Guide for BOX Collaborators

The following is a summary of how BOX.com handles shared folders and files for collaborators who have editor privileges.

The name nepeansailingclub refers to the BOX corporate account whose folders and files are shared with collaborators.

Collaborators are individuals who are invited to the NSC Box account, who may be invited with their volunteer role (e.g. PR Director and associated @nsc.ca email address) or by their personal name and email address. 

1. When any collaborator uploads a file in a shared NSC BOX folder, that file is immediately available to all collaborators in that folder.
2. When a change is made to a file in a shared folder, (via download, edit and upload), the change is immediately effective, and the ownership is reset to that of the BOX account that did the operation.
3. When a file is renamed or moved, the change is immediate regardless of what account performed the operation.
4. When any collaborator deletes any file in an NSC shared folder, regardless of who uploaded the file, that file is deleted from the shared folder. Files deleted by nepeansailingclub are moved to its “history” repository where its last 10 versions can be recovered. Files deleted by any collaborator are moved to the collaborator BOX “history” repository. Non-PRO accounts can only recove the one last version.
5. If one deletes an item inadvertently, Box does not immediately erase it. Instead it remains in one’s BOX account Trash for 30 days, during which time it can be recovered. Caution:
   1. When items are deleted from a shared folder, only the person who deleted the item can recover the items from his BOX Trash.
   2. If a collaborator is removed as a collaborator from a file or folder that is deleted, the collaborator can no longer restore from his Trash folder to the nepeansaliingclub shared folder.
6. When the nepeansailingclub account removes a collaborator, the shared files uploaded by the collaborator are NOT deleted from the NSC shared folder, but the removed collaborator no longer has access to the shared folder on the corporate BOX account.
7. The nepeansailingclub account can also remove a collaborator from all shared folders via the “Collaborator” link available by clicking the account photo or initials in the nepeansailingclub account page upper right corner. However, collaborators should NOT be removed this way as that list gives no indication of where that collaborator has privileges.
8. When a file is copied from a shared folder, the copied file assumes the ownership of the copier’s shared account.
9. Shared folders can only be deleted by the account that created them.

So, the key points are:

1. Shared files are not copies nor links of files in the collaborator BOX accounts: they are “physically” located in the nepeansailingclub account’s shared folder.
2. BOX collaborators with editor privileges have the same files access privileges (read, write, copy, move, rename, delete, share) as the nepeansailingclub account in the shared folder.
3. Once a collaborator is removed from a shared folder, she no longer has access to the folders or the files she uploaded to the shared folder, but the ex-collaborator files are preserved in the shared folder. Should the contributor be reinvited to share, she automatically regains access.

Last updated on 2024-05-17.

Updates: 2024: 05-17, DS: updated some sections following PR suggestions. 05-13, DS: Original