How does album access work in Media Hub?
Access is set at the top-level album. Sub-albums inherit those permissions automatically, if you share a top-level album with a user group, every sub-album inside it is shared with that same group at the same access level.
To configure access, open an album and click Share. You'll choose who can access the album and what they can do with the assets inside it.
What access levels are available?
There are two permission levels you can assign to all Media Hub users or group:
View only: Users can browse the album but must request approval before downloading. You review and approve each request individually. Note: users need a Media Hub account to submit a download request.
Download: Users can download any asset immediately, without waiting for approval.
Who can I share an album with?
When you click Share on a top-level album, you have three options:
All Media Hub users: Set a single permission level (view only or download) that applies to everyone with a Media Hub account.
Specific user groups only: Restrict visibility to the groups you add. Only those groups will see the album. If no groups are added, the album stays private to you as the admin - useful when you're still building out content and aren't ready to share.
Combined access: All Media Hub users can view the album, while specific trusted user groups can download without approval. Everyone else must request approval to download.
What do users see based on their permissions?
Restricted with no user groups added: Album is hidden, private to the admin only.
View only: Album is visible; assets show a Request Approval button.
Download: Album is visible; assets show a Download button.
Restricted to user groups: Album is only visible to users that are part of the user group(s), and hidden to all other users.
Users only ever see the albums they have access to. If a user group has access to 2 of your 10 top-level albums, their Media Hub landing page shows only those 2. Each audience gets a tailored experience with only the content relevant to them.
How do sub-albums handle permissions?
Sub-albums automatically inherit the access settings of their parent top-level album. When you click Share on a sub-album, you'll see the inherited access and which top-level album it's coming from. Click the top-level album link to review or update its share settings.
If a specific set of visuals needs a different access level, move that content into its own top-level album.
How can I tell how an album is shared at a glance?
Albums display access icons across album navigation, album details, and the manage albums and asset workflows:
🔒 Lock icon: Album is restricted (only available to specific groups).
👥 People icon: Album is shared with one or more user groups.
Can I share an album with someone outside Media Hub?
Yes. If you need to quickly share content with people who don't have a Media Hub account, you can create a public share link. Share links bypass your Media Hub permissions so non-Media Hub users can access the content directly.
My Visuals and Media Hub share links now work the same way - both are hosted on share.crowdriff.com with a consistent interface, including AI and Standard search modes for recipients.
To create a share link:
Open the album and click Share.
Go to the Public Link tab.
Change link access to Can Access to generate a link.
Choose an access level:
Can View: Recipients can browse assets but cannot download them. Unlike internal sharing, there is no request-to-download option.
Can View and Download: Recipients can browse and download assets immediately.
Click Copy Link to share.
❗Heads up
Share links include everything inside the album, all nested sub-albums and files.
You can create a separate share link for any nested album with its own access level. That link will only show that album and its contents, not the parent. This is useful when you want to share a specific subset of your library without exposing everything above it.
When a share link expires, the link becomes inaccessible but the album remains in your Media Hub.
What do recipients see?
When someone opens your share link, they can browse the albums or search for specific assets using two modes:
AI mode: Best for descriptive or natural language searches.
Standard mode: Searches asset metadata and works best for specific tagged details like locations, event names, and photographers.
Can I update or revoke a share link later?
Yes. Return to the album’s Share settings at any time to:
Change or remove the expiration date
Update access settings
Set link access to “No Access” to revoke it entirely
Need more help?
If you have any other questions, feel free to send us a message!