What is it?

Members of a digital workplace can use Folder channels to create corporate, team, and/or project-based file storage areas within your workplace. Members can store, organize, manage and share any type of file including Microsoft Office, PDF, Excel, and rich media. Members can follow content, subscribe, rate, comment, and add versions.

Use Cases

Department files

Use the Folder Channel to store all your documents in a tidy view, and invite your team to review and edit the latest drafts without ever having to email a file.

Folders specific to groups or individuals

You can use the Folder channel to store files related to a specific group. In that channel you can set Access within folders, and even specific files to tailor what content people will be able to view and interact with. If you have personal files, you can set Access to a specific individual so others will not be able to access the information. This is a great option for storing files like performance reviews, employment contracts, and additional files related to a specific person.

Features and functionality

Below is a list of features available on a Folder channel.

Title

Give each channel a unique name that describes the folders and files that will be housed within the Folder channel. This is the name that will appear on the channel, in navigation, and identify it in widgets.

Description

Create a brief description for people to learn more about the purpose of your Folder channel.

Add a subfolder

You can add subfolders to any folder

Note: The folder hierarchy is limited to 100 items, allowing a maximum of 99 sub-folders.The following options have their own dedicated support documents. Please follow the links for more information:

Search

Search the current Folder and any sub-Folders for content. Selecting a file from the list of quick results takes you to it while pressing enter takes you to the Advanced Search page.

This search takes the following properties of a document into account:

• Title
• Description
• Content
• Labels
• Comments
• URL
• Attachments
• Recommended search keywords

Change View

Folder channels can be displayed in a slideshow, thumbnail, or list view.

The Slideshow view displays a rotation of images located in the folder.

The Thumbnail view displays an icon based on the file type.

The Details view shows a stacked list of titles and smaller icons.

You can also adjust the visible columns by selecting the small icon on the far right of the column title bar.

Folder Settings

Folder Channels have some specific Channel Settings. You can adjust the default view for the channel and subfolders within it. You can also determine if you would like the statistics box and download button to be displayed beside (columns) or below (rows) the preview when viewing the file.

The default view setting applies to all folders on a Folder Channel. However, a Folder can have its default view set to a different setting (Action button > Edit > Layout View).

In addition to these unique Folder settings, Folder Channels also have the following settings:

• Email Content
• Labels
• Anonymous Commenting
• Moderation
• Archiving
• Pinning Content
• Read Tracking
• Search Box
• Following
• Subscriptions
• Access
• Channel Color
• Channel Template
• Rate
• Comment
• Activity

How to add a Folder Channel to your digital workplace

Follow these steps to add a Folder Channel to your digital workplace. 

1. How you start depends on your role in the digital workplace:
   • If you are the Workplace Administrator, go to the Control Panel and click the Site Manager.
   • If you are a Space Administrator, go to the Space Administration Panel and click Navigation.
2. Click the + Add button on the Site Manager/Navigation page and select Folder Channel from the list.
3. In the Add Folder Channel window, complete the following fields:
   • Title: Enter a name for the Folder Channel.
   • Location: Select where to place the Folder Channel.
     • You can only place Folder Channels under Pages, or Spaces. 
     • Only Pages and Spaces to which you have at least Read Access are visible.
     • To select a Page or Space:
       1. Click the Location dropdown.
       2. Search for a Page or Space by its name. This search will return up to 100 results that match your search query. These results also display the locations above matching Pages and Spaces. 
       3. Select a Page or Space from the list of search results.
   • Hide from navigation (optional): Select to prevent the Folder Channel from being shown in any navigation menus. 
4. Click Add to create the Folder Channel.

After creating the Folder Channel, you should go to it and configure the following:

• Access
• Subscriptions
• Settings
• Title translations

Adding a cover image to a Folder

To highlight the contents or purpose of a Folder a Cover Image can be added to it. This image is only visible when the Folder Channel is using the Thumbnail View.

Step 1: Place the desired cover image in the Folder

Only images within the Folder will be available as cover images.

Step 2: Edit the Folder

Click the Folder’s action button and then Select Edit

Step 3: Click the Cover Image tile

The Cover Image tile can be found near the bottom of the Edit page

Step 4: Select an image and click Save to apply

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I move files from one folder to another?

Yes, you can move files from one folder to another. Within a document or piece of content, in the action items select Move and select the document where it currently is, then select the new folder you wish the content to live in, and click Move Here.

How do I control who can edit, remove, and read documents?

You can modify access by using the Access option at the channel, sub-folder, and file level. For more information, see our articles on Access.

Can I download files as pdfs?

Many text-based files can be downloaded as pdfs. When this is the case, there will be a downward facing arrow next to the Download button. Clicking this button will provide the option to download the document as a pdf.

Best practices / Tips and tricks

Improve file searchability

Files can be found through their titles, descriptions, content, and Labels so be sure to label your documents and encourage publishers to give files distinct and meaningful names, and to include appropriate labels on new files uploaded to a Folder channel.

Version control

Preview in-line, reserve, and manage edits through Version Control.

Use Tasks to coordinate activity on a file

Add tasks to coordinate actions like editing and Broadcasting documents.

Use subfolders to manage access

Organize files into folders, and control access rights at the file or folder level.