Sharing a Note

Open the share page, choose Unlisted or Public, copy the link, and manage your shared study notes

Sharing a study note takes a few taps. This guide walks you through the Share Study Guide page: the link, visibility options, and managing your shared notes.

To share a study note:

Open Your Study Note

Navigate to the study note you want to share. Make sure it's complete and contains the content you want others to see.

Tap the Share Icon

In the top bar of the study note page, tap the share icon (labelled Share when you press and hold it). It opens a full-screen page called Share Study Guide.

Share Automatically Created

There is no "create link" button. When you open the page, Notesmakr automatically creates the share if one doesn't exist, and shows a brief placeholder while it loads. Then the link appears in the Copy Link card.

Choose Visibility

Select your sharing visibility: In the Share visibility card, tap one of two options (the selected one turns teal with a check):

Unlisted (default) — Only people with the link can view
Public — Searchable and indexed by search engines. An amber warning appears when you pick it.

The choice saves instantly; there is no Save button.

Copy and Share

The share link is now ready! You can:

Copy Link — Tap the copy icon in the link field
Share — Tap the Share button to open your device's share sheet
QR Code — Tap the QR Code button to show a code to scan ("Scan to view this study guide")
Sharing switch — At the top of the page, switch sharing on or off ("Sharing is active" / "Sharing is paused")

Understanding Visibility Options

When you choose Public, your note:

Is described as "Searchable and indexed by search engines"
May be indexed by search engines (Google, Bing, etc.), so it can show up when people search for related keywords
Still opens for anyone with the link

Public does not add your note to a list inside Notesmakr; it only lets search engines index the page.

Best for:

Helping the broader learning community
Contributing to open educational resources
Topics you want people to be able to find through search

When you choose Unlisted, your note:

Can be read by people who have the link ("Only people with the link can view")
Is NOT indexed by search engines
Can only be found by people who have the exact URL

Best for:

Sharing with specific friends or study groups
Keeping notes semi-private
Testing before going fully public
Selective distribution

Neither option has a password, and shared notes don't expire. To make a note private again, switch sharing off (see Stop Sharing below).

Your shared note gets a unique link that starts with https://notesmakr.com/shared/, in one of these forms:

notesmakr.com/shared/{token} notesmakr.com/shared/{your-note-title}-{token}

The link ends with a short unique code and may include words from your note's title.

Link Features

Permanent — The link has no expiry; it works as long as sharing is switched on
Unique — Each shared note has its own link
Read-only — Anyone with the link can read it without signing in

What's Included

When someone visits your share link, they see:

Simplified content — Your Feynman explanation of the material
Original content — The source material (if simplified version doesn't exist)
Title — Your note's title
Summary, key concepts and tags — Shown on the web page's Overview tab
Your name — Only if you tick Display my name on shared note
Import to My Notes — In the app's shared study guide screen, viewers can copy the note's title and text content into their own library as a separate note

What's Private

These items remain private and are NOT shared:

Study tools — Your flashcards, quizzes, and mind maps are not part of what is shared
Personal annotations — Typed notes, handwritten drawings, voice recordings
Highlights and underlines — Your text markups
Study progress — Study time, comprehension levels, last studied dates
Your name — Unless you tick Display my name on shared note
Edit capabilities — Viewers can only read (read-only mode)

Once the link is ready, share it via:

Copy Link

Copy the URL to paste anywhere:

Email
Text messages
Slack/Discord/Teams
Social media posts
Class forums or learning management systems

Tap Share to open your device's share sheet. It comes with a ready-made message, "Check out this study guide: <your note's title>", followed by the link. How the link looks in a chat (a preview card or just the URL) depends on the app you paste it into. You can then choose any app on your device, for example:

iOS: Share to Messages, Mail, Notes, etc.
Android: Share via WhatsApp, Gmail, Drive, etc.

QR Code

Tap the QR Code button on the share page to show a code for:

Printing on study materials
Displaying in presentations
Easy mobile scanning

There are no per-network buttons. Copy the link, or use the share sheet, and paste it wherever you like.

