Why can I no longer simply give others the link to a folder I want to share?

This has now become a confusing mess! I used to simply share a link to the folder I wanted to share, with those I wanted to be able to access it. Today, I set up a folder, put the files in it I wanted, then sent the link to one of people who needs to download what's in it.
However, hours later I received a message from you asking me to give him permission to use the link!!! HUH????

Since when do I have to first approve everyone I choose to give a link to, before they can access it? This makes no sense.

Then, worse, when I had a pop-up window ask me to create a link for the folder, again, for a "viewing" link (I have no idea if the one I created this morning was a viewing or editing. as I had never had to make that choice before).  So clicked to create the link, and nothing happened except it told me "People with this link can view", but there is no link anywhere!  And I had to look up to ensure that "viewing" also means they can download what's in it, because "viewing" sounds just like "read only", while I need them to be able to download the items in the folder.

So why did I have to log in, then have a code sent to me, to approve the friend who I sent a link to, so he can now, six hours later, can access it. Why isn't his having the link good enough, as it's been for the many years I've used Dropbox?  And I still have yet to see the files in Dropbox online be synced with those on my computer, as they used to be.  I also used to be able to simply put things in the Dropbox folder on my computer, and they would sync automatically online. Now I must manually upload all of them, as well as manually delete those I no longer want in the folder. 
I'm attaching a pic of the window telling me I have a link, but without letting me know what or where it is, so how do I let others view the folder?