Sharing a file

Share a file with others using the IBM® Connections Files plug-in for IBM Notes®.

About this task

When you share a file, you can give people Reader or Editor access. You can give communities Reader access.

You can also share files that have been shared with you if the owner allows it, but you cannot make them public. Only owners can make a file public.

To see who has access to your files, right-click a file and click Sharing details.

Depending on whether you are connecting to a SmartCloud or a Connections site, you have different options for sharing files with users outside of your organization. If you are connecting to a SmartCloud site, anytime you upload a file and specify sharing options, you can choose the Allow files to be shared with people outside of my organization option. In that case, people in your organization can share the file with external users. This option is only available when you upload the file and cannot be changed after file upload.

Restriction: When you are connecting to a Connections site, you have less control over whether files you upload and share with others are shared outside of your organization, as that is controlled in the Connections application. For example, if you upload a file to a community, you cannot specify that the file can be shared externally. Additionally, if the community owner has set access to the community so that content can be shared with external users, your file could be shared outside of your organization. There is no indicator when you are uploading as to whether your content can be share externally. You would need to open the Connections application in a browser to see if the destination you are sharing with, for example, the community, blog, or activity, is enabled for external users.
CAUTION: When files are shared with an external user, you might encounter unexpected behavior, such as business card links that do not work as expected.

Procedure

Do any of the following to share a file:
OptionDescription

To share a file when you upload it
  1. Click Upload to My Files.
  2. Type the file path or browse for the file.
  3. Type a file name.
  4. Select No one to keep the file private, select People if you want to specify people to share with or select Public to share with everyone.
  5. Click OK.

To share a file after you upload it
  1. Right-click a file name and select Share File.
  2. Select People if you want to specify people to share with or select Public to share with everyone.
  3. Click Share to share the file.
The type of notification a share recipient receives depends on what you have configured for notifications in IBM Connections.

To email a link to a file
  1. Right-click a file name and select Copy Link.
  2. Paste the link into an email.
  3. Send the mail to one or more people.