License vs project invitations

Who this article is for

Anyone who wants to understand the difference between sharing an ATLAS.ti license and sharing access to a project (for team collaboration), including administrators managing multi-user licenses and users working in teams.

License invitations

• A license invitation allows you to share access to your ATLAS.ti license so others can use the software.
  • Typically used in multi-user or campus licenses
  • Invited users can sign in and use ATLAS.ti under your license
  • Each user occupies a license seat while using the software
• However, a license invitation only provides access to the software itself:
  • License invitations do not grant access to your projects
  • License invitations do not share or synchronize any data between users

Project invitations and collaboration

If you want to work together on the same data, you need to share a project, not just a license.

• To collaborate with others using ATLAS.ti Desktop, you can share your project with anyone else (regardless of what kind of ATLAS.ti license they have). You have two options for sharing projects:

1. Upload the project to the cloud storage and send an invite link:

   1. To share a project with colleagues, click on the three dots next to your project name from the ATLAS.ti welcome screen, and select "Share".
   2. Enter the email address of the ATLAS.ti account of the person you want to share the project with.
      1. Please keep in mind that the email entered must be associated with an ATLAS.ti account with a valid license. Moreover, the email address is case sensitive, so you must enter the email exactly as it appears in the person's ATLAS.ti account.
   3. ATLAS.ti will generate an invitation link. Copy this link and send it to your colleague.
      1. Note that the link is personalized and can only be redeemed by the person it was generated for.
   4. Once the person receives the link, they need to paste the link into a browser, select "Download", and it will redirect them to the ATLAS.ti software.
      1. The download process will begin, and once it's complete, the person can access the project in their own ATLAS.ti.
   5. To return the project to you, the other person can upload the updated version of their project to the cloud storage and share the download link with you.
      1. You can then open their project and, if desired, merge it into your own project.

2. Export the project and send it to your team members:

   1. You can export a project from ATLAS.ti Desktop.
      1. In ATLAS.ti Windows, go to File > Export > Project bundle.
      2. In ATLAS.ti Mac, go to Project > Export > Project. This will create .atlasti file
   2. Send the project (.atlasti file) to your team members (via email, online cloud storage, USB stick, etc.).
   3. Your team members can then import the project into ATLAS.ti Windows or Mac.
      1. They can continue working on the project. Later, they can send their project back to you (following options 1 or 2 here), and you can merge these different copies of the project together.  

To learn more about teamwork in ATLAS.ti Desktop, we highly recommend viewing our video tutorial and full guide.

• In case you would like to collaborate using ATLAS.ti Web, you simply need to invite others to your project from the settings page in your ATLAS.ti Web project. Everyone's changes are automatically saved and updated, so you can collaborate in real time. Here's how to invite others to your project:
  • Go to the Project Settings of the project you want to share (click on the gear icon in the left-hand menu)
  • Click on the “Add new project member” button and enter the person’s name and email (you can also write them a personalized message)
  • Click “Send invitation” and wait for their confirmation
  • Repeat steps 1-3 for each person you want to invite to your project

• Or you can open one of the document, click the three dots at the top of the document, and click "Share"

Common issues and mistakes

• I invited someone to my license, but they cannot see my project
  • License invitations only provide access to the software, not to your projects.
• I expected my data to sync automatically between users
  • ATLAS.ti Desktop does not support automatic synchronization. Projects must be shared manually.
• I want to collaborate but I only shared the license
  • To collaborate, you must share the project, not just the license.

When to contact support

Contact ATLAS.ti Support if:

• You cannot invite users to your license
• A user cannot accept a license invitation
• A user has access to the license but cannot use ATLAS.ti
• You encounter issues exporting or importing projects

When contacting support, please include:

• The email address associated with your ATLAS.ti account
• A description of the issue
• Screenshots or error messages, if available