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How can I know when someone accesses a shared folder?
I used to be able to share a folder with someone, send them a link, and then be able to hover over their little icon to see if they had accessed the folder. This is very important when I am trying to meet a deadline and want to be sure the link has been received and used. I checked "recents", but it didn't have any lines about people opening shared folders. I also checked "sharing", but according to that page, I haven't created any links since last year sometime, and I know that isn't true. Has dropbox removed the ability to check to see if the link has been used or the folder been joined? Is there some other way to see if someone has accessed a shared folder or used a link that was sent to them? Thanks!
It doesn't work that way anymore. When you invite someone, they have access, period. They have the ability to leave* and join the share at will, until they remove it from their Dropbox or you remove them from the share. You can see that they're a member, but you can't see when they leave or join in (until they remove it from their Dropbox).
* Leaving a share does not remove it from their account. It simply takes the share out of their Dropbox. They can no longer access it, but they can rejoin it at anytime. When a user removes a share it is removed from their account completely and it can no longer be rejoined.
Matt, refer to my reply above. It no longer works that way. As soon as you invite someone to a shared folder, they have access. There is no longer a need to accept the invitation.
No. Just open your folder. Take a look at the picture attached. The files of the folder are listed on the left, and the names of the people on the right. MB is me. The other person I shared the folder with "c" hasn't accessed it yet. I know this by placing my cursor on top of the "c" and the message in grey (I covered her email address to protect her privacy) appears.
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When you place your mouse on top of the name of the person you shared the folder with and her/his name appears normal and says for example "XXX can edit" (if you granted that person editing privileges). Otherwise, a message pops out saying: "xxx@xxx hasn't added this to their Dropbox yet".
- Hi - this change in functionality has really been a huge hassle for me as well. You cannot even see or sort files when they were last opened - as opposed to being 'modified' - there is a few significant functions such as this that have been paired back. I hope more people will enquire - otherwise I struggle to see all the benefits over other options available.
mbrandt wrote:
When you place your mouse on top of the name of the person you shared the folder with and her/his name appears normal and says for example "XXX can edit" (if you granted that person editing privileges). Otherwise, a message pops out saying: "xxx@xxx hasn't added this to their Dropbox yet".
Thanks mbrandt but that isn't working for me. When you say "on top of the name", I assume you refer to names in the list of people appearing when you click on the "Share" button to the right of the shared folder, right? I am not getting any kind of popup or indication about the user. The dropdown at the right only shows the setting I applied (edit/view/owner) and never shows that a user hasn't added the folder to their Dropbox - even wher I know they haven't.
- Mark
Super User II
cviegasb - myself and another SuperUser have also tried and we cannot find it either.
Rich wrote:
JMRhodes wrote:
Seems to me no one has actually answered the question
I have answered it.
How, though, do you know though if that person has responded and accessed the shared folder?You don't, as the share function no longer works that way. As soon as you invite someone, they have access. You cannot see when they access the files. You can only see if they are a member or not, and they are a member as soon as you send the invitation.
Rich, you are correct but, whatever your good intentions, not helpful. "It no longer works like this" means Dropbox decided, unilaterally, to get rid of a functionality that is important to many people.
I share key folders around the world (literally - 82 countries), and no longer being able to know if specific indivdiuals have acessed the folders is a significant problem for me. I don't need to track their accesses, just know thay have actually, as we used to say in the old days, "accepted the invitation". We are seriously reconsidering whether Dropbox, which is otherwise excellent and, importantly, ubiquitous, is the right solution for our organisation. As far as I can tell, the "new way" doesn't even tell me if the other person has Dropbox installed or not - although we try to check, its tricky for us in all situations.
I am curious to hear Dropbox's justification for this change - it certainly doesn't to seem to be about a better user experience.
- Rich
cviegasb wrote:
As far as I can tell, the "new way" doesn't even tell me if the other person has Dropbox installed or not
Neither did the old way. You could never tell if the other person had installed Dropbox, and installing Dropbox isn't required for access to a shared folder. Only an account is needed. The person could access the share through the website.
- Mark
cviegasb wrote:I am curious to hear Dropbox's justification for this change - it certainly doesn't to seem to be about a better user experience.
Sadly you wont get one - believe me we've tried for lots of other things.
Dropbox, however, just seem hellbent on removing functionality at the moment, or "enhancing" it and thus, removing functionality....
Good points Mark, if sad.
Quite right - I was conflating having an account with having Dropbox installed locally. The effect of Dropbox policy is the same though. See Mark's points - he's right, sadly.
No. Just open your folder. Take a look at the picture attached. The files of the folder are listed on the left, and the names of the people on the right. MB is me. The other person I shared the folder with "c" hasn't accessed it yet. I know this by placing my cursor on top of the "c" and the message in grey (I covered her email address to protect her privacy) appears.
