What can external users do?
You become an external user
of IBM® Connections
version 5.5 when:

- Someone in an organization invites you to join a Connections version 5.5 community and you accept the invitation.
- Someone in an organization shares a file with you.
What external users can do
As an external
user, you can perform the following tasks:
- Collaborate fully as members in communities
- View and download files that are shared with you
- Edit files in IBM Docs
- Join IBM Sametime® meetings that you are invited to
- See an activity stream to which you have access
- Edit your profile by clicking your picture and selecting My Profile
- View abbreviated business cards of people that share content with you Note: Abbreviated business cards contain no clickable links for employee names.
- Share files with people
- Use the IBM Connections mobile app
- Chat with people in the organization
What external users cannot do
As an external
user, you cannot see the following IBM Connections
items or perform the following tasks:
- Be a community owner
- Create a community
- Follow people or communities
- Use @mentions
- See public microblogs
- See public or moderated communities
- See public files
- See or search the company directory (including using type-ahead) to find people
- See recommended content or peopleNote: External users cannot see public recommendations but they can see private recommendations. For example, External users can see a file recommended to them within a community to which they are a member.
- Access the Profiles menu.Note: External users can, however access their own profile by using the My Profile view.
- Access other user profiles
- See community metrics
- Use the IBM Connections desktop plugins
Identifying external users and what they can work with
If you are an external user, then content that you
create or have access to is identified by an icon . The icon
is applied to restricted communities that you are a member of, and
files or content that is created by you or shared with you.