

"Access Revoked Accidentally"

Symptoms: You meant to downgrade permission, but accidentally revoked entirely.

Recovery:

Prevention: Use "Downgrade Permission" instead of "Remove Access" when you want to reduce (not eliminate) access.

FAQ

Next Steps

Master Related Collaboration Features

• Real-time Editing - Work simultaneously with shared users
• Comments - Discuss content via threaded comments
• Activity Feed - Track all team actions on shared content

Related Topics

• Team Setup - Configure organization and team structures
• Security Settings - Organization-wide security policies
• Compliance - Audit trails and regulatory features

Quick Wins

First Time Sharing? Try this:

1. Share an analysis with one teammate (Comment permission)
2. Ask them to add a comment
3. Review activity log to see their access tracked
4. Create a public link (View only, 24h expiration, password-protected)
5. Access your own link in incognito window to see external experience
6. Revoke the public link and verify it stops working

Advanced Practice:

1. Create sharing template for your common use case
2. Bulk share multiple analyses with a team
3. Configure access notifications for high-priority analysis
4. Export activity log to CSV and review in Excel
5. Set up embedded analysis in Notion or Confluence

Effective sharing amplifies team productivity while maintaining security. Master these controls to collaborate confidently.