Libraries

Public, private, or hidden - control the access to your assets within your workspace!

Megh McLaughlin avatar
Written by Megh McLaughlin
Updated over a week ago

Overview

Libraries offer teams a way to segment content and workspace members into access-controlled areas. They can be used to manage team-based work, projects, content archives, personal work, and so much more. With libraries, your team can prevent the potential misuse of content by enforcing that only the members that need and should access certain content are able to.

What can I use a library for?

  • Team spaces

    • Build a collaborative space for various internal teams. Add select team members and external stakeholders.

  • Project-based work

    • Collaborate on certain assets with a small group of people, without having to show your entire team.

  • Rights management

    • Graduate approved assets to public libraries, or move unusable content to an archive.

  • Archive

    • A place to move outdated or un-usable assets so that they don’t show in the main library, but don’t disappear forever

  • Manage personal files

    • Keep your personal working files and drafts out of the team workspace, but readily available & organized in Air.

Feature details

Creating a library

Every workspace comes with a default library (called ‘General’) that every workspace member can access. Create additional libraries using the + in your sidebar, and add an icon and color to your new library. You can also add a description and choose a privacy level to control access:

  • Public: any workspace member can join

  • Private: a library owner or admin must invite a member or approve their request to join

  • Hidden: a workspace member must be invited to join in order to see

Browsing libraries

Browse all libraries that exist in your workspace using the magnifying glass icon in your sidebar. Here you can see some basic info about libraries (name, description, # members) and choose to join or request to join! Hidden libraries will not be shown here 🤫

Adding members to a library

Invite people on your team to a library to give them access! Select the ... next to a library, click invite members, and assign them a role to control permissions on the library’s content. Library member roles are the same as your workspace role; choose between Owner, Admin, Editor, or Commenter .

Adding to a library

Add boards and assets to a library using the + button next to a library in your sidebar, or by dragging a board into a library. You can move boards between libraries easily and any asset can live in multiple libraries at once!

Managing libraries

Library owners can update the name, description, privacy level, and members in their library by selecting the ... next to the library and choosing the library settings option.

Workspace owners have the ability to view all libraries that exist in a workspace (even hidden libraries) from the browse libraries modal and view the libraries that a workspace member has joined from the members tab of the workspace settings.

Leaving a library

Library members can leave a library at any time by selecting the leave library option on the advanced tab of your library settings, or by selecting the ... next to your library in the sidebar and choosing the leave library option.

Note that a library owner can’t leave the library unless there is another owner in the library.

Deleting a library

A library owner can choose to delete the library from the advanced tab of the library settings, or by selecting the ... next to your library in the sidebar and choosing the delete library option.

Because deleting a library will delete all boards inside the library and remove all members, you need to type the full name of the library in order to confirm deletion.

Workspace owner

The new workspace owner role has all permissions of a workspace admin plus the ability to see all libraries in a workspace (even hidden libraries) and the members in those libraries.

The workspace owner role has been assigned to the workspace admin that joined your workspace first. If you need workspace owner permissions to view all libraries, find our who your workspace admin is from air.inc/workspace/members or contact our support team.

Library roles & permissions

There 4 standard roles that a library member can have:

  • Owner

  • Admin

  • Editor

  • Commenter

The table below provides a detailed breakdown of the library actions that a member can take depending on their role and the privacy level of the library (Public, Private, or Hidden)

Public

Private

Hidden

Owner

  • Add member

  • Edit member role

  • Remove member

  • Leave library

  • Delete library

  • Add member

  • Edit member role

  • Remove member

  • Leave library

  • Delete library

  • Approve/deny join requests

  • Add member

  • Edit member role

  • Remove member

  • Leave library

  • Delete library

Admin

  • Add member (Admin and below)

  • Edit member role

  • Remove member

  • Leave library

  • Add member

  • Edit member role

  • Remove member

  • Leave library

  • Delete library

  • Approve/deny join requests

  • Add member

  • Edit member role

  • Remove member

  • Leave library

Editor

  • Add member (Editor and below)

  • Remove member

  • Leave library

  • View library details (name, description, privacy level)

  • View library members

  • Leave library

  • View library details (name, description, privacy level)

  • View library members

  • Leave library

Commenter

  • Add member

  • Remove member

  • Leave library

  • View library details (name, description, privacy level)

  • View library members

  • Leave library

  • View library details (name, description, privacy level)

  • View library members

  • Leave library

💡 Notice that the Library roles match the workspace roles you’re already familiar with! For example, a Library editor has the same permissions on boards and assets in the Library as a workspace editor did on boards and assets in the workspace (uploading, downloading, creating boards, etc).

As a new release, Libraries have been thoroughly tested by our internal team but may contain some small bugs through this introductory period. Please contact our team at support@air.inc if you encounter any issues.

FAQ

  • Can I use Air Flow with the Libraries Beta?

    • No, Air Flow does not yet support Libraries, but this capability is coming soon!

  • How can I start using libraries in my workspace?

    • Libraries should already be available in your workspace! If you’re not seeing the feature in your workspace, sign up for access using this form.

  • Can I turn a board into a library?

    • This is not available yet, but it is something we plan to add soon!

  • Can I delete a library?

    • Yes, you can delete a library if you are the library owner. All boards and assets within a library will be lost upon library deletion. As an added precaution, the owner must type the full name of the library in order to delete it.

       🚧 Please take caution when deleting a library. All boards and assets within a library will be deleted, which could result is major data loss for your organization.
  • Can I move boards and assets between libraries?

    • Yes! You can move boards and assets between the libraries you are a member of, provided you have permission to do this.

  • Can a board live across multiple libraries?

    • No, a board can only live in one library.

  • Are tags and custom fields specific to a library?

    • No, tags and custom fields are still managed in your workspace settings and available for use in all libraries.

  • Are custom roles supported with Libraries?

    • Custom roles are not yet available with libraries, meaning you cannot assign a custom role to a library member. If you currently have any custom roles assigned to users in your workspace, their workspace roles will not change with the addition of libraries.

  • Can an asset live across multiple libraries?

    • Yes, an asset can live in multiple boards in different libraries.

  • What is a workspace owner?

    • The workspace owner role has all permissions of a workspace admin (editing plan, billing, and security details) plus the ability to view all libraries in a workspace and the members of those libraries, including hidden and private libraries.

       🗝️ The workspace owner role has been assigned to whichever workspace admin joined the workspace first. If you think you should be the workspace owner, please contact your workspace owner or reach out to support@air.inc.

  • Who has the new workspace owner role in my workspace?

    • The workspace owner role has been assigned to whichever workspace admin joined the workspace first. You can see all workspace members and their roles from your members tab.

      If you think you should be the workspace owner, please contact your workspace owner or reach out to help@air.inc.
  • Can there be more than one workspace owner?

    • Yes, there can be multiple workspace owners.

  • Can a user’s library role be different from their workspace role?

    • Yes, a user can have a library role(s) different from their workspace role – this is the value of libraries! It gives your team control over what permissions a user should have on certain groupings of content.

  • Are there any risks to using the new feature?

    • The Libraries feature has been thoroughly tested by our internal team to reduce the likelihood of Air users seeing any issues, but please note that you may see small bugs as we continue to improve the feature. Please contact help@air.inc if you encounter an issue!

⍰ We would love to hear what you think of libraries! Use the Leave Feedback option in the ? menu of your workspace to let us know what you love and what you don't! ⍰ 

Please contact help@air.inc if you have any questions regarding this feature.

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