Need to see if your shared folder is taking up space on your dropbox đšâđ»? Find out how to check here.
Introducing note boxes: A quick way to add important notes to your Paper docs
Hi Paper pals đ I just wanted to pop in to let you know about a new shortcut we released in Dropbox Paper today. On a new line, type /note and press Enter. Youâll get a colored note box that you can use to add important notes in your doc. Hereâs how it looks in action: You can use note boxes to create summaries at the top of your doc, insert examples into your documentation, or add important tips for your readers. You can even create different colored boxes by typing /note red, /note green, and so on. We hope youâll give it a try, and if you have any feedbackâgood or bad, please feel free to post here anytime. Thanks! John (from the Paper Design team)
Dropbox Basic: Let's Maximize Space
Try to think of your Dropbox cloud storage as a well organized bedroom. In order to maximize space, you want to be thoughtful about how you use each closet and section of the room. With your Dropbox Basic account you have 2 GB of storage. With this amount of storage its imperative that you are thoughtful about the files you save to your Dropbox account. If you know more about files sizes, you can make more informed decisions about which files you upload. In this article you will get a better understanding of how to maximize space with your Basic Dropbox account. What are the average file sizes of media we use daily? Images Many of use Dropbox to upload images, which come in several formats and sizes. These formats affect the amount of space the image may take up. Photos from our computers are usually in formats such as JPEG and PNG. This is great because these images often donât take up as much space as larger format files. Image formatting (as in the space it takes up, not the dimensions of the photo itself) is based on resolution and quality of the pictures. I know this because I uploaded each type of image to my Dropbox Account and saw that the quality and difference in resolution affected the overall size. Larger pictures, such as raw camera footage (TIFF and BMP), should be converted to JPEG before uploading to your dropbox account. The rationale here is so that you save about 1000kB of space. Documents Documents overall take up the least amount of space. With your Basic account, you can save about 25,000 pages of word documents, depending on file size. If you use documents for planning and collaboration, I suggest you try using Dropbox Paper. Paper documents take up very little space on Dropbox. I would suggest placing homework assignments and projects that you may always need access to on your Dropbox account. I am currently working on creating my dissertation and have it saved on Dropbox - this document is super important to me and I need to ensure that I can access it from all of my devices. Media Files Video is the largest file format but that doesnât mean you canât store video files in your Dropbox Basic account. To make the video more compact you can use an online compressor, or, like Iâve done in the past, edit the videos to make them shorter. I have also experimented with changing the format of the video to reduce file size. Remember to treat your Dropbox like your well organized bedroom. You want to shrink larger items if you can and want to organize items that you know do not take up much space. I use my Dropbox account to hold my important documents, vacation photos and files from Dropbox Paper. Now that I know how much space each file takes up, I do my best to maximize my space. Letâs maximize our space by using the tips and tricks above - and if you have any other space saving tips, share them in the comments below!Notifications: calm or chaos? Tell us how you prefer to manage them
You know us, we are big fans of collaboration, but every now and then, we stumble across a topic that totally derails a meeting. While on a call, we noticed that someone on the team is walking around with over 94 unread texts, 50+ Slack notifications and a whopping 67,722 unread emails. Weâre not going to name names though but when I picked myself up from the floor, it sparked a serious debate on our team and we came to the conclusion that there are two kinds of people, those who thrive in notification calm, and those who live for notification chaos - which one are you? In the interest of honesty, I am a firm believer that a clear notification screen is the only way. I avidly unsubscribe from emails I donât want to see, I mark messages as unread so I can get back to them if needs be but I like to start my day with a clean slate. Our own Emma is a bigger fan of a well managed to-do list in Dropbox Paper, and you can read all about that right here. While it might make some peopleâs skin crawl, that means she can let her notifications pile up. Iâm not convinced, but it works for her! To augment this ever fluid list, sheâs a big fan of the Paper roundup emails and Dash to keep her on track with the many docs doing the rounds at any one time. To quote Emma herself on this, âevery so often I'll clear them, but I have yet to miss anything with my chaosâ. I also like how Drew (the CEO of Dropbox) has an OPP folder, which translates to other peopleâs priorities (or problems!)) to help manage those email notifications and understand what needs action on his part. You donât have to take my word for it, check it out here. So, we want to know - how do you manage your notifications? Clear them? Keep them? Outright ignore them? Tell us in the comments below!Things you can do with Dropbox Paper
