Public Settings

Public Settings let a Record Type interact with outside or public sources. Each setting is independent, so you can turn on exactly the capabilities you need and leave the rest off. By default every option here is off, meaning the Record Type is not exposed to anyone outside your authenticated users until you deliberately enable it.

Document Sharing

Turn this on to add a button in the viewer that lets your users create a "share link" for a document. That link can be sent to an external person, and when they click it they download the shared document — no login required. Shares can be configured to expire after a set time, to be cached, and more, giving you control over how long and how widely a document stays reachable. This is the simplest way to hand a single document to someone outside the system without granting them any account or access to the Record Type itself.

SFTP Access

Turn this on to let outside sources use SFTP to upload documents into this Record Type. Each uploaded document creates a new record in the Record Type, populated with the field default values defined in the Record Type Fields settings, and that new record is then automatically routed into workflow for processing. The main use is to have SFTP act like a lightweight Importer — a simple, standing drop point that gets documents into the system and moving through your process without any manual indexing step.

Collaboration Portals

Turn this on if you want to use Collaboration Portals for records in this Record Type. Collaboration Portals let external participants view and contribute to specific records through a controlled, record-scoped portal. For a full explanation of how portals work and how to set them up, see our article series starting here: https://docmgt.com/collaboration-portals-pt-1/

Public Search Access

Turn this on to allow outside users to search this Record Type. Once enabled, anyone can navigate to your public server URL and be presented with a searchable view of this Record Type's records. Because this exposes records to unauthenticated users, only enable it for Record Types whose contents are safe to make publicly searchable, and use the Public Search Access settings below the toggle to control the public name, the search fields, and how results are presented.

Public API Access

Turn this on to allow public (unauthenticated) E-forms to pull this Record Type's data using the DMGET family of variables — for example, DMGET, DMGETCHARTDATA, DMGETOPTIONS, DMGETEVENTS, and DMGETMAPLOCS. When a public form needs live data — such as a Data Source field feeding a chart, an options list, or a calendar — this setting is what permits those DMGET variables to read from this Record Type. Leave it off and public forms will get no data back from this Record Type's DMGET variables, while your authenticated users are unaffected either way.

This setting is deliberately separate from the others so you can enable public data pulls on their own, without also turning on public search or portals. Note that a Record Type already exposed through Public Search Access or Collaboration Portals is likewise reachable by public DMGET variables — Public API Access simply lets you grant that data access on its own terms.

NOTE ON SECURITY: Every setting on this page opens some part of this Record Type to people outside your authenticated users. Turn on only what a given Record Type actually needs, and keep sensitive Record Types closed. These toggles govern access at the Record Type level; they do not override the field- and document-level security you have configured elsewhere.

Public Data Pulls

This option only appears when Secure API Mode is turned on in Main Options > Security Settings. It controls whether public (not logged in) forms may pull data out of this Record Type using the record-reading variables such as DMGET, DMGETOPTIONS, DMGETCHARTDATA, DMGETEVENTS and DMGETMAPLOCS. The typical use is a public E-form that fills a dropdown, chart, calendar or map from records in this Record Type.

A public form is allowed to pull data from a Record Type that has any one of Public Search Access, Collaboration Portals or Public Data Pulls turned on. A Record Type you have already exposed to the public therefore keeps working with no extra setup. Public Data Pulls exists for the other case - the public should never be able to search or browse this Record Type, but a public form still needs to read reference information from it, such as a list of locations, a department list or a price table.

Turn this on only for Record Types whose contents are safe for outside users to see indirectly. Anything a public form can pull can be surfaced on that form.

When a pull is blocked the form receives no data rather than an error, so the form still loads with that field, chart or list empty. If a public form suddenly shows an empty list after Secure API Mode has been turned on, this is the setting to check on the Record Type it reads from.