Feature
DeepMeta - Assistance and Collaboration
Invite another DeepMeta user to assist with your uploads and edits. Set the exact access rights they get and switch them on or off at any time.
DeepMeta now supports Assistance and Collaboration: invite another DeepMeta user to work on your Portfolio on your behalf. You decide exactly what they can do — Upload & Edit, Submit, or both — and you can enable, disable, or remove the relationship at any time.
In this walkthrough we use two users: Franky is a Contributor who wants help managing Uploads. Susan will act as Franky's Assistant.
Step 1 — Franky opens the Assistants panel
On any DeepMeta page, click the Avatar at the top right to open the Profile panel.
The Profile panel contains a section called Assistants and Collaboration. Click the Add Assistant button.
Step 2 — Enter Susan's Assist ID
The Add Assistant panel opens. It explains the flow and has a single input field for Susan's Assist ID.
Franky contacts Susan through any channel they normally use (chat, email, phone, …) and asks her to:
- Create an account at deepmeta.creativ.zone — or log in if she already has one.
- Click her Avatar to open her Profile panel.
- Copy her Assist ID (the copy-to-clipboard button is next to it) and send it to Franky.
Franky pastes the Assist ID into the input field and confirms.
Step 3 — Susan appears in Franky's list
After adding, Susan appears in Franky's Assistants and Collaboration list.
Step 4 — Set Susan's access rights
Click the Edit icon next to Susan's entry to expand the access-rights panel.
Two rights can be granted individually:
- Upload & Edit — lets the Assistant manage Upload and Edit workflows.
- Submit — lets the Assistant submit Batches. Requires Upload & Edit.
The Edit panel also has a Delete button to permanently remove the Assistant connection. Confirmation is required.
Susan's side — entering Assist Mode
The next time Susan opens her Profile panel on DeepMeta, Franky appears in her list under User you are assisting.
Susan clicks the Assist button next to Franky's name. This puts her DeepMeta page into Assist Mode.
Her Avatar moves to the background, and Franky's Avatar appears on top — indicating whose Portfolio she is now viewing.
Susan's homepage now shows a subset of the menu: only the sections from Franky's account that she has access to. She can start editing Franky's Uploads right away.
Her Profile panel now shows the active Assist context: "Susan assisting: Franky", along with a Stop button to exit Assist Mode.
Managing the connection
Franky temporarily disables Susan's access
Franky can toggle Susan's access off at any time using the Enable switch on the Assistant entry.
From Susan's Profile panel, the entry for Franky now shows as Disabled.
Susan stops assisting
Susan can exit Assist Mode at any time by clicking the Stop Assisting button in her Profile panel. Her DeepMeta page returns to her own default view.
Susan removes the connection
Susan can also permanently delete the Assistant connection from her side: click the Edit icon on Franky's entry, then Delete. Confirmation is required.
Security
- Assistants only ever see and edit data belonging to the Contributor they are assisting — access is scoped to the Contributor's zone.
- Assistants with Upload & Edit rights cannot sign in to or sign out of the Contributor's ESP Accounts; only the Account owner can do that.
- Assistants with Submit rights can schedule and submit Batches on the Contributor's behalf.
- No matter what access rights are granted, Assistants can never see Statistics or financial data from the Contributor.
- The Contributor can revoke access (disable or delete) at any time, from any device, without needing to contact the Assistant.
Future plans
The current implementation is already very useful and far more practical than sharing a secondary ESP password with an Assistant. We have some exciting additions planned for the next phase.
In any collaboration, a significant amount of time goes into communicating and planning. This typically involves many back-and-forth exchanges over email or chat, sometimes resulting in missed deadlines or incomplete submissions. This is the area we plan to tackle next:
- Private Notes on Batches — A Batch will support Private Notes shared only between the Contributor and the Assistant. These notes are never exchanged with Getty ESP. This gives the Contributor a way to brief the Assistant in detail.
- Batch Assignment — A Contributor will be able to assign an Assistant to a specific Batch, or auto-assign them to every new Batch that is created. The Assistant then only sees the Batches assigned to them.
- Deadlines — A Deadline can be set by which the Assistant needs to complete the Editing. Useful for Briefs or seasonal Batches.
- Priority — Batches will support a priority level. A higher priority means "do this first." This complements the Deadline — both need to coexist.
- Status tracking — A Status dropdown will let the Contributor and Assistant move a Batch through stages such as "To Edit", "To Revise", or "Completed". The Contributor can assign a task and the Assistant can signal when it is done or when input is needed.
- Calendar — A Calendar feature will let both parties keep track of upcoming events and Deadlines at a glance.
Feedback
This is a brand-new feature and, as you can see, we plan to expand it significantly. As always, your feedback is warmly appreciated. You can contact us with your suggestions and bug reports.
Header image: (c) John (Unsplash)