ARCHIVED: Share and collaborate on files with Box
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Overview
IU's Box cloud storage service was retired on May 10, 2021. For information about cloud storage options available at IU, see Storage at IU.
IU Box provides a simple, secure way to share and store files and folders online. When using Box, additional settings are available to enhance the security when sharing and collaborating on files and folders.
Private folders
New folders in Box are private by default. Private folders can be identified by the yellow folder icon in Box. Once you invite collaborators, it is no longer a private folder, and the folder icon will change (see Folders with collaborators). Any files stored in a private folder are only accessible by you unless you choose to share an individual file or subfolder (see Shared links). For information on how to create folders, see Create New Files And Folders.
Compare shared links and collaboration
To share files in your IU Box account, you can either share a link, or invite someone to be a collaborator on a file or a folder.
Collaboration is intended for longer-term projects requiring that the other person be able to continually access the files. When you want help revising a document, inviting someone as a collaborator allows you to revise just one version of a given file, rather than creating multiple versions that you must reconcile later. Shared links, on the other hand, are intended for a quick, one-off need to share a file. For a comparison of features, see below:
Feature | Shared links | Collaboration |
---|---|---|
User needs a Box account | No | Yes |
Available to people outside IU | Yes, depending on the item settings |
Yes |
Can be used to share either individual files or folders |
Yes | Yes |
Access/permission levels | Three access levels | Seven permission levels |
Read-only permission | All access levels | With Previewer permission level |
Users can edit, upload, and/or delete files |
No | If given appropriate permission level |
Can password-protect anonymous access |
Option available when access set to |
No anonymous access; requires Box login |
Shared links
Shared links allow you to give others the ability to view and/or download an individual file or folder of files.
You can generate a link to share either individual files or folders. If you want to share more than one file with certain people, it's best to put them in a folder first, and share a link to the folder.
The following settings are available for shared links:
- Access Type: Shared links have the following three access levels. You can change the access level of a shared link at any time without changing the link.
- People with the link: Allows anyone with the link to access the file or folder. This access level does not require a login, so there will be no name to indicate who views or downloads the files.
- People in your company: Limits access to people with an IU login
- People in this folder/People in this file: Limits access to invited collaborators for the file or its containing folder, if there are any. This is the default access setting for all shared links.
- Password Protect: If you have set the access level to , you can choose to set a password for the link as an additional security measure.
- Link Expiration: If you only need to provide access to the content for a limited time, you can set a date for the link to automatically deactivate.
- Allow Download: By default, shared links allow people to download what you have been given access to. By unchecking this setting, you can limit people to previewing the content.
UITS recommends the following best practices for shared links in Box:
- Unless there is a strong need to customize, use the default URL generated by Box (with a random numeric string) for your shared link, rather than using the Custom URL feature.
Customized Box shared links (those beginning with
https://iu.app.box.com/v/
) that are set to open access ( ) and are not password protected are vulnerable to being guessed by computer algorithms. - Regardless of whether it is a default or custom shared link, if you share any data that should not be public and need to set the access level to , set a password on your link.
- Whenever you create a shared link of any kind, consider how long the link will be necessary. If you can determine a time limit, set an expiration date to minimize future concerns about data exposure.
For information on how to access and set these controls, see:
Collaboration
Folders with collaborators
Folders in Box that have people added as collaborators are represented by a blue folder icon when owned by someone within IU and by a gray folder icon when owned by someone outside of IU. Such folders are intended for ongoing collaboration with other users.
About inviting collaborators
For instructions for working with collaborators, see:
When collaborating with others at IU, be sure to use each person's primary IU email address. If you use a different address, the recipient will not be able to log in and access what you sent.
When collaborating with people outside IU, UITS recommends that your collaborators create their Box accounts before you invite them to a folder or file. You can then use the email addresses they used when creating their accounts to invite them to collaborate.
Permission levels
When inviting collaborators to a folder, consider what you want the collaborator to be able to do with the content in the folder. The default permission level is Editor, which may give people more privileges with the content than you want them to have. It is best to add collaborators at the lowest level that still allows them to do the work they need to do with those files. For a breakdown of the permission levels, see Understanding Collaborator Permission Levels.
Enhance security on folders with collaborators
Folders also have the following settings that can be used to enhance security on folders with collaborators.
- Invitation Restrictions: By default, Editor and above can invite collaborators to a folder, anyone with a Box account can be invited as a collaborator, and the names of collaborators are displayed to one another. The following controls allow you to modify these defaults:
- Allowing only folder owners and co-owners to send collaboration invites
- Restricting collaboration to users with an IU login
- Hiding collaborators' names from one another
- Shared Link Access: This control allows you to limit all shared links generated for the folder or on files and folders within the folder to the access level. This control prevents non-collaborators from being able to access shared links to the folder.
- Watermarking: This control allows you to watermark all files within the folder. For more on the benefits of watermarking content as an additional security control, see Watermarking Files.
For more on these folder settings and how to set them, see Understanding Box Folder Settings.
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Last modified on 2021-02-26 10:56:18.