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Forum Discussion
Can't seem to properly share a folder of photos
I am new to Dropbox and am having problems with folder sharing.
I have read the Dropbox help on sharing and I have looked at several questions in the forum. They all seem to say the same thing which I tried repeatedly. (The definition of insanity - trying the same thing over and over expecting a different result).
I have created a folder and uploaded photos to it. I have shared the folder with an invitation set as "can view". The person I shared with can see the folders but can also edit them (e.g. Delete and rename are available). Why do they have the ability to edit when I specified "can view"?
Also, when I hover over the icon to the right of the "Share" dropdown it says the user "..hasn't added to their dropbox yet" and the icon is grayed out. Why do they need to create a dropbox if all I want to do is share the folder? And why would they need to add anything to a dropbox? I want this to be as simple to use as possible.
Thinking that maybe sharing with an invitation is overkill I wondered if I could share just by sending them a link. However when they attempt to link to the folder they are told they do not have access.
What am I doing wrong? I feel like I'm beating my head against a wall.
wa4ywm wrote:...
Also, when I hover over the icon to the right of the "Share" dropdown it says the user "..hasn't added to their dropbox yet" and the icon is grayed out. Why do they need to create a dropbox if all I want to do is share the folder? And why would they need to add anything to a dropbox? I want this to be as simple to use as possible.
Thinking that maybe sharing with an invitation is overkill I wondered if I could share just by sending them a link. ...
Hi wa4ywm,
😀 I suspect you count 2 different things as a single thing. There are different ways to share something. One of them, of course, is to share a link to whatever you want to share (file or folder). Another one (and something definitely different) is to share the file or folder between accounts, that will let syncing between accounts without any user interaction. When you share using link, the person can have or not an account (it's optional), but when you share the file or the folder themself then receiver must have account (the share comes up between accounts). According your description, you may have shared using both ways together. 🙂😉 Decide what you want and remove the other thing.
Good luck.
I had posted a similar item earlier. I had one response which didn't answer my questions.
The subject line says it all. I am sharing a folder of photos with Can View selected. However, the recipient can edit the folder. Why????
The recipient receives an email with an Add Dropbox selection. Why would they need to add a Dropbox if I all I want to do is have them share a folder? This complicates the situation.
Am I completely misunderstanding something? I seem to be doing everything detailed in the instructions.
HELP!!
- Jay
Dropbox Staff
Hi wa4ywm , thanks for bringing this to our attention.
Just for clarification are you sharing a link to a folder, or are you sharing a folder directly to their account?
This will help me to assist further!
I have tried 2 different things.
One: I click on the Share dropdown. The box that is displayed says "Share this Folder, Only people invited Can view". I enter their email and click on "Share folder". They receive an email with an "Add Dropbox" selection. When they click on this they are taken to the folder and can edit.
Two: I have sent a link in an ordinary email. This link takes them to the folder which they can edit.
Note: My settings under "Link for Viewing", "Who has access" is "Only people invited".
