Understanding Story Privacy Options

Control who can see your stories and how they're shared.

Overview

Exposure gives you complete control over the privacy of each story you create. Whether you want to share a story publicly, restrict access to specific people, or create private client galleries, you have multiple options to customize visibility.

Privacy options are found in the Story Options panel when editing your story. Click the gear icon in the top-right corner of the story editor, then scroll to the Privacy section.

Available Privacy Options

Story Password (Pro and above)

Add a password to protect your story. When enabled:

Visitors must enter the password to view the story
The story is automatically hidden from your site
Email and push notifications are not sent to subscribers
The story won't appear in search results or your story feed
Link share previews (on social media) won't show the story's images

Perfect for: Client work, private galleries, sensitive content, draft previews for stakeholders

To set a password:

Open Story Options (gear icon)
Scroll to Privacy
Enter your password in the Story Password field
Click Save

To remove a password: Click the X button next to the password field, then save.

Hide Story Entirely (Pro and above)

Make your story completely invisible on your site while keeping it accessible via direct URL.

When enabled:

Story won't appear anywhere on your Exposure site
Story won't appear in your story feed
Story won't appear in any categories
Story won't appear in search results
Visitors with the direct URL can still access it

Perfect for: Unlisted content, stories you want to share selectively, archived work

Hide Story From Story Feed (Pro and above)

A softer form of hiding—removes the story from your main story feed but keeps it visible in categories.

When enabled:

Story won't appear in your main story feed
Story will still appear in any categories you've added it to
Story is accessible via direct URL

Perfect for: Organizing your portfolio, keeping your main feed curated while still showcasing work in category pages

Mature Content Warning

Display a warning screen before visitors can view your story. This is useful for content that may not be appropriate for all audiences.

When enabled:

Visitors see a warning screen before the story loads
They must click to confirm they want to view the content
Story images are pixelated in link share previews
Story won't appear in "subscribe to stories" prompts shown to visitors

Photo Downloads (Pro and above)

Control whether visitors can download high-resolution copies of the photos in your story.

Enabled: Visitors can download photos from the lightbox view
Disabled: Download option is hidden (though determined users can still access images—this is a deterrent, not absolute protection)

Embeddable Story

Control whether your story can be embedded on other websites.

Enabled: Others can use an embed code to display your story on their site
Disabled: Any existing embeds will only show a link back to your original story

Notification Controls

These options control how subscribers are notified when you publish.

Send Email Subscriber Notification

When enabled, your email subscribers receive a notification when you publish the story.

Important notes:

Notifications are only sent the first time you publish
If you unpublish and republish, no additional notifications are sent
Notifications are not sent if a password is set
You can disable this globally in Settings → Preferences

Send Browser Push Notification (Business tier)

When enabled, subscribers who have opted in to browser push notifications receive an alert.

Important notes:

Only sent on first publish
Not sent if a password is set
Requires the global push notification setting to be enabled in Preferences

How Privacy Options Affect Visibility

Setting	On Your Site	In Story Feed	In Categories	Via Direct URL	Search Engines
No privacy options	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Password protected	❌	❌	❌	🔒 (requires password)	❌
Hidden entirely	❌	❌	❌	✅	❌
Hidden from feed	✅	❌	✅	✅	✅
Mature content	⚠️ (with warning)	⚠️ (with warning)	⚠️ (with warning)	⚠️ (with warning)	✅

Common Use Cases

Client Proofing

Recommended settings:

Enable Story Password
Share the password-protected URL with your client
They can view without anyone else seeing the work

Portfolio Curation

Recommended settings:

Enable Hide Story From Story Feed
Add story to relevant Categories
Your main feed stays clean while work is still discoverable in category pages

Private Family Album

Recommended settings:

Enable Hide Story Entirely
Share the direct URL only with family members
Consider adding a password for extra security

Professional Work with Download Option

Recommended settings:

Enable Photo Downloads
Great for allowing clients or collaborators to download high-resolution images

Work in Progress Review

Recommended settings:

Enable Story Password
Share with stakeholders for feedback before public release
Remove password when ready to publish publicly

Things to Know

Password-protected stories are truly private

When you add a password, Exposure takes extra steps to protect your content:

No email notifications are sent
No push notifications are sent
Social media previews won't show your images
Search engines can't index the content

"Hidden" doesn't mean "protected"

The "Hide Story Entirely" and "Hide Story From Story Feed" options remove your story from listings, but anyone with the URL can still access it. If you need actual access control, use a password.

Privacy options are per-story

Each story has its own privacy settings. Changing one story doesn't affect others.

You can combine options

Options work together. For example, you can enable both "Mature Content Warning" and "Photo Downloads" on the same story.

Plan Requirements

Feature	Free	Pro	Pro Plus	Business
Mature Content Warning	✅	✅	✅	✅
Embeddable Story toggle	✅	✅	✅	✅
Story Password	❌	✅	✅	✅
Hide Story Entirely	❌	✅	✅	✅
Hide Story From Story Feed	❌	✅	✅	✅
Photo Downloads toggle	❌	✅	✅	✅
Email Subscriber Notifications	✅	✅	✅	✅
Push Notifications	❌	❌	❌	✅

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can I password-protect my entire site? A: Yes, but that's a separate setting. Go to Settings → Design Options → Site Password to protect your entire Exposure site.

Q: Will hidden stories still count toward my story limit? A: Yes, all stories count toward your limit regardless of privacy settings.

Q: Can I change privacy settings after publishing? A: Yes, you can modify privacy settings at any time, even on published stories.

Q: If I remove a password, will subscribers be notified? A: No. Subscriber notifications are only sent on the first publish. Removing a password later won't trigger notifications.

Q: Can search engines find my password-protected stories? A: No. Password-protected stories are not indexed by search engines.

Q: What happens to existing embeds if I disable embedding? A: Existing embeds will display a link back to your story instead of the embedded content.

Need Help?

If you have questions about story privacy options, we're here to help:

Email: [email protected]