Collaboration (Public, Friend, and Password based Sharing)
Collaboration allows you to share files with others that you designate. Many online storage services force you to make your files public when you share them. By public, we mean that anyone on the Internet could potentially see them. This is often too 'promiscuous' in that you do not want private information easily getting out on the Internet. Some websites will let you share with others, but it means sharing content with all of your 'friends' - still overly broad.
Password based sharing
You can set a 'share password' for any folder in your account. First, make the folder public. Once the folder has been
made public, use the 'Set Public Password' option to set a password for the folder. Each folder can have it's own password.
To share with someone else, send them a link to the folder (using the 'Links' button), and tell them the password (either
in the message you sent or via phone, email, instant message, text message, etc.) When they click the link, they will be prompted
for a password. They enter the password you told them, and then they have access to the shared page, or downloadable
file.
Using this style of sharing does NOT require the other party to have an account with MyOtherDrive. Very useful
for photographers. Share out low-res preview images to customers. Once payment has been made, increase the public
sharing from 'view' to 'download'. Then the customer will be able to download the original files.
Use this instead of email attachments. Send link and tell the friend what the password is to access. That's it.
Friend (Group) based sharing
Friend based sharing allows you to create work / share groups and place others in those groups, and only the group members
will have access to the shared files. The groups that you create can have different levels of access. The most common
level of access is view and download access. This allows members of a group to see the files, and if
desired, to download the originals. You can also give add, delete, and modify permissions to
the groups.
The first step to collaborate is to invite friends to your account. Click on the '+Add' button below the friends list. From
here, enter the email addresses of the friends you would like to add. They will receive a personalized email on your behalf
inviting them to join MyOtherDrive (if they are not already a member) or an invitation to accept if they are a member.
Once your friends list is built up, click a folder in the tree (on the left) to share. Next, click the 'Share' button on the
main toolbar. It will bring up a window that will allow you to add, delete, and rename groups. By default all friends
added to your friends list are added to the 'Friends' group. If you need more selective based sharing control, create
your own groups. You can choose who is in which group. And a friend can be in more than one group. Note: you
can change folders while the 'Share' window is open.
Now that you have your groups, friends, and permissions set up, you can begin collaborating. There are two main ways to go about this. First, you can collaborate directly from the file management application. You can click on your friends, and then click the 'View Now' button to see the folders that they have shared with you (you can also double-click on the friend for this). In this type of collaboration, you can use the features to move files (or folders), copy files (or folders), delete files (or folders), between accounts. This saves you from downloading and then uploading to move files into your account. Note: some of these options may not be available depending on the permissions you have given the group. Group-based sharing requires that the other collaborators have an account with MyOtherDrive (it can be a free account).
Public sharing
If you have files you would like to share publicly, we offer that. Select a folder, click 'Publicize' and the folder is shared publicly. A folder can be publicly shared as a web page that includes a comments section at the bottom. A file can be shared on a web page with a comments section, or you can get direct, downloadable links to a file.
How do I share (send out content) after I've set it up?
Use our 'Send' option to choose What to share, and How to share it. Selecting 'what' to
share is simply choosing the type of web page or content you want the other person to see - an HTML folder view,
and HTML file view, direct downloadable links to a file, etc. After you select what to share, select how to send it - Via
email, Facebook, or to the Clipboard (so that you can paste it into another application, email editor, etc.).
See collaboration help for step-by-step instructions.