The public access option lets administrators configure selected channels to be
**web-public**. Web-public channels (indicated by a <i class="zulip-icon
zulip-icon-globe"></i>) can be viewed by anyone on the Internet without creating
an account in your organization.

For example, you can [link to a Zulip
topic](/help/link-to-a-message-or-conversation) in a web-public channel
from a GitHub issue, a social media post, or a forum thread, and
anyone will be able to click the link and view the discussion in the
Zulip web application without needing to create an account.

To see this feature in action, you can [view web-public channels in the Zulip
development community](https://chat.zulip.org/) without logging in.

Users who wish to post content will need to create an account in order
to do so.
