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What strategies do users employ to effectively manage version control for collaborative projects?
What strategies do Dropbox users employ to effectively manage version control for collaborative projects, especially when working with non-technical team members who might accidentally overwrite or delete important files? 🙂
Updates Coming to the Folder Link Sharing Experience
Dropbox is moving to an updated shared link architecture where links are based on the content being shared rather than on the user doing the sharing. This new content-based link architecture is already in place for edit access links to folders and newly created links to files, and can be identified by the presence of an ‘rlkey’ parameter in the URL. Over the next few months, we’ll round out the shared link portfolio by bringing this new architecture to newly created view-only access folder links, or view folder links for short. With this transition we’re maintaining all the core functionality our users love about sharing with links, while making it even easier for content owners, collaborators, and team admins to manage their shared content easily and with confidence. Updates to Link Sharing Only Two Centralized Links per Item Securing your content and managing your shared links is now easier and simpler than ever. Basing links on the content being shared means there will never be more than one single edit and one single view link for each file or folder. Changing the settings on these links will universally apply to everyone with link access to that content. Because all collaborators on a piece of content share the same link, a change is that only content members with edit access are able to modify shared link settings or delete a shared link. URL Format Change Part of the new link architecture is the addition of an rlkey parameter. Query parameters are anything following “?” in a URL. It is this rlkey parameter which grants access to the content, and removing it will require visitors to sign in and request access. Visit this forum to read more about the new format, or this Help Center Article for details on forced downloads. Third Party Application Dependencies Due to the change in URL format you may notice some third party applications, websites, and custom programs that rely on pasting in a Dropbox link no longer function as expected. We have limited insight or influence on these third party use cases, but if you do experience issues, please contact Dropbox support or visit this community forum thread on this subject. Enhancing the Link Sharing Experience Quick, simple, stress-free file sharing is core to the Dropbox experience. Content-based links makes it even easier to share files securely and effortlessly in real-time, and we are excited to bring these benefits to all users across our full portfolio of shared links. If you have more questions, or find yourself needing support during this transition, please visit our Community Forums, reference our Help Center, or contact Dropbox Support.
Shared filename names
Is there a way to at least know a consistent filename to be used with a group of shared files. I have 1000 jpg files and other files (mp4's) that I want to be able to share. I wrote a program to associate those 1000+ files with a map location and the map location has a URL associated with it that allows the file to display. This all works as planned. The problem I have is that the URL for all 1000+ files do not have a consistent naming convention because of how the sharing names are created. As an example, Here are two files names generated from sharing the files: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/1y390q1tmftcz5tjlcng4/Foobar.xls?rlkey=pkw1q2jp8rwkg&st=yn17rf6v&dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ht4a542xdxjikzqi707hm/Foobar2.jpg?rlkey=a7mpjc0kj3o5&st=9wiqu6wz&dl=0 These are fictitious filenames but the generated security information around it is real. With no consistency, Is there a way to know what the security information around the shared filenames so I can automate these?How we use Dropbox: Project management
When we hear about how other people use Dropbox, I have to say we scan for tips and advice that we can carry through to our own workflows and projects, from planning a wedding to organizing family photos.With that in mind, we loved hearing about how Project Manager extraordinaire, Libby, uses Dropbox to keep her projects, and more importably, the team, on track. Check it out below and let us know if you will take some of these tips forward😁 The key to a successful project is good planning and organization. Duh, but here is what I do to start off on the right foot there. Step 1: Create a shell of folders to start a project I create all of the folders to help manage the different stages of a project, which include: Ideation Planning Execution and closure And to go even deeper, within these folders we can have sub folders for different levels of approval. At this stage, I add everyone involved in the projects - and I BEG them to create their documentation within these folders. There is nothing worse than people creating rogue docs and forgetting to link it back so starting off in the right place makes it easy to keep us all in contact. Step 2: Create a Project plan I then create a Project Plan Paper doc, and this outlines the goals of the project, and this outlines the goals of the project, milestones, results and more. Now, this can seem daunting to begin with but luckily, we have a template to get you started right here. Within this doc, I can also tag people, create and add to-dos, link to other docs and of course, adding tables and images seamlessly. The perfect one pager, if you ask me. Step 3: Track the progress In theory, now everyone can get to work on their own sections of the project, and I get to observe, check in and remove any blockers. So I get notified when changes are made, I get tagged, I receive Capture updates. Whatever works for the team works for me! Step 4: Reporting and sharing wider Once the project has finished, and undoubtedly been a resounding success, it’s time to report back. So the results folder can contain Exel sheets of data, screenshots, and docs summarising the impact of the project. It’s great because everyone can contribute to this section as the results often come from varying sources. Once docs are ready for sharing wider, there are executive one pagers that can get workshopped internally and then a shared folder is created for the wider team. I enjoy how logical this process is, and as someone who can feel daunted about documentation, this seems really achievable. I also asked Libby for her best project management tip and this was her sage advice: Be flexible and work how your project team works. What works for one team won’t work for another. How do you manage projects? Do you have a different process you want to share?
