Here's the breakthrough about distribution: stop creating user accounts for external people. Portals solve external sharing without the complexity, security risks, and permission management headaches of platform access. Whether you're sharing with agencies, partners, press, prospects, or clients, Portals provide controlled, trackable, branded distribution-functioning as everything from Digital Sales Rooms to press kits to brand asset libraries.
Distribution is where your carefully organized assets meet the outside world. You've planned your metadata, designed your folder structure, and configured permissions-now you need to share those assets securely and efficiently with the right people at the right time.
This guide will help you design a distribution strategy that works for both internal collaboration and external sharing, aligned with your organization's workflows and security requirements.
Poor distribution planning leads to chaos and security risks:
Email attachment hell - Large files bouncing back, version confusion, no tracking of who has what, assets scattered across inboxes with no central control.
Uncontrolled sharing - Links shared via consumer tools (Dropbox, WeTransfer, Google Drive) with no tracking, no expiration, no understanding of who accessed what or when.
Too many platform accounts - Creating user accounts for every external partner, agency, or vendor creates permission management complexity, security risks, and administrative overhead. Each account needs configuration, monitoring, and eventual deactivation.
No visibility or tracking - When assets leave your system via uncontrolled channels, you lose all visibility. Who downloaded what? Are partners using your assets? Which materials are most valuable?
Brand assets in unauthorized hands - Without proper distribution controls, sensitive or unapproved content ends up shared externally, potentially damaging your brand or violating agreements.
Key Takeaway: Most organizations over-complicate external sharing by creating user accounts when Portals would be simpler, more secure, and provide better tracking. Distribution problems are usually solved by using the right tool for the right scenario.
Before configuring any distribution methods, map out who needs to share assets with whom, and under what circumstances.
Who needs to collaborate internally?
What do they need to share?
Internal distribution method: Platform access with appropriate permissions (see Planning Permissions article). Internal users need to contribute, edit, and participate in workflows-not just view content.
Who are your external recipients?
What are common external sharing scenarios?
External distribution method: Portals for nearly all scenarios. They provide controlled access without creating user accounts, maintaining your permission structure, or training external people on your platform.
What level of control do you need over distributed assets?
These control requirements directly inform your Portal configuration strategy.
Quick Win: List your top 5 external recipients right now (agencies, partners, press contacts, clients). For each one, answer: What do they need? Can they download? Can they share further? Should this be time-limited? This becomes your initial Portal plan.
Data Dwell provides multiple distribution methods, each suited to different scenarios. Understanding when to use each method is key to effective distribution planning.
Portals are configurable containers for sharing and distributing digital assets with external recipients. They provide controlled, trackable, and branded content delivery without requiring external users to have platform accounts.
Key capabilities:
Best for (almost everything external):
Critical insight: Portals eliminate the need for creating user accounts, configuring permissions, training external users, and managing account lifecycles for external parties. They're simpler, more secure, and provide better tracking than platform access.
Granting user accounts with appropriate permissions is the primary method for internal distribution. This provides full integration with your permission structure and folder organization.
Best for:
NOT appropriate for:
Remember: Platform access is governed by your permission structure (see Planning Permissions article). Before creating a user account for someone external, ask: "Could a Portal solve this instead?" The answer is usually yes.
Showcases create public or semi-public image galleries for broad access without individual recipient tracking.
Best for:
Note: If you need to track specific recipients or relationships, use Portals instead.
Direct links to individual assets that can be embedded in other platforms or systems.
Best for:
Note: For person-to-person sharing, even of single assets, use Portals instead-they provide better tracking of who accessed the content. Public links are primarily for technical platform integrations rather than direct sharing with individuals.
Programmatic access for connecting Data Dwell to other platforms for automated distribution.
Best for:
Quick Win: Review your current external sharing methods. How many external people have platform user accounts? For each one, ask: "Could this be a Portal instead?" You'll probably identify 5-10 accounts that should be converted to Portal access.
Since Portals are the primary external distribution method, planning them thoughtfully is critical. Think of Portals as external-facing workspaces that need the same strategic planning as your internal folder and permission structure.
Different recipient types need different Portal configurations. Define your Portal types based on use cases:
Digital Sales Room Portals
Partner/Vendor Portals
Lead Generation Portals
Agency/Contractor Portals
Press/Media Portals
Client Review Portals
Retail/Distributor Portals
Quick Win: Review the portal types above. Which 2-3 types match your immediate needs? Write down one real recipient for each type. These become your first portals after launch.
