Files in a project serve many different purposes:
How files are added to the File sharing page depends on the contributor's permissions. Observers and Content Developers can suggest new files which must be reviewed and approved by the Project Owner before they are posted for viewing by all project members and guests. Developers can add files directly into the project.
Often, project files require team collaboration. One team member may post a draft which for other members to review, edit and post updates. Once a file is obsolete it needs to be archived and, possibly, removed from view by the Project Owner.
Contributing members of a project can create new files or folders by using the Add a folder or Add a document links. Non contributing members, such as Observers suggest new files or folders by using the Suggest a folder or Suggest a document links. Suggested items must be approved by a project owner before they are visible to other users.
To suggest a new document access any page within the project and click on the File sharing link. Once the File sharing page appears, select the folder in which you would like to save the file and click on the Add a document link under the page title. New files and folders are always placed inside the currently selected folder.
On the Add project document page you can define and set attributes for the suggested document.
At any time, you can use the Edit link to modify the file title, description, or other fields, or you use the Delete link to remove the file. If your suggested file is not approved, you will receive an email notification with the reason for this action.
A file can be textual content, a file from your local directory or a link to a URL. Each of these types have distinctive characteristics.
The collaboration process can be tracked using the file status. Marking the status of a file allows project participants to easily identify which files are available for collaboration (for instance, Draft files), have been reviewed or are no longer applicable. Project members with an item in process can flag the file as reserved for editing. To do so, click on the Edit link of the file on the File sharing page. Click on the Reserve for editing link at the bottom of the Edit project document page under Other operations. On the Reserve document page you can set the end of your reservation period and enter a reason for the reservation. When other project members view this document they will see that it has been reserved by you and the date you intend to release your reservation. Reserving a document for editing does not prevent others from accessing or altering the document. Before you update a document with your changes it is always a good idea to make sure that no one else has made any changes since your reservation.
To view project files, from any project page click the File sharing link on the left navigation bar. The File sharing page displays files organized by folders, in a dual pane format. The left pane lists all project folders while the right pane displays a list of all files within the currently active folder. To change the active folder, click on the folder name. Files are shown ten (10) at a time with links at the bottom of the page for browsing through further pages of files. Clicking on the name of a file will show it's contents.
Alternatively, if you need to share a file with another user you can send a URL to the location of the file. To do so, navigate to the document and cut and paste the location into your communication.
Attributes for each file appear beside the file name. The name is a link to the file contents. The file description appears below the name of the file. The status describes the point in the life-cycle of the file. Additional information includes the last date of modification and the user id responsible, and a link to more Info on the file. If you have permission to edit the file, the Info link becomes Edit. NOTE: files in locked projects can not be edited, they are read-only. If any users have placed reservations on the file, their user id appears under the Reservations heading.
Similar to files, folders have attributes. Folders appear below their parent folder to a depth of four folders (not including the Top). Once you've selected a folder to make it active, the active folder appears as an open file folder and the description appears below the folder list.