# Best Practices for Sharing Online Viewing Room Links

Learn when to use Contact Association or Email-on-Entry when sharing OVR links, plus best practices for tracking engagement inside ARTERNAL.

Written by Kalila Richards  
December 2, 2025

## **Understanding Your Link Access Options**

When creating an OVR link, you’ll see two options under the **General** section:

#### **1. Contact Association**

Assigns the OVR link to a specific contact so you can track their activity.

#### **2. Ask for Email on Entry**

Requires visitors to enter their email before viewing the OVR.

## **When to Use Each Option**

## **Scenario 1 — Sharing the link via SmartMail (recommended)**

If you’re sending the OVR through ARTERNAL SmartMail:

- You **don’t need** to enable Contact Association
- You **don’t need** to ask for email on entry

SmartMail automatically tracks exactly who opens and interacts with the link.

## **Scenario 2 — Sharing the link publicly (website, social media, newsletters)**

If the link will be viewed by people you **don’t already know**:

✔ **Turn on “Ask for Email on Entry.”**  
✘ **Use Contact Association**

This allows you to collect new email addresses and avoids anonymous “visitor” activity in your insights.

## **Scenario 3 — Sending the link privately outside ARTERNAL (WhatsApp, SMS, personal email)**

If you’re sending the OVR one-to-one and already know who the recipient is:

✔ **Use Contact Association**  
✘ **Do not require email on entry** — this may create unnecessary friction.

This ensures activity logs directly under the correct contact.

## **Tip: Quickly Duplicate OVR Links for Different Audiences**

You can duplicate an OVR link to create multiple versions — for example:

- One link with email-on-entry
- One link without it
- One version per VIP client

This helps you maintain consistent design without rebuilding each link.

## **Frequently Asked Questions:**

#### **Q: Do I need to enable anything when using SmartMail?**
A: No — SmartMail already tracks who opened the link and what they clicked.

#### **Q: Why does my report show “visitor” instead of a contact name?**
A: This happens when the OVR was shared outside ARTERNAL **without** email-on-entry enabled or without a contact association.

#### **Q: Will asking for email on entry annoy my clients?**
A: For personalized one-to-one sharing, use Contact Association instead. Reserve email-on-entry for public or unknown-audience links.

#### **Q: Can I create multiple versions of the same OVR?**
A: Yes! Use the **Duplicate** function to keep the same layout, images, and fonts without rebuilding.