Making a netFiles "Drop-Box"

The purpose of a drop-box is to provide a place for people to upload files, but not be able to see any of the files that have been uploaded there.  A good example of this would be a place for students to turn in assignments for a class.  Think of it as a folder that someone else can put a file in, but aren't able to see the contents of.

In this example, we well be creating a generic drop-box that any student can upload a file to.  Once a file has been uploaded, it will disappear from their view, and only you will be able to access it.

Getting Started

The steps that follow must be done using the netFiles Web UI, so start by logging in.

Creating the Folder

Once you are logged in, you will be looking at the contents of your Home Directory.  If you want your drop-box to be inside an existing folder (if you are planning on having multiple drop-box folders, for example), you need to navigate to that folder before proceeding.

To create a folder:

• Click the New Directory button at the top of the screen
• Type in a name for the folder, such as "dropbox_stu"
• Click OK

Setting Permissions

Now that you have a created a folder, you need to give certain access rights to students to drop their files in the folder.  If you would like to limit access to a smaller group of students (example: creating a drop-box for a specific class), see "Adding New Users or Groups" in Collaborating with Whitman People for more information about creating and using User Groups.

1. Set permissions for the drop-box directory:
   • Click the Advanced icon to the right of dropbox_stu .
   • Click on Permissions, near the middle of the Collaboration group.
   • Click the Add Users/Groups button in the top toolbar.
   • Under the Search drop-down menu, select Groups.
   • In the "begins with" text box, type Students and click Ok.
   • Select the "Students" group from the resulting list, and click Next at the bottom of the screen.
     
   • In the permissions configuration screen for this group:
     • CHECK both the Read box and Write checkboxes.
     • The scope of these settings should be applied to this directory and its sub-directories.
     • Click Apply.
     • Verify the above settings on the confirmation page and click Ok.
     • Click Back to return to the permissions setup page.
   • NOTE: you will need to Repeat this set of steps for each user and/or group that you want to have access to this drop-box.
2. Set the inheritance rules for items that will be dropped into the drop-box.
   • You should still be on the permissions configuration screen for the "dropbox-stu" directory
   • Click on the Set Inheritance button in the top toolbar
     • UNCHECK both the Read and Write checkboxes for the Students group (and any other group you created in Step 1).
     • The scope of these settings should be applied to this directory and its sub-directories.
     • Click Apply.
     • Verify the above settings on the confirmation page and click Ok.
3. Click your Home bookmark in the far-left column to return to your home directory listing.

Accessing the Folder

All that's needed for someone to upload a file to your new drop-box is a web browser and the web address (also knows as the URL) of the dropbox_stu folder.  You can send this URL via e-mail, post on your class website, or publicize it in any way you want.  Here's how to see what the URL is:

• Click the Advanced icon next to dropbox_stu
• Under the Directory Properties section, you will see two URLs.  The Full URL should look something like https://netfiles.whitman.edu/home/[ username]/dropbox_stu .

Both URLs will take someone to your drop-box.  The "Full URL" looks nicer and is easy to remember, but requires that someone click on the "Launch WFS Web View" link in order to enter the Web UI and upload something.  The "Intellilink URL" will take you directly into the Webu UI, but is ugly and hard to remember.

Students can also create a netFiles bookmark to the folder at this point by clicking the bookmark icon (next to the Lock icon on the red/brown bar).

Notes about Drop-Boxes

• Be sure to test the drop-box before you publicize its location.  You don't want a voting box that will let everyone read everyone else's votes, do you?
• If during your testing, you find that something didn't come out right, delete the folder and try again.  It's much easier than trying to troubleshoot permissions issues.
• If you have a number of discreet groups that will be using your drop-box (such as multiple classes), consider using multiple drop-boxes.  Consider a normal folder called "dropbox", with a set of folders for each class inside it.  Repeat the Setting Permissions steps for each class's folder, but not for their parent folder.  This way, each class will have their own separate drop-box, with a URL https://netfiles.whitman.edu/home/[ username]/dropbox/ClassName .