Team Folders in U-M Dropbox

Team Folders are a feature that offers shared space in U-M Dropbox where teams can create, store, search, and access all their team-owned files. The difference between storing and sharing from your individual account vs. a Team Folder is that all data (files and folders) are owned by a group or team rather than an individual. In particular, Team Folders are owned and managed by an MCommunity group. This document provides an overview of Team Folders in U-M Dropbox.

Table of Contents

• Create a Team Folder
  • Naming conventions
    • Prefixes
    • Limitations
  • Use of MCommunity Groups
• Edit Your Team Folder
• Sharing​
  • External users
• Additional Information
  • Member count
  • Desktop app sync

Create a Team Folder

Use the ITS Team Folder Manager tool to create a Dropbox Team Folder. Refer below for additional information to help you complete the form. After submitting the form, check your U-M Dropbox account for the new Team Folder. On average, it takes a few seconds for the folder to appear in your account after submitting the form. However, it may take up to 24 hours in some cases. You and the other MCommunity group members will receive an email from Dropbox when it is created and ready for use.

For general information on Team Folders, refer to the Dropbox Help Center. For UM-specific information, refer to the sections below.

Notes:

• You must create and own an MCommunity group before completing the creation form. If you do not find the group listed, log out by hovering over your uniqname in the upper right corner of the tool and clicking logout. Log in again by navigating back to the creation form. This will refresh your MCommunity groups list.
• We recommend that students, temporary staff, and sponsored affiliates create a shared folder within their individual accounts and share data that way. Alternatively, you can ask a U-M faculty or regular staff member to create and manage the Team Folder for you.
• There is no storage limit for Team Folders at this time.

Naming conventions

Outside of the naming conventions listed below, groups/teams can customize Team Folder names as they see fit.

Prefixes

When creating a Team Folder, a prefix will automatically be attached to your Team Folder's name. The prefix is based on the school, college, or unit of which your department is a part. For example, the Chemistry department would have the auto-generated prefix of “LSA-.” We recommend adding the Active Directory abbreviation to the Team Folder name to delineate your specific department within the school/college/unit. (E.g., “CHEM-Team Name” would appear as “LSA-CHEM-Team Name.”)

Note: This prefix cannot be removed. If you chose the wrong school/college/unit from the drop-down menu when filling out the form, you can edit it using the ITS Team Folder Manager tool. If you believe the prefix provided to you in the form is incorrect (e.g., your department is not under that school, college, or unit), contact the ITS Service Center. (Please note that ITS uses official departmental data from HR to populate the prefixes.)

Limitations

Team Folder names must start and end with a letter or number and may only contain alphanumeric characters, spaces, hyphens (-), and underscores (_). Consecutive spaces, hyphens, or underscores are not allowed. There is also a 50-character limit.

Use of MCommunity Groups

An MCommunity group manages all Team Folder access and membership at the parent level. This means that individuals cannot be the sole owners.

• You must be an eligible owner of the MCommunity group to create a Team Folder (i.e., faculty or regular staff).
• There must be at least two eligible owners in the group when it is created.
• While there may be other ineligible owners in an associated group (i.e., students, temporary staff, or sponsored affiliates), those owners cannot access the ITS Team Folder Manager tool to create or manage the Team Folder.
• Members of an MCommunity group should contact their group owner(s) to create a Team Folder for that group.
• Individuals, including owners, must be members of the MCommunity group to view and access the Team Folder in Dropbox. Individuals only assigned as owners will not be able to access it.
• MCommunity groups larger than 1,000 members will not sync to U-M Dropbox. Therefore, you cannot choose a group with more than 1,000 members as the owner of a Team Folder.

Synchronization times between U-M Dropbox and MCommunity vary depending on the action taken. On average, most synchronizations take a few minutes to appear, but the processes may take up to 24 hours. Example processes include a new Team Folder appearing for an individual in their existing U-M Dropbox account and a new MCommunity group member with an existing U-M Dropbox account being added to an existing Team Folder.

Important: MCommunity group members must create a U-M Dropbox account before they will appear as members of a Team Folder in Dropbox.

If you continue to have issues where members are not appearing and/or do not have Team Folder access after 24 hours, contact the ITS Service Center.

Related: Refer to MCommunity Group Synchronization to U-M Google and Dropbox for more information on which parts of MCommunity groups are synced to U-M Dropbox.

Edit Your Team Folder

When making changes to your Team Folder, such as updating the folder name, sharing with additional members, or deleting the folder, you will use the ITS Team Folder Manager tool, the Dropbox interface, or MCommunity. The table below lists common actions taken on Team Folders and where you should go to make the changes. (You will receive an email from Dropbox for most actions taken.)

If your Team Folder does not appear editable in the tool, it is likely because the folder does not have an associated MCommunity group with eligible owners.

Note: You cannot change the settings of the Team Folder. If you would like "viewer info" enabled for your specific Team Folder, you must send a request to the ITS Service Center with a valid business reason for enabling it. (Requests are considered case-by-case and are not guaranteed approval.)

Sharing

An MCommunity group manages Team Folders at the parent level. Sharing files and subfolders within the Team Folder can be managed using MCommunity groups or individual invitations. (External users and subgroups within an MCommunity group do not sync with U-M Dropbox.)

When sharing content within a Team Folder using shared links, remember that selecting Team members beside "Who has access" does not mean only the Team Folder members - it means everyone with a U-M Dropbox account can access it.

External users

When creating and managing a Team Folder, there are limitations on sharing with external users. Since membership in the Team Folder is managed via an MCommunity group, anyone in that group will have access to all files/subfolders in the Team Folder (unless special restrictions are put in place by a member on specific content). However, any external users you include in the MCommunity group will not have access to the Team Folder as U-M accounts do.

External members cannot be "members" of the Team Folder at the parent level. You can only share Team Folder files and subfolders with them, which will need to be shared with each external user individually. This is because external users in MCommunity groups do not sync with U-M Dropbox.

One workaround to this issue is to create a subfolder in the Team Folder, share it with the external users, and place your folder structure and content within that top-level subfolder. This will allow them to have access to all the content via the top-level subfolder. However, we caution individuals that this will essentially bypass the ability to manage the Team Folder access via the MCommunity group used at the parent level.

Additional Information

Member count

When creating a new Team Folder, members of the MCommunity group who have not created their U-M Dropbox account will not be counted as members of the Team Folder. Once a user creates their U-M Dropbox account, they will be added to the Team Folder’s member list.

Desktop app sync

By default, syncing Team Folders to your Dropbox desktop app is turned off for the U-M domain. This helps to protect any sensitive university data from being synced to personal devices.

However, you can adjust this setting using Selective Sync from the desktop app:

1. Click the Dropbox icon in your system tray/toolbar (Windows) or menu bar (Mac).
2. Click your icon/initials in the top right corner.
3. Select Preferences.
4. Click Sync in the left navigation.
5. Click Modify under the "Selective sync" section.
6. Check the boxes beside the folders you’d like synced to your computer. Uncheck the boxes beside the folders you’d like removed. (Folders that aren't selected will be available online only via the Dropbox website.)
7. Click Update.
8. Click Confirm.