Working with folders

What you can do with folders that you do not own depends on the access level that you have.

About this task

There are three primary levels of access for any folder: Owner, Editor, and Reader. When a file is given public access, anyone can read and download it, even people who are not logged in. After they log in, people can also share the file, add it to a folder, comment on it, and receive notification when someone edits it or comments on it.

Users with the Editor and Owner roles can create and delete a subfolder. Subfolders always inherit the sharing information of the top-level folder.

Folder owners can choose to allow other people to share files. When someone shares a file with you, they can give you reader or editor access:

  • Reader access: Readers can read, comment on, download, and recommend a file, be notified of changes to the file, and share the file. They can add a file to one of their folders, or to a folder to which they have Editor access.
  • Editor access: Editors can read, edit, comment on, download, recommend, upload a new version of, and set file properties. They can be notified of changes to the file, and share it. Editors can also add a file to a folder of theirs, or to a folder to which they have Editor access.

To see what access you have for a folder, open its file page and click Sharing.

Procedure

Open the folder page and perform one or more of the following actions.
OptionDescription

Add a new folder

You must have Owner or Editor access to the top-level folder in order to add a subfolder.

Add files to a folder

Open the file page, and then click Add to Folder. Select a folder, and then click Add to Folder. Alternatively, you can open the folder page, click Add Files, and select previously uploaded files. You must have Owner or Editor access to add files to a folder.

Share a folder

 You must have Owner or Editor access to share a folder.

Follow a folder

Open the folder page, and then click Follow.

Edit folder properties

Open the folder page, and in the drop-down menu click More Actions > Edit Properties. After you enter your changes, click Save. You must have Owner or Editor access to edit the properties of a folder.

To edit the properties of a subfolder, you must have Owner or Editor access to the top-level folder.

Download folder contents
Downloading folder contents to a compressed file is disabled by default. If you need this function, contact your administrator. If downloading folder contents is enabled for your organization, the following information applies:
  • To download a folder, open the file page and click Download this Folder. The compressed file can be a maximum of 4 GB, and does not include subfolders.
  • If you perform multiple compressed folder downloads of selected folders, the first is named folder.zip. Subsequent downloads are named the same but with numbers appended, such as folder(1).zip, folder(2).zip. You can rename the compressed files later.
  • If any of the file names you are downloading to the compressed file contain non-English characters, you can use the Global (default) setting. This setting informs the compression program to use UTF-8 characters so that all file name characters can be properly processed during compression. If the file names inside the compressed file are not displayed correctly after you choose the Global (default) setting, click Global (default), specify a language value when prompted, and reprocess the download.

Delete a folder

You must have Owner or Editor access to delete a folder. You must have owner access to delete a top-level folder but an Editor or Owner can delete a subfolder.

To delete a subfolder, click the arrow next to the folder name and select delete. To delete a subfolder you must have Owner or Editor access to the top-level folder.

In HCL Connections™, if you delete a folder, that folder and any nested folders within that folder are deleted. However, the files in that folder and nested folders are NOT deleted. This is different from a typical desktop environment. Connections organizes files by references to the files, rather than using a folder as a container. This is due to the collaborative nature of Connections, which allows files to be available in different contexts. It is important to understand the following concepts when you delete a folder:
  • In Connections, files can be referenced in more than one folder and can, therefore, be organized in more than one way. Different users can organize the same files in different ways that are more useful to them. This flexibility is extremely valuable and powerful in a system like Connections, which is intended for multiple users collaborating on the same files.
  • When one user deletes a folder, the files are removed for that user but are not deleted. The files are still available in the All Files view, or if a file is owned by someone else, it is still in its original location.

Consider the following example:

  • You create a file, share it with others, and allow them to re-share the file.
  • You organize your file in a folder, and others organize that same file in different folders, organized to meet their needs.
  • You delete your folder containing your file.

    You have no way of knowing who is using your file or how they have organized it, You can only see your context, not theirs. If the file was deleted when you deleted the folder, you would not know what effect that deletion had on other users. If you really want to delete the file in all contexts, you can go to My Files and delete the file from My Files, and it will be deleted everywhere.

Move a folder
Move a folder in any of the following ways:
  • Select Move in the folder list menu after selecting the folder checkbox.
  • Open a folder. Select Move in the folder title drop-down menu.
  • Select Move in the folder thumbnail menu after selecting the folder checkbox.
  • Drag and drop multiple folders within the content area or from the content area to the navigation tree. This can be done from any folder view.
    Note: You must have owner or editor access for source and target folders to complete this operation.
Select the destination folder in the Move to... window and then click Move Here.
Note:
  • The Move Here option is disabled for a folder if you do not have Owner or Editor access.
  • Moving a folder might cause other users to lose access to the folder and its content, unless the source folder and destination folder are community owned folders.
Table 1. Folder move operations and restrictions

Folder move operations and restrictions
Move operation Result
Move a non-public folder into a public folder If any files in the source folder are not visible to everyone in your organization, a warning message is displayed. The warning message indicates that the files not visible to everyone in your organization will be removed and will not be moved to the destination folder. You are prompted to complete the move or cancel it.
Move folders into a public folder. If any folders contain files that are not visible to everyone in your organization, those folders are not moved. An error message is displayed. You can individually move the folders that were not moved.
Move multiple folders to a folder accessed by different users If any files in the source folder cannot be shared by other users, and you do not own those files, a warning message is displayed. The warning message indicates that the folder contains one or more files that the file owner does not allow others to share, and that those files will be removed from the move operation. You are prompted to complete the move or cancel it.
Move multiple folders to a folder accessed by different users. If any folders contain files that cannot be shared by other users, and you do not own those files, those folders are not moved. An error message is displayed that indicates that one or more folders were not moved because they contain files that the owner does not allow others to share. You can individually move the folders that were not moved.