500 on Approving Request Access to Shared link with invite only option
Hi, I have a folder A which is created programmatically in Dropbox by a user A using my application. (Dropbox SDK ) Now if i create a link via using the rectangular icon with arrow with Invite only permission and can view privilege. Now when the user clicks request access button shown when clicking on the link Iam getting a Approve request. SO from my Dropbox web app im approving the request and facing a 500 error. Screenshot attachedStorage nightmares to avoid this Halloween
The Spooky season has officially arrived and we want to make sure the only fright you get this year comes in the shape of some awesomely dressed trick or treaters rapping, rapping at your door. We’ve noticed a few headaches pop up in the Community over the last year so we’ve gone all Frankenstein and built a monstrous list of Storage Nightmares and how to avoid them his Halloween. Shared folders got you howling at the Moon Shared Folders are a really great way to share your work and collaborate with others. They’re like an inter-dimensional portal that allows you to look directly into someone else’s content, kind of! While there are so many positives, there is also the risk of a potential storage nightmare by overloading your account with more information than your plan allows. When someone shares a folder with you, you don’t actually get access to their space on Dropbox, instead you get a synced copy of the folder in your own Dropbox. If you don’t have enough space left on your plan to fit a shared folder, it will fill your Dropbox quicker than a gang of flesh-hungry zombies swarming around brains and you won’t be able to access any of the files. There are a couple of ways to get around this. You could always ask the person who sent it to re-send it as ‘read only’, this won’t require any space in your Dropbox. If you do need ‘editing’ access, the folder could be sent via a Shared Link and you’ll be able to open the folder on Dropbox.com without taking up any of your own space. Gremlins in your laptop We’ve all been there, once PCs and laptops get a few years old they inevitably develop s a couple of Gremlins in the works and need to be replaced. This might be a good time to sell or pass your current machine to a friend or family member. The only problem is, you’ve got all of this information saved in your Dropbox and you don’t want to lose any of it or allow anyone else to access it. Here‘s a very simple guide to doing this without having to worry about eating after midnight! If you have any kind of Dropbox plan, once you save something in Dropbox, it’s synced and saved in Dropbox. Whether your files are actually saved on your device or not, depends on whether you have them set to ‘online only’ or ‘available offline’, you can read more about this here. So, once you log into Dropbox on another device, you should automatically have access to all of your files. Once you’re sure everything is saved there, you can open up your new device and login to Dropbox.com and check that you have everything you need. When you’re happy that everything is stored safely in Dropbox, you can then go back to your old laptop and uninstall the desktop app and delete all the Dropbox folders. It’s a bit like an exorcism, only instead of casting demons aside, you’ll be casting unneeded folders aside. Run for your life, not out of space Much like a Ghostbuster’s Proton Pack quickly fills up with scary apparitions, a Dropbox account can quite easily become full too. If you want to avoid running out of space there are a couple of pretty simple space saving measures you can take. If you’re using Dropbox to save lots of images, you could take a look at your image formatting. JPEG or PNG files are much smaller than bulky files like TIFF or BMP and could save you some very valuable space. Likewise, if you’re using Dropbox to save lots of videos, you could try compressing these files before saving them, this will definitely free up some much needed megabytes. If these space saving tricks don’t really cut it and you’re still running out of room, you could also try to earn some free space by referring som friends or family to Dropbox or, if all else fails, you could always upgrade to a plan with a bigger storage allowance.How we use Dropbox: Susan
You might have seen our recent post about using Dropbox to help to get the most from your vacation (and we hope you use that information!) and we are delighted to share some more tips from our own teammate, Susan. In this ‘How we use Dropbox’ Susan discusses how she keeps track of her documents and photos from start to finish, from creating a Dropbox folder to store important documents, to sharing files so everyone knows the plan for the trip. Before my trip: Before I set out on holiday, I like to create a Dropbox folder for my trip. In it, I keep important documents like flight confirmations, hotel information, passports, and visas. That way, during my trip when things can tend to get chaotic or busy, I have a go-to folder where I can access all my travel-related paperwork. I also use Dropbox Paper to create itineraries that include daily schedules and lists of restaurant recommendations. I share these files on Dropbox with any friends/family that are coming on the trip with me. During the trip: Depending on the plan for the day, I will sometimes tag my friends or family members in the Paper doc itinerary and just double check we’re on the same page about the plan for the day. It’s easier to get that information