Like folders, Portals benefit from clear, consistent naming conventions that make them easy to find, manage, and audit.
Consider naming patterns like:
Consistent naming makes Portals easier to find, manage, and audit. When you have 50+ portals, naming conventions become critical for organization.
Portals provide flexible content management with centralized control. You add folders and assets directly to each portal, managing what's visible to recipients from the portal record itself.
How portal content works:
Content management approaches:
Approach 1: Add Specific Folders
Add entire folders to portals. Content within those folders automatically stays current as you update the platform.
Approach 2: Curate Individual Assets
Select specific assets from anywhere in your platform to add to the portal.
Approach 3: Custom Portal Folders
Create a folder structure within the portal that's different from your internal organization, tailored to how recipients think about the content.
Approach 4: Hybrid
Combine approaches-add some folders for stable content, curate specific assets for special cases, and organize with custom portal folders.
Central control principle: All portal content is managed from the portal record itself. This centralized approach makes it easy to see what's shared with each recipient, update content, and maintain security.
The Allow Download and Allow Share toggles are your primary control mechanisms. Getting these settings right is critical for security and tracking.
Allow Download Setting
Allow Share Setting
Decision framework:
Common mistake: Enabling both settings by default without thinking through the implications. Start restrictive and enable controls only when justified for that specific portal and recipient.
Portal isolation strategy depends on your use case-whether you're managing known relationships or generating new leads.
Relationship Tracking: One Portal Per Stakeholder
For known relationships (partners, agencies, specific clients or prospects), creating separate portals for each distinct stakeholder enables precise tracking and relationship insights.
The problem with shared portals: One "Agency Partners" portal shared with 10 different agencies means you can't tell which agency is downloading which assets, which partners are most engaged, or which relationships need attention.
Better approach for relationships: Create separate portals for each distinct stakeholder or relationship, even if they're accessing similar content. Yes, this means more portals, but it provides invaluable tracking and relationship insights.
Example:
Portal isolation for relationships enables you to:
Lead Generation: Broad Access Portals
For lead generation scenarios, a different approach makes sense. When you want to capture emails from unknown prospects, use portals with broader access settings.
Lead generation portal approach:
Best for:
Decision framework:
Both approaches have value-the key is choosing the right one for your use case.
Quick Win: Draft access settings for your first 3-5 portals right now. For each one: Should they download? Should they share further? Why or why not? Write this down as your portal configuration template.
Linking Portals to Accounts and Contacts is optional but strongly recommended when sharing to specific accounts or contacts. This practice significantly improves tracking and relationship management.
When to link Account and Contact:
When linking may not be necessary:
Why linking is recommended for known relationships:
Make Account and Contact linking a standard part of your portal creation process for all relationship-based portals. For lead generation portals, focus on capturing visitor emails instead.
Distribution and permissions are interconnected. Your permission structure determines who can create and manage Portals, and what content can be shared.
Like folder creation, Portal creation should be limited to users who understand distribution strategy, security requirements, and brand guidelines.
Typical Portal creators:
Configure Portal Manager Application Role (see Planning Permissions article) for users who need to create and manage portals. Avoid allowing all users to create Portals-this can lead to uncontrolled sharing, inconsistent configurations, and security risks.
Users creating Portals can only link to folders and assets they have permission to access. This is a critical security feature that prevents accidentally sharing content the Portal creator shouldn't be distributing.
Planning consideration: If Marketing managers should create portals for marketing assets but not access HR or Finance content, your folder structure and permissions must enforce these boundaries (see Planning Permissions and Planning Folder Structure articles).
Best practice: Create dedicated "Approved for External Distribution" or "External Sharing" folders that contain only pre-approved, externally shareable assets. Portal creators can safely link to these folders without risk of sharing unapproved or confidential content.
Always ask: Platform access or Portal? Here's how to decide:
Use Platform Access (create user account) when:
Use Portals (external sharing) when:
The default for external people should be Portals. Only create platform accounts when portals truly can't meet the need-which is rare.
Quick Win: Write a one-page decision guide: "Platform Access vs. Portal - When to Use Each." Include the criteria above and 3-5 examples of each. Share this with anyone who can create user accounts or portals.
This is the most common and most costly distribution mistake. Every unnecessary user account creates permission complexity, security risk, and administrative overhead.
The problem: Admins default to creating user accounts because that's familiar from previous systems, not recognizing that Portals solve external sharing more elegantly.
Better approach: Default to Portals for all external recipients. Create user accounts only when external people truly need to contribute content or participate in workflows.