Managing Shared Notes

On the share page, you can see:

Views — How many times the shared web page was opened (views inside the app are not counted)
Imports — How many times people imported the note

The counts load when you open the page or change a setting. They are not live, so reopen the page to refresh them.

Edit Visibility

Change a note from unlisted to public or vice versa:

Open the share page for your note
Tap a different visibility option:
- Unlisted — Only people with the link can view
- Public — Searchable and indexed by search engines
The change takes effect immediately ("Share settings updated successfully")

Show/Hide Author Name

You can choose whether to display your name on shared notes:

On the share page, find the Display my name on shared note checkbox (off by default)
Check it to display your name publicly
Uncheck it to remain anonymous
It saves instantly. Your name appears as "Created by" on the web page only when it is ticked

To make a note private again:

Open the share page for your note
Switch the sharing switch to OFF (it reads "Sharing is paused" and "This link is currently disabled")
The link becomes inactive immediately

Updating Shared Notes

Edits Sync Automatically

When you edit a shared note, changes appear on the shared link when viewers refresh the page—no need to regenerate the link.

What updates:

Simplified content — Your updated Feynman explanation
Original content — Any changes to source material
Title — Updated note title

What doesn't update:

The share URL stays the same
Viewer access isn't disrupted
Your study tools aren't shared at all

Best Practices for Updates

Fix typos and errors as soon as you find them
Add improvements without worrying about breaking the link
Notify frequent viewers if you make major content changes (optional)

Give Credit

If your note heavily references a specific source:

Mention the source in your note's description
Include citations where appropriate
Don't claim others' work as your own

Respect Copyright

Only share content you have the right to share:

Your own original explanations are always okay
Publicly available information (with attribution) is generally fine
Private class materials or copyrighted textbook content may not be appropriate

Be Accurate

Double-check facts before sharing publicly. Others rely on your note to learn correctly.

Stay Respectful

Keep language appropriate and inclusive. Your notes represent you to a wide audience.

Monitor Reports

If viewers report inappropriate content using the flag icon, take it seriously and review your shared notes to ensure they meet community standards.

Promoting Your Shared Notes

Want to help more people discover your notes?

Optimize Your Title

Use clear, searchable titles:

Good: "Photosynthesis Explained Simply – Biology for High Schoolers"
Bad: "My Biology Notes"

Write Clear Content

Focus on making your simplified explanation as clear and helpful as possible. The quality of your explanation is what makes your note valuable to others.

Post to:

Reddit education communities (r/studytips, r/biology, etc.)
Study Discord servers
Class group chats
Twitter/X with relevant hashtags

Include Context

When sharing, explain:

What the note covers
Who it's for (grade level, course, exam prep)
Why you created it

Network issue — Ensure you're connected to the internet. If loading fails you'll see an error that starts "Failed to load share data".
Try again — Close and reopen the share page

Link Not Working

Check sharing status — Verify sharing is still enabled (it wasn't stopped)
URL copied correctly — Ensure the full URL was copied (no truncation)
Viewer's internet — Confirm the viewer has an active connection

Content Not Updating

Refresh the page — Viewers may need to refresh to see updates
Browser cache — Try opening in incognito/private mode

Privacy and Security

Who Can See Shared Notes?

Public — Anyone on the internet
Unlisted — Anyone with the direct link

Can Viewers Edit My Note?

No. Shared notes are read-only. Viewers can import a copy of the title and text into their own account as a separate note, but cannot modify your original.

Can I Track Who Views My Note?

You can see aggregate statistics (the Views and Imports counts) but NOT individual viewer identities.

Can I Unshare Anytime?

Yes. Switch sharing off at any time to immediately disable the link. You can switch it back on later and the same link works again.

Next Steps

Once you've shared your note, check out:

Viewing a Shared Note — See what the viewer experience looks like

Start sharing and contribute to the learning community!