Pre-work and Engagement
Authentication for prep
Choose how participants identify themselves on the prep page — guest sessions for friction-free access, signed-in for a richer member experience, with a smooth bridge between the two.
When a participant opens a prep link, the first decision point is identity. Gleo offers two paths: guest (no account, low friction) and signed-in member (account-tied, richer experience). This page covers when each one applies, what each one unlocks, and the smoother-than-you'd-expect bridge between them.
The mechanics matter more than they look. Most participants will never think about it — but as a facilitator who'll occasionally have to debug a "wait, where did my responses go?" question, knowing the model pays off.
Two paths, one page
Guest
Enter a name and email. No password, no account creation, no email verification gating submission. Gleo creates a guest session keyed to a cookie in the participant's browser.
Signed-in member
Sign in with an existing Gleo account. Responses are tied to the member's permanent identity. Member-only extras are visible (other prep links across the workspace, persistent identity for reactions / comments).
Both paths land on the same prep page. Both can complete the same tasks. The difference is what's tied to the responses afterwards.
When each path applies
| Situation | Path |
|---|---|
| External participant — customer, prospect, partner contact | Guest |
| Internal team member who already has a Gleo account | Signed-in |
| One-off external participant who doesn't want to create an account | Guest |
| Recurring external participant who'll be in many sessions | Encourage them to sign in (a one-time setup) |
| Anyone you want responses tied to a verified identity | Signed-in |
The default — and what most external participants take — is guest. It's friction-free, it works, and it's appropriate for the majority of prep use cases.
What guests can and can't do
Guests can do almost everything members can do:
- Authorise on the public prep page.
- Complete every task type.
- Submit, save, return later, amend.
- Add comments and reactions on prep tasks.
A few things behave differently for guests:
- Reactions and comments tie to the guest session. A reaction added by a guest is tied to the cookie-keyed guest session, not to a permanent account. If the same person comes back a week later from a different browser or after clearing cookies, they'll be a different guest unless they re-enter the same name and email.
- No persistent profile. Guests have no sidebar nav, no profile page, no list of their other Gleo activity. The prep page is the only surface they see.
- No cross-session continuity. A guest in Session A is a different identity from a guest in Session B, even if the same person is behind both.
For most external prep, none of this is a problem. For anything where you want continuity across sessions, encourage signed-in access.
The mid-flow sign-in bridge
One of the smoother touches in the prep page: a guest who decides to sign in part-way through can do so without losing their work.
The flow:
- Participant authorises as a guest, completes a couple of tasks.
- They notice the "sign in" link in the success or header area.
- They sign in (or create an account using the same email they used as a guest).
- The page rehydrates as a signed-in member. Their existing responses are preserved and re-attributed to their member identity.
This matters most for the kind of participant who's prep-curious enough to consider becoming a regular Gleo user. Letting them upgrade in place — instead of asking them to start over — is the difference between a one-off prep submission and a long-term account.
Cookie persistence — the gotcha
Guest sessions persist via a browser cookie. If a participant clears their cookies, switches browsers, or opens the link in incognito a second time, they'll be treated as a brand-new guest — and their previous responses won't show as theirs.
Their responses are still in the system; the facilitator can still see them attributed to the original name and email. But the participant won't see their own previous answers when they revisit. If continuity matters, ask the participant to use the same browser they used originally — or, better, sign in.
Walkthrough — see both paths
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1
Open the prep URL in incognito
Authorise as a guest. Enter a name and a real email (you'll use it in step 4). Complete one or two tasks.
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2
Confirm responses are saved as guest
Refresh the page. Your responses should still be there — that's the cookie persistence working.
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3
Clear cookies and re-open
Clear cookies for the prep domain (or open in a fresh incognito session). Re-open the link. You'll be back at the auth screen as a brand-new guest. Your previous responses still exist for the facilitator, but you can't see them as the new guest.
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4
Sign in mid-flow
Now sign in (or create a Gleo account). The page should rehydrate with your member identity, preserving any guest-session responses that match your member email.
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5
Check what the facilitator sees
In your normal facilitator browser, open the session's Responses tab. You'll see the original guest responses attributed to the guest name; signed-in responses attributed to the member.
Tips & pitfalls
Encourage members to sign in. If the participant has a Gleo account, signing in is the better experience — persistent identity, reactions tied to a real name, cross-session continuity. A short note in your invite ("If you have a Gleo account, sign in for the best experience; otherwise continue as guest") sets the right expectation.
Don't ask guests to create accounts as a hard requirement. The whole point of the guest path is friction-free access. Save the account creation pitch for the success screen at the end — that's where it lives by design.
If continuity is critical, sign-in is the only safe option. Cookies expire, browsers get cleared, devices change. For any prep where the participant must be able to return reliably to their previous responses across sessions, ask them to sign in upfront.