Box: Folder structure and tips

A Box Manager coordinates Box for their functional unit/department (i.e. area) including its folder structure and tips. Please contact your Box Manager with questions and requests, and then follow the suggestions found below if you need additional assistance.

Folder structure

The default folder structure is as follows:

  1. Personal folder – Everyone has access to their own personal folder. Folders and files located in your Personal folder can be shared with any Box user with a DePauw email address as well as off-campus people.
    Image of personal folder
  2. Department folder – Everyone in your department has access to the Department folder. Due to system requirements, do not change Dept-NAME.
    1. Dept-NAME – This folder is automatically shared with all staff members within your own department. This folder updates according to what is listed in ADP. ADP information is maintained by Human Resources.
    2. Dept-NAME-Sub-Folders – Creating a sub-folder within the department folder enables you to share the folder with other members of the DePauw campus community (i.e., users with a DePauw email address). The Box Manager will update this folder by adding who you want to share it with, except for the names of your staff because staff updates automatically with the information found in ADP.
  3. Restricted folder – This folder is available for when there is a need for a person within your department to share content with another person or if there are only a few people that need to access content owned by a person within your department. The Restricted folder gives your Box Manager control over who is allowed to access the content in the folder. Please contact the HelpDesk (765-658-4294 or HelpDesk@depauw.edu) if you want a Restricted folder created that the Box Manager does not have access to.

Tips

  • It is very important to remember that once you give a person access to a folder, they will have access to all files and sub-folders inside the folder you share with them. This is known as a waterfall design.
  • Share links for these top two (2) reasons:
    • Because of the waterfall design, we recommend sharing links to a single file instead of sharing folders that contain the file to minimize accidental sharing of unintended documents.
    • Because you must download a file to your computer before you can add it as an attachment to an email. This process is cumbersome, especially with files like the ones in Facilities that are by nature of their very large size time-consuming to download. Moving large files takes a long time regardless of the software you are using, and that is why we recommend providing a shared link to the file.
  • Do not rename Dept-NAME because system management is dependent on this name for system updates.
  • Do not use special characters when naming sub-folders and files. Although the special characters work on a Mac, Windows prevents folders and files with special characters from displaying.
  • It is very important to make sure your staff members are not syncing any folders located within the department folders as this can cause corruption of data.

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Updated: 3/5/2021