What is a Share Link?
A Share Link is a specific type of URL or web address that bypasses login credentials usually required to access a cloud site, allowing the viewer access to one specific file or folder of files. The key to a Share Link vs. a URL or web address is that the URL usually requires the viewer to be logged into the site to view the files.
Share Links are the key to how MyFamilyArchive works. You will add share links to your MyFamilyArchive indexes which then link the viewer to a specific photo, photo album, video, document, etc. So whenever possible, use the "Share Link" for connecting a Shared Album to MyFamilyArchive.
Where do I find the Share Link?
All sites do this a bit differently, but generally, in the cloud site where you store your photos, videos, digital albums, etc., you will likely find the word "Share" or "Get Share Link" somewhere on the photo or album page. Click this link and it will provide a Share Link or Copy Link option, which is a series of characters that represent this specific page in that cloud site. This "Link" is the web address you will copy and then paste into your MyFamilyArchive Entry. Please see the Help topic: Creating Albums in 3rd Party Cloud Sites for specific instructions to iCloud Photos, Google Photos, Flickr, and Smugmug.
Can I just use the URL or Web Address?
There are some cloud sites that you may want to link to a Collection Page that do not provide share links. Examples would be Facebook, Instagram, FamilySearch, Ancestry.com and others. In these cases, the viewer will a) need to have an account with the site and b) have been granted permissions to view the specific site or link being shared. For FamilySearch and Ancestry.com, if the person is deceased then the viewer must be logged into that website but no permissions are required, as deceased individuals are not private.
What is a URL?
A URL is basically a way of identifying the location of a file or your media that's stored not on your computer but in a computer (server) at a remote location. Remote servers represent what we call the Cloud... meaning it seems we're sending these files into thin air but they actually travel through the Internet and are stored on another computer rather than yours. Opening a local file on your computer is as simple as double-clicking it, but to open files on remote computers in the cloud, we must use URLs so that our web browser knows where to look.