Create a collaboration

You can use collaborations as a way to dynamically share files and folders with other Connected users. When you create a collaboration, Connected sends an invitation to all members who subscribe to collaboration notifications. The email contains a link to the collaboration so that members can easily access it. To prevent unauthorized access, only active members of the collaboration can access it through the link.

To create a collaboration

1. Click the FILES tab, and then click the COLLABORATION tile.
2. Click CREATE COLLABORATION, and then provide a name and a set of collaborators. See how.

   In the Create Collaboration dialog box, specify the following:

   • Collaboration Name. Enter a descriptive name for this collaboration so that you can easily identify it from others.

   • Collaborate With. Enter the name of the Connected user or group with which to collaborate.

     To collaborate with a specific user, enter the first name, last name, or email address of any Connected user in your company. To collaborate with a group, and all of its subgroups, specify a group within your administrative control. As you type, the application displays the user and group names that match your text. To select one from the list, highlight it, and then press Enter.

   NOTE: If you specify any users or groups, the empty collaboration becomes available to them after the next step. If you want to ensure that others cannot access the collaboration until you populate it, do not specify collaborators until after you add files.

3. Click CREATE.
4. On the Collaborations page, click the new collaboration to open it.

5. Add files to the collaboration. To do so, either:

   • Drag one or more files from your computer into the collaboration.
   • Click UPLOAD FILES (), and then use the File Upload dialog box to add one or more files to the collaboration.

   TIP: To organize collaboration items, use folders. To create a new folder, click CREATE FOLDER ().

6. To set a custom image for a specific file or folder, click the image that precedes the item, click CUSTOM IMAGE (), and then follow the steps in the Custom Image Selection wizard.

   The Connected web application indicates the general type of each file using a default image. You can set a custom image for each file to better identify its type or content. For example, if your collaboration contains documents for several types of products, you can assign a product-specific image to each file. See custom image guidelines.

   The web application supports custom images from most image file formats, up to 32 x 32 pixels in size. If you choose a larger image, the Custom image Selection wizard lets you crop it to size. To set a custom image for several files, set each file's image separately, even if you want to use the same image for multiple files. Although you can change a file's custom image any number of times, you cannot delete it and revert to the default image.

7. (Optional) If you have not specified collaborators yet, do so now. See how.

   1. On the Collaborations page, click the image that precedes the collaboration's name.

   2. In the Collaboration Details panel, do the following:

      • To add a collaborator, click Add User / Group ( ), specify the new collaborator, and then click Add. More details.

        Enter the name of the Connected user or group with which to collaborate. To collaborate with a specific user, enter the person's first name, last name, or email address.

        As you type, the web application displays the users and groups that match your text. To select one from the list, highlight it, and then press Enter. To add multiple collaborators, add them one at a time.

      • To remove a specific user or group, click , which appears to the right of the collaborator's name.

      NOTE: If your browser is too narrow for the panel to appear automatically, click . To close the panel, click .