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Christine312's avatar
Christine312
New member | Level 2
7 years ago

Can you advise on best practices that'll help me organize my folder-structure?

Hi, does anyone have some advise on organization of files?  I can't seem to find what I need, when I need it.  Just need some clarity on how to operate this thing when I have cluttered it up.  Thanks...
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  • Jane's avatar
    Jane
    7 years ago
    I appreciate it that you circled back to me Christine (Christine312) & please accept my apologies for the slight delay in getting back in touch with you! 
     
    Now, the point in organizing your content is to create your folder structure pro-actively & add content as you go, in order to keep everything neat. Below, I’m going to roughly try to rephrase Jay’s tips here, though you may adapt my advice according to your needs. 
     

    If I were in your shoes (& depending on your space), I’d mirror my folder structure in Active & Inactive. From there, I’d separate into Departments & share (as well as distribute permissions) on this level. You may reference a rough scheme below:

    Spoiler

     

     

    From there, to keep everything as organized as possible (& because I understand that there should be some adjustment along the way), I’d suggest keeping track of your account organization in a Paper doc, where you can create a table with your account content & permissions. 

    When it comes to your duplicate files, are you seeing Conflicted copies by any chance? 

    You may have a look at these pointers at your earliest convenience & please do let me know how this advice works for you here. Thanks again!

Jane's avatar
Jane
Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
7 years ago

Hey Christine312, I can say that I’ve experimented a bit with file organization, though it all comes down to your current needs at the end of the day, so I’d like to focus on what you’d like to do at the moment in a bit more depth. As an initial point of reference, you may have a look here for some tips that would help you get started, though my suggestion would be to start off pro-actively rather than retro-actively.

That being said, I’d happily discuss how to best organize your folder structure if you let me know what would be the ideal case scenario for you (eg. are you working in a project at the moment?/ are you currently organizing your content according to year created &c? ). Once you get back in touch with me with a bit more detail on that, I’ll do my best to follow-up with you. Enjoy the rest of your day until we talk again! 

  • Christine312's avatar
    Christine312
    New member | Level 2
    7 years ago

    Thank you Jane!  My name is Christine.  I have three companies, personal and a non-profit and then random files popping up (I think one of our computers are automaticly syncing somewhere, but don't know.) I have crazy duplicates too.

    I certainly need a plan, but then the best way to drop, drag and reorganize.  Overwhelming me. 

    You are very kinds to reach out.  I guess I need to do one thing at a time each day and work on it - just looking for some place to start.  Any videos or tips are appreciated! 

    Christine

    • Jane's avatar
      Jane
      Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
      7 years ago
      I appreciate it that you circled back to me Christine (Christine312) & please accept my apologies for the slight delay in getting back in touch with you! 
       
      Now, the point in organizing your content is to create your folder structure pro-actively & add content as you go, in order to keep everything neat. Below, I’m going to roughly try to rephrase Jay’s tips here, though you may adapt my advice according to your needs. 
       

      If I were in your shoes (& depending on your space), I’d mirror my folder structure in Active & Inactive. From there, I’d separate into Departments & share (as well as distribute permissions) on this level. You may reference a rough scheme below:

      Spoiler

       

       

      From there, to keep everything as organized as possible (& because I understand that there should be some adjustment along the way), I’d suggest keeping track of your account organization in a Paper doc, where you can create a table with your account content & permissions. 

      When it comes to your duplicate files, are you seeing Conflicted copies by any chance? 

      You may have a look at these pointers at your earliest convenience & please do let me know how this advice works for you here. Thanks again!

      • Christine312's avatar
        Christine312
        New member | Level 2
        7 years ago

        Hi Jane,

        I have been on the road and haven't taken the time to work on my organization issues.  I need to make time.  Thank you for offering your insights and giving of your day to help me out.  I hope others also find this helpful.  I think there are a lot of us around, getting overwhelmed with all these great tools and finding ourselves frustrated.  Have a great day,  Christine

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