Enabling both Allow Download and Allow Share on every portal without considering the implications reduces security and tracking effectiveness.
The problem: Overly permissive settings become the default, and sensitive content ends up downloadable and shareable when it shouldn't be.
Better approach: Start with restrictive settings (downloads disabled, sharing disabled) and enable controls deliberately based on recipient trust level and content sensitivity. Document why each setting is enabled.
One portal shared with multiple different stakeholders destroys tracking and relationship insights.
The problem: "Agency Partners" portal with 10 agencies means you can't track which partner uses which assets, which relationships are active, or tailor content to specific partners.
Better approach: Create separate portals for each distinct stakeholder relationship. Yes, this means more portals, but the tracking value is immense.
Creating portals without linking them to Accounts and Contacts when sharing to specific relationships means you lose valuable tracking and analytics.
The problem: Portals become anonymous-you know someone accessed content, but not which account or relationship it represents. This makes it difficult to manage relationships, track engagement by partner, or generate account-specific insights.
Better approach: Link Accounts and Contacts when creating portals for known relationships (partners, agencies, specific prospects, clients). For lead generation portals with broad access, focus on capturing visitor emails instead.
Admins often create Portals reactively-someone asks for access, so a Portal is quickly created without considering naming, settings, or long-term management.
The problem: Over time, dozens of poorly named, inconsistently configured portals accumulate, making them difficult to manage or audit.
Better approach: Define Portal types and naming conventions upfront. Create Portals deliberately based on established templates and patterns.
Portals created for specific projects or time periods often remain active long after they're needed, creating security risks.
The problem: Former agencies, departed contractors, or completed projects still have portal access months or years later.
Better approach: Review Portals quarterly. Deactivate or remove Portals for completed projects, departed contractors, or inactive relationships. Treat portal access like user accounts-it requires lifecycle management.
When Portals link to folders without clear approval processes, work-in-progress or unapproved assets can accidentally be distributed externally.
The problem: Portal linked to "Marketing" folder includes draft content or internal-only materials that shouldn't be shared externally.
Better approach: Create designated "Approved for External Distribution" folders or use Status metadata to control what can be shared externally. Never link portals to working folders with mixed approval states.
Creating Portals without monitoring engagement means you don't know if recipients are using the content, which assets are most valuable, or if there are access issues.
The problem: You're sharing assets into the void without understanding effectiveness or engagement.
Better approach: Regularly review Portal activity. Which Portals are most active? Which assets are downloaded most? Which relationships are engaged vs. dormant? Use this data to inform future distribution decisions and relationship management.
Before creating any Portals, document your common distribution scenarios:
Quick Win: Create a simple table right now with columns: Recipient Type, Content Needed, Download?, Share?, Duration. Fill in 5-10 rows representing your real distribution needs. This becomes your portal planning document.
Based on your scenarios, define 3-5 Portal templates (patterns) you'll use repeatedly:
Example Portal Templates:
Templates make Portal creation faster, more consistent, and reduce configuration errors.
Identify who in your organization should create and manage Portals:
Configure the Portal Manager Application Role (see Planning Permissions article) for these designated users. Limit Portal creation permissions to 5-10 people in most organizations.
If you'll link Portals to folders, consider creating dedicated folders for external distribution:
This makes it easy to connect Portals to pre-approved content and reduces the risk of sharing unapproved assets. These folders should contain only content that has passed approval workflows and is safe for external distribution.
If you'll integrate Data Dwell with other platforms (CMS, e-commerce, marketing automation), document:
Begin with your most common external distribution scenarios. Don't try to solve every possible sharing need on day one.
Typical starting points:
Launch with these core portals and gather feedback before expanding. Validate your portal templates and access settings with real usage.
Quick Win: Create your first 3 portals this week. Pick one partner, one agency, and one prospect or press contact. Configure them according to your templates. Get feedback from recipients about the experience.
After launch, track Portal usage closely:
Use this data to refine your Portal templates, access settings, and distribution strategy. Schedule monthly reviews for the first quarter after launch, then quarterly thereafter.
As distribution needs grow:
Document your distribution strategy to ensure consistency and security:
Distribution Policy Document should include:
Quick Win: Create a one-page "Portal Quick Reference" document right now with: (1) Portal templates and their settings, (2) Naming convention, (3) When to enable Download/Share, (4) Account/Contact requirement. Share with anyone who can create portals.
Remember: distribution is an extension of your permission and folder strategy. The default for external sharing should be Portals, not user accounts. Plan your distribution with the same care as permissions and folders, and ensure all three systems work together cohesively.