For customers hosting content on system domains (such as hs-sites.com and hubspotpagebuilder.com), it's important for HubSpot to protect the integrity of these domains. One way to combat abuse is by ensuring that preview content is only accessible by authenticated HubSpot users. Preview URLs now require the visitor to be a user in a HubSpot account.

What has changed?

When editing a web page, landing page, blog post, knowledgebase article or email you can create and share preview URLs. These URLs make it easier to collaborate with others by showing a draft version of an asset prior to publishing it. These URLs will now require the recipient to be logged into a HubSpot account in order to view the preview.

This only affects system domains hs-sites.com, hubspotpagebuilder.com, preview.hs-sites.com, and content staging domains. If the portal has Marketing Hub or CMS Hub Professional or higher, connecting a primary domain for any of the content tools, including web version of emails, will still allow preview links to be loaded by non-users.

How can we collaborate with stakeholders after this change?

You can connect a custom domain for a content type or create a user account for the stakeholder.

User accounts are free and you can have an unlimited number of them (they do not need to be paid seats). You can create accounts for them as well as a role, giving them no actual account permissions if you like.

To view preview URLs on system domains, all a viewer needs is an active HubSpot user account. The account does not need to be the same account  as the URL was shared from. So if you have a user in a different HubSpot account, that will do. This may be the preferred method for solutions partners.

When did this go into effect?

It is already rolled out to developer, trial, and starter (marketing hub, and service hub) accounts. The change is currently rolling out to Professional and Enterprise accounts as well.