Frequently Asked Questions

This page is a quick reference tool for PA-SHARE focusing on the common questions we receive most often. For more comprehensive guidance for using PA-SHARE, please see our PA-SHARE Help Materials.

If you have additional questions not covered here or in the Help Materials, please reach out to the PA-SHARE Help Desk at pashare@pa.gov. 

I would like to include other members of the project team as Project Contacts. How can I do this?

Navigate to the Submit page and click on “Project Contact”. Search for your project using the PA-SHARE Project number. You must be a contact on the project to use this submit option. If searching returns no results, your contact information on the project might not match your account. Please email the PA-SHARE Help Desk and we will investigate.

Please note that to view any project information or PA SHPO correspondence, each project contact must have their own PA-SHARE account. 

If you are not an existing contact on the project, please contact the Help Desk at pashare@pa.gov for access.

I have additional information on a project, like updated designs, general project updates, or changes to a scope of work. This information was not requested by the SHPO, so how do I upload this to PA-SHARE?

If you currently have access to the project and it is viewable from your My Projects queue, you can use the Project Supplement tile on the Submit page by searching the Project Number. If you do not have access and/or it is a legacy project that predates PA-SHARE, please contact the PA-SHARE Help Desk and we will grant you access. Once that is done, you can use the Project Supplement tile.

In the Project Supplement Description field, explain what is being sent and why additional information is being submitted. Reasons could include a revision to the project design or methodology for survey or an updated review date for the permitting agency. Attach any relevant documents and photos. For changes to the APE/LOD for Environmental Review Projects, please provide a zipped shapefile of the new project area as an attachment.

Project Supplements can only include attachments and photos. If you need to submit resource or survey information, please contact the PA-SHARE Help Desk at pashare@pa.gov for assistance.

How can I respond when more information is requested by the SHPO? 
Every SHPO response is accessible in your My Projects queue and via a direct link sent by email. Click on the link in the email or access the Project record via your My Projects queue and expand the project to see the SHPO responses. If you do not receive an email, check your spam filter and junk folder to make sure SHPO response email messages are not being blocked.

Once you’ve clicked on the link in your email or My Projects queue, you will be directed to the SHPO Response screen. Any open requests will be included at the top of the screen. Click the yellow circled arrow (process button) in the Process column next to the request to enter information.  You will be directed to a screen specific to that request to enter the additional information.

I am logged in as a Guest but I can’t access projects or submit anything!

The Guest account provides limited basic access to PA-SHARE and does not include user-specific login information. If you are submitting, updating, or viewing a project, PA-SHARE requires at least a free Basic account to verify that you should have access and to know where to send email communication. Please see the ​PA-SHARE Login Credentials page for registration and login instructions.

My project submission was rejected or returned to me as Insufficient and I don’t know why!

When a submission is rejected or returned as Insufficient, you will receive an email with a short explanation. This may appear to be an automatically generated email, but it will include a written description composed by a staff member of what information is missing or why the submission was rejected. If you do not receive an email, check your spam filter and junk folder to make sure SHPO response email messages are not being blocked.

I received an error message from PA-SHARE. What should I do? 
You may receive an error message or be unable to view something because of your level of access. Review the different types of user access and related benefits on the PA-SHARE Options & Subscriptions page. If you believe your subscription should grant you access but you still receive an error, send an email to pashare@pa.gov with the following information: 

• The exact text of the error message copied and pasted from the popup alert. 

• A specific description of what you were attempting to do when the error popped up, such as “I attempted to draw my project APE and received the following error message.” 
• Project or resource number associated with the page you were trying to access

If possible, please include a screenshot of the entire PA-SHARE page including the URL or web address at the top of the screen. In Windows, you may copy an image of the page by pressing Alt + Print Screen and paste it into your email or an image editing program. You can also use the Snipping Tool. 

How do I add or remove users on my Business account? 
Only the account owner can add or remove users to the Business account. There is no limit on the number of times users are added or removed. 

Navigate to the Organization Profile tab of your User Profile. Toward the bottom of the window is a section for Organization Members. Click "Add Member by Email" and then click "Validate."  New members will display in the grid. NOTE: Any member you add to the Business account must have signed in to PA-SHARE as a Basic or Pro user at least once. 

To delete a user, select their name in the grid and click "Delete".