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Configuring Individual Shared Link Settings

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The type of your Box account, and the roles and permissions you assign to collaborators, determine which settings you can edit.

 

Editing your shared link settings

To edit the settings of your shared link:

  1. In the Box window, hover on the file or folder.
  2. Click Share. You can also either click the right mouse button or the ellipsis (...) to access Share.
  3. In the Share window, click Link Settings. Box displays the Shared Link Settings window.
  4. Edit the settings to which you have access. To enable a setting, click its checkbox.
  5. Click Save.

 

ShareLink-LinkSettingsButton_50250.png

 

 

LinkSettings.png

 

Note

  • When you share, move, or copy content, the permission to access those items might change, often to a less restrictive setting. More on how Box helps you keep your content secure.
  • If the URL of the shared link you've sent changes due to any reason such as your organization merging with another organization, Box requires the user's permission to redirect to the new destination.

 

Setting a shared link expiration date

For added security, you can also set a date after which Box automatically disables the link (if your Box Admin has enabled this capability). This is useful if you wish to make your content available only for a limited period of time or, if you have no specific end date, you simply do not want it available indefinitely.

 

To set an expiration date on a shared link

  1. In the Share window, click Link Settings. The Shared Link Settings window opens.
  2. Under Link Expiration, click Disable Shared Link on. The Choose Date box displays.
  3. Click the calendar icon and then locate and click the date you want.
  4. Click Save.

When you place an expiration date on a shared link, the file or folder to which the link goes displays throughout the Box interface with a small red clock icon (icon_badge_shared_link_expiration_near.png).

Requiring a password to access

Box enables you to apply passwords to shared links whose scope is People with the link.  When you add a password to such a shared link, anyone who follows the link must enter the password before accessing the file or folder.

Passwords must meet the following requirements:

  • Must be at least 8 characters long.
  • Must contain at least one of
    • Upper-case letter
    • Numeral
    • Special character (any non-alpha-numeric character except for > and < symbols and [space])

Notes

  • Password protection is a premium feature, unavailable on free personal accounts. Only owners, co-owners, and editors can set this password.
  • If you create a password-protected shared link to a folder, Box Notes in that folder may be inaccessible.

 

To apply a password to a shared link:

  1. Hover on the file or folder you want to share, then click Share. Box displays the Share window.
  2. At the bottom of the Share window, confirm the scope is People with the link.  If the scope is any other value, you cannot add a password to the link.
  3. Click Link Settings. Box displays the Shared Link Settings window.
  4. In the Shared Link Settings window, check Require Password.
  5. In the Enter a password field, type the password.
  6. In the bottom of the Shared Link Settings window, click Save.

 

Customizing a link URL

When you create a shared link, you can customize its ending. This feature is intended to make content readily accessible to large groups of users, externally or internally, using a customized URL that is easy to remember.

The custom ending to the link must be between twelve and thirty characters, and can use letters, numbers, and hyphens.

 

Custom URLs are only available to Business and Enterprise accounts.

Important

If the shared link is available with People with the link scope, then the linked folder or file is publicly accessible. Custom URL is appropriate for public-facing materials such as product documentation or marketing materials, and is not intended for the secure sharing of sensitive content.

Notes

  • Someone with a personal Box account can create additional custom links for any content owned by someone with a Business account, or above.
  • If folders or files are moved from one Enterprise to another, custom URLs are lost. The associated shared links of the files and folders – those links with the longer scrambled characters – remain.

 

Providing a direct download link

A direct link is a web address (URL) that links directly to a file without using Box Preview. This is different from a regular shared link, which brings users to the Box Preview screen for the shared file.

 

Direct links end with the file's extension type. Therefore, if you are linking to a Microsoft Word document, a direct link ends with *.doc. When a collaborator clicks on the direct link, the file is downloaded onto their computer, or opened by a default program, depending on computer settings. Direct linking can also be used to host images or files for your website or blog.

 

Direct linking is available only for individual files, and is unavailable for folders. A link to a folder is always the web address of a Box page.

 

Notes

  • Direct links is a premium feature, unavailable on free personal accounts.
  • For security purposes, you cannot create a direct link for .dll, .exe, .jar, and .msi files. It is important to be aware that these file types can be harmful if downloaded from an untrusted source.

 

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