1. Holding brainstorms Youâve likely participated in your fair share of brainstorms, but what happens when your team is scattered across three offices and three time zones? Paper is designed to help you grow ideas with others, even if everyone canât meet in the same room. Your team can easily add photos and videos, jot down quick thoughts, and add comments in the margins. Collaborators can use emoji and stickers to show how they feel about each idea, making comments feel like conversations. Itâs the creative space for a brainstorm in the convenience of a simple doc. 2. Taking meeting notes Sometimes you need a doc with a bit more structure than a free-wheeling brainstorm, like when youâre taking notes for a meeting. Here, Paper makes organization and quick formatting a snap. Start a bulleted or numbered list on the fly, or share the doc with colleagues if you need them to jump in. Easily add headings and subheadings, and Paper will smartly organize each section in a table of contents on the left. When the meetingâs over, you can group the most important items in a table for quick reference, or add highlights to emphasize a few key linesâperfect for co-workers who missed the team sync. Discover more things you can do with Paper on our blog!Get ready for school with Dropbox
Going to school is a really exciting time, whether youâre starting a brand new course, returning after a break, or taking your first steps in a new career, thereâs so much to be enthusiastic about, but also a lot of preparations to make. So, if youâre heading back to school this year, take a moment to read our guide to hitting the ground running with Dropbox. Hereâs whatâs included; Get organized Access your files when and where you need Collaborate on team projects Get familiar with Dropbox Dash Never miss a beat with Dropbox Capture Save time with Dropbox Replay Get organized If youâre taking classes this fall, or even if youâre teaching them, the best thing you could do is get yourself organized before you start. With Dropbox, this is really simple. First things first, youâre going to have a lot of files to manage so youâll need to create some sort of folder system. You could start by creating a folder for each class, then in that folder create another subfolder for each topic. Then you can sort things by file type, day of the week, priority or by whatever way makes the most sense to you. This will help you be super organized and able to find all of your important documents at the drop of a mortarboard. Have your files where you need them, when you need them With Dropbox, you can have access to all of your important files wherever and whenever you need them. So, if youâre doing a bit of last-minute cramming on the bus or find yourself needing to make some quick edits to an essay, you can do it all easily with Dropbox. All you need to do, is make all of your most important files online-only and youâll be able to access them at the touch of a button. This will also mean that these files wonât take up space on your hard drive. Collaborate on team projects Team projects are always a challenge, especially when some members of the team are a little less enthusiastic than others (thereâs always at least one). With Dropbox, you can share all of those important files with everyone in your group, so nobody has any excuses for not getting all of the materials they need. You can also use a shared Paper doc, which allows you to create to-do lists with deadlines, meaning everyone always knows exactly what they have to do and when they have to do it. As if all of that wasnât already enough to keep everyone in line, you can also see everyone's name beside their work and you can check the documentâs history to dispel any fears of phantom deletions. You can read more on becoming a Paper pro here. Get familiar with Dropbox Dash Thereâs a lot to keep track of when youâre studying. With everything from classes and lectures to remembering where you saved your latest set of notes, you could be forgiven for feeling like you need your very own personal assistant. Well, now thanks to Dropbox Dash, our AI powered universal search tool, itâs easier than ever to keep track of everything youâve got going on. Dash connects with the apps and tools you are using, meaning you can search all of your surfaces from one single place. You can even ask Dash questions and it'll give you answers with information summarized from your relevant files. Youâll also be able to create Stacks, which are bundles of information. These can include emails, files, articles, presentations, and things that folders or bookmarks normally canât group together. Never miss a beat with Dropbox Capture Dropbox Capture allows you to record your screen, camera, and microphone. This can be really helpful if you need to create video messages for group projects or any sort of collaborative work. You can also use it the record online lectures or seminars, which youâll be able to edit, watch back, and easily share with classmates. You can watch the video below to find out more about Capture. You can find out more about Capture here. Save time with Dropbox Replay If youâre studying media or video production, or even if youâve got some video based projects to work on, Dropbox Replay could seriously help you up your game. If youâre not familiar with Replay, itâs our video, image and audio review tool that allows you to mark up, comment on, and finalize projects with your tutors or classmates, completely streamlining the entire review and approval process. But thatâs not all, Replay does so much more, find out more about some of our favorite features. Will you be using Dropbox for school? Whatâs the one thing that slows you down the most when it comes to assignments, group projects, or organizing your studies? Let us know by leaving a comment below and weâll see if we can help!Conquer 2023 - here's how Dropbox can help you kickstart your year
