Public Workspace: a practical guide to sharing your knowledge base externally

Memol's public workspace turns an entire workspace into a read-only URL with one click. Anyone can read it without signing in, and any edit shows up on the public page instantly.

But "you can publish it" and "you publish it in a way that actually reads well" are two different things. Dumping your raw folders online leaves readers wondering where to even start. This guide covers the practical steps to turn a public workspace into knowledge that lands — from deciding whether it fits, to structuring it, to keeping the wrong things from leaking.

For the feature overview, see the public workspace release post. This piece is the "how to use it" companion.

First, decide whether a public workspace fits

A public workspace shines when you show the same content to multiple external people, repeatedly. It's worth considering if any of these are true:

• You keep re-sending the same manual or FAQ to franchisees, contractors, or customers
• The PDF you handed out is now stale and you get "which one is the latest?" questions
• You rebuild a deck of case studies or past work for every sales conversation
• You've accumulated knowledge — a glossary, a how-to set — that outsiders should see too

If it's a one-off share with a single person, a single-note share link is enough. A public workspace is for when you want one URL as the front door.

Three things to decide before you publish

Before you flip the toggle, settling these three things changes the result dramatically.

1. Scope — which folders go out

Only folders with "Workspace" permission are published. Move anything confidential or draft into a "Restricted" folder. Review every folder once and ask, folder by folder: "Am I fine with anyone who has the URL seeing this?"

2. The entry point — what people read first

Visitors who land on a bare folder list get lost. Create a single "Start here" note stating the purpose, who it's for, and where to begin — and suddenly it reads like a documentation site.

3. Granularity — one note, one topic

For external readers, don't cram everything into one note. Split by topic — "Steps," "FAQ," "Pricing" — and group with folders. Both readers and search engines parse it more easily.

How to build a public workspace, by use case

External manuals / operating procedures

Share customer-service manuals and SOPs with franchisees or contractors. Order folders by workflow ("Before open," "Service," "Handling complaints"), and note the reading order in your "Start here" note so it doubles as training. Unlike a PDF, rule changes go live the same day, cutting version-mismatch mistakes.

FAQ / help center

Centralize customer FAQs and how-to guides. One question = one note, grouped into folders like "Getting started," "Pricing," "Troubleshooting." Public pages are indexed, so this becomes an entry point for prospects searching "product name + how to." Link to it from your site and you have a lightweight help center.

Product docs / API guides

For dev-facing products, put setup steps, specs, and changelogs in a public workspace. Since edits are instant, you keep "always-current official docs" without standing up a separate docs platform — and AI assistants can reference it too.

Portfolio / case studies

Design studios and agencies can give each project its own folder, collect work and case studies, and share one URL with prospects. Standardize the format with a template and you grow a showable portfolio instead of rebuilding decks every time.

Glossaries / reference content

Industry glossaries, exam-prep notes, hobby collections — pick a theme, accumulate knowledge, and publish. Search traffic compounds and builds awareness for your product.

Structure tips that make a public page land

• Lead with a "Start here" note — purpose, audience, reading order in one page
• Order folders along the reader's path — not your internal org chart
• Title with words people search — "First-time login steps," not "Step 3"
• Use tags for cross-links — connect related notes that span categories
• One note, one topic — split and link rather than one giant page

Keep private things private

The most important part of a public workspace is not causing an accident.

• Only "Workspace"-permission folders are published. Put confidential info, personal data, and drafts in "Restricted" folders.
• Before publishing, audit every folder against "anyone with the URL can see this."
• Keep messy internal notes and external-facing notes in separate workspaces or folders.
• To stop, just toggle off in settings — it goes private immediately.

Getting found in search and AI answer engines

Public pages are indexed, and headings and body read as plain text. So an FAQ or product docs published this way becomes an entry point not only for search traffic but for AI answer engines — generative assistants citing it as a source. The more you write titles and headings in the words people actually search, the easier it is to find.

Setup (3 steps)

1. Open Settings
2. Turn on the toggle in the Public Workspace section
3. Copy the public URL that appears and share it

The public URL looks like https://memol.app/en/public/your-slug. To stop publishing, just turn the same toggle off.

Plans

The public workspace feature is available on the Standard plan and above.

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Don't let your knowledge stop at "captured." Push what you've gathered out into the world in a form that lands. A public workspace is the easiest way to turn internal knowledge into an external asset.

Memol is free for up to 5 people. Start by publishing a small FAQ or a set of how-tos. https://memol.app