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Collaborating and Sharing Your Files
Now that you know how to access and set up new files and folders using Box, today’s goal is to learn about sharing and collaborating your files and folders. In this lesson you will notice the terms workspace (sharing of files and folders) and content (information within files and folders) are used interchangeably when collaborating with others.
Box gives you the opportunity to share a common file or folder (aka “workspace”) based on Waterfall Permissions. These are restrictions that allow access and viewing by others you choose, referred to in Box as “collaborators.” Waterfall Permissions will be discussed later in this file, but first you will need to know how to create a new folder using the NEW tab. Choose New Folder and add folder name.
You can click on “Keep Private” until you add your content. Yellow folders are your personal folders and blue folders are your shared/collaborative folders.
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You can add content by selecting the Upload tab and then choosing upload a file or the bulk upload option for multiple files. You may drag and drop files and folders using the bulk upload option. Box will open your file or folder then upload and encrypt the file or folder all at once instead one at a time.
You will receive notification from Box confirming your files and folders were uploaded successfully.
If you receive a lot of emails you may want to use the Email to Folder tool. When checking this box you will get a custom email address. When you check this option, Box creates a custom email address that is used to automatically upon your files.
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You can also drag and drop files and folders from your desktop into Box. If you need to move or copy a file or folder, go to Folder Options, choose Drop Down Menu and select Move or Copy. When you choose move you will asked for the location to where you want to move the file. YOU MUST SELECT THE LOCATION OF WHERE YOU WANT THE FILE OR FOLDER TO BE MOVED OR COPIED TO. When you copy something the content becomes a completely new distinct document in that location. This document will not take on any changes you make to the original file, folder, or content.
You can change the type (private or shared) of file, folder, or content from Box. Your workspace is now ready for sharing with collaborators.
Step 1
Step 2
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Inviting collaborators allows you to shares files and folders. If it is someone who is not already part of your current Box account enter their name or an email address. You can then include a custom message to introduce what this file, folder, or workspace is about, and most importantly, decide what access each collaborator will have. This is known as waterfall permissions.
Access Levels (for Collaborators)
Box allows you to choose from seven different access levels. You can hover your mouse over each access type for a description of what functionality is available. You can also hover over the
i
and pull up that same information in an easy-to-read chart. You can see below the Co-owner and Editor access have the flexibility to do quite a bit of work and are normally those collaborators who edit lots of changes to content and have a lot of accountability. There are also roles, with limited access, such as Viewer and Previewer.The access level can be changed at any time by the Owner or Co-owner.
Custom Message
Access or Waterfall Permissions
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An important concept in Box is Waterfall Permissions. If a collaborator is invited to a folder as, for instance,
“Previewer,” they automatically will have same “Previewer” access level to every sub folder that resides in the main folder.
In the example below, on the right-hand side under Sharing, you see Candie, Colin, and Julius listed. Each person has access to all files (Collaboration, Menlo Park Work Space, Box FAQ and Box Edit) at the same access level they have for Team Work
Test Collaboration folder.
Important Note: It is recommended that you assign access permissions at the lowest level and work up to the folder level as access permissions may very between collaborators and files.
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You can invite and restrict other collaborators to access a specific file or folder within a folder as a Viewer only.
You can invite any CSUSM member by click the Your Company button and typing the person’s name in the send to area. Names in this area are pulled directly from the campus email list.
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Takeawys:
1. Creating project workspaces
You are creating a workspace, not just a file or a folder, where you are going to put content. This is the location where all of your team comes to get their job done and where all of your communication about the files and folders is going to happen as well.
2. Adding Content into Box
There are several different methods you can use to upload your content in Box. The method you chose will depend upon the number of files you have and where they are coming from.
3. Accessing up-to-date Content
When you create a collaborative workspace it becomes the location where all collaborators can get all of the most recent versions of every document in the system. Box automatically syncs your content.