Now that the dust has settled on the holidays, itâs time to start thinking about the year ahead. Weâre big fans of January here on the Dropbox Community Forum, itâs a great time for change, new beginnings, thinking big and getting excited for the upcoming year! Weâre sure most of you already have some sort of New Yearâs plans in place â whether itâs a simple resolution, a big lifetime event, goals that youâve set, or a plan for full global domination. Whatever way you plan to grab 2023 by the horns, weâre pretty sure youâll be able to use Dropbox to help keep your plans organized and on-track. Here are a few ways you could kickstart your year with Dropbox. Get more organized in work Personally, I want to try to organize my work day a little better and keep on top of all of my to-dos with military precision this year. Iâll be using Dropbox Paper to help me with this. Every week, Iâll create a new grid, with a column for every day of the week. Each of these columns will then have 3 rows, one for morning, one for afternoon and one for evening. Here, Iâll be making lists of everything Iâll be working on throughout the day and arranging it, depending on priority, into different days and times. This will allow me to organize my weekly workflow and make sure I keep on top of everything, from the mundane daily tasks to the big important projects. Below my weekly grid, Iâll have 2 lists, my to-dos and my deadlines. The to-dos will be for actions I take away from meetings or anything else that pops up thatâs not in my normal workflow and could otherwise go under the radar. My deadlines will be for anything at all thatâs time dependent, whether itâs attending a meeting, submitting a report or finishing up a project. Then, at the end of the week, I can collapse it down and move onto the next week, leaving me with a pretty substantial record of what Iâve been working on at any given time. Moving house Moving house is a pretty stressful experience at the best of times, add a really competitive rental market and record high rent prices (like weâre currently experiencing here in Dublin) into the mix and it gets even worse. One way to try and make this a little easier is by renting a property with a couple of housemates, but to do this takes a lot of cooperation and synchronization. If you see a house you want, you need to be ready to move on it straight away and there are a lot of documents you need to have at hand to help get ahead of the competition. Youâll need passports, payslips, references, contact details and anything else a landlord may ask for. A shared folder on Dropbox means that you and all your potential housemates can have all of these things saved in one place, with easy access, so youâre always ready to make the first move after a property viewing. You can see more of how Amy, our very own Community legend, used Dropbox when moving a couple of years ago here. Get your study on If youâre a student or planning to return to education in 2023, having all your files, study notes and assignments saved in a secure and accessible place is really important. It will make your student life a whole lot easier if you know you can pull up a document, save some notes or get a reading done on the go, no matter whether you have your PC, laptop, tablet or phone. Group projects are another challenging part of life as a student. With shared Paper docs you can make sure your entire team have access to the exact same information at all times, so thereâs no excuse for the lazy one, and thereâs always one. Document history will even ensure you never need to worry about anyone âaccidentallyâ deleting their work. Find out more about how our very own Alex used Dropbox in school here. Plan a trip For me, part of the beauty of January is planning a trip. Whether itâs a short city break or a longer trip somewhere sunny (we donât see too much of the sun in Dublin), I always organize a trip away at the start of the year. It gives me something to look forward to and can be great motivation for some of the other goals I set myself. There are a million ways to use Dropbox when planning a trip, whether itâs a list of what to pack, making an itinerary or documenting all the photos you take, you can do it all with Dropbox. If youâre planning a trip with a group, a shared Paper doc is an ideal way to make sure everyone has all the information they need. Flight times, hotel name, restaurant recommendations, anything thatâs important, simply add it to the doc and everyone will be able to find it when they need it. Youâll enjoy yourself a lot more, when you know everyoneâs on the same page. See how Dropboxâs @Susan meticulously plans her trips here. Whatever your plans for the year ahead may be, we really hope you get everything done and smash your goals. If you plan to use Dropbox to help, or if youâve found it helpful with any plans youâve made before, weâd love to hear about them so please let us know below!