sorted before we leave the hotel so I either do it the night before or the morning of so that we don’t have a moment of stopping in the middle of a busy street and being the tourists everyone hates. After the trip: And then, once I return from my trip, I like to create a subfolder and move all the photos I took while on vacation into that subfolder. Doing this helps me stay organized and save all my vacation memories in one place. It also makes it really easy to share those photos with the people from the trip - even if they don’t have a dropbox account. I love these tips - especially the ones to avoid being a hated tourist! We want to know so drop your tips in the comments and who knows, we could share your tips here too! Looking for further inspiration? See how Vicker organizes team files or how Emmet uses Dropbox to organize photos - especially useful if you have lots of pictures from your vacation.Dropbox Basic: work outside the box
If you work with more than one person, you more than likely have needed to share a document or file to work simultaneously or receive feedback. With your Dropbox Basic account, you collaborate with friends and family and workoutside of the box. Even if they do not have an account, you can still collaborate with them! Dropbox has made it easy to share files with friends and collaborate on projects. Share files with friends and family I recently learned that you can share files from Dropbox with friends or family that do not have an account. When you share a file or folder using Dropbox, the recipient receives an email with a link to the file or folder. The recipient does not need a Dropbox account to view or edit it though. Just this past week, I shared a Paper document with my sorority sister, and she was able to view and edit the file without any issue. On the file was a to-do list for the both of us and we worked together on the document. Learn more about how to add to-do list to your paper document. You can also control whether people can edit or view your files and folders when you share them and even after you share them. Edits and comments that’s made to a shared file or folder are updated live for everyone they’ve been shared with. This allows for any changes to projects to be implemented right away and ensures everyone is on the same page. Ways to Collaborate Sharing files is usually top priority when working with others. With Dropbox apps and integrations, sharing, syncing and collaboration is made easy. Whether you are sharing a school project, presentation, bachelor trip details, or planning your 30th birthday party, it is likely that you will pass the file along to someone else for their input. As sad as this may seem, Summer vacation for students and teachers will be ending in about 1 month. The time will come during the school year where you will have to participate in the good ol’ school project. The conversation of how you will collaborate to ensure everyone is working together always comes up, and you can suggest using Dropbox. With your Dropbox account, you can collaborate with your school project team members that do not have a Dropbox account. You can use word processing applications such as G-Suite and Microsoft Office Online. Learn more about how to use these integrations. This will allow for an automatic sync after each team member contributes to the project. Your Dropbox account allows you to collaborate with multiple team members from multiple locations at one time. It’s a big year for celebrating! Gathering in large groups has finally become a norm since 2020. People have planned large parties and events to celebrate weddings and birthdays. To do this, you will likely collaborate with friends and family virtually. Don’t forget that you can use Dropbox Paper to create a guest-list, or a to-do list where you can tag the other party hosts. You can even create the invites with Dropbox’s Canva integration. The beauty of using your Dropbox account for tasks like this is that you can use 3 different applications and all users can access files in one place. Things to know when collaborating When collaborating on a file, Dropbox has features that allows the file to be shared and protected when multiple people are editing. Dropbox has collaboration tools for sharing work, and guards old documents by locking the file or creating a conflicted copy. Here are some tips and tricks you can use to collaborate. Create link: Create a link with Dropbox that allows you to easily share the files with friends and teammates. To create a link: Open the Dropbox folder in File Explorer (Windows) or Finder (Mac). Right-click or command-click the file or folder you'd like to share. Click Share…. If a link hasn't been created, click Create link. The link is copied to your clipboard. Create a to-do list: When saving, sharing and collaborating on files and folders, you can add a checkbox that becomes tasks for the people you are working with. When you or someone else with permission click a checkbox, the line of text next to it is crossed out with a strikethrough. Mention someone: To notify collaborators, click the @ icon. This allows you to insert the email address or name of someone in your Dropbox contacts. The person is notified by email and their Dropbox account shows that they have been tagged in a folder. This is a helpful and easy way to communicate asynchronously. Your Dropbox Basic account is a great way to work with family and friends. Leave a comment and tell us how you use Dropbox to collaborate with family and friends!
