Upload links are a great way for people outside the Egnyte account to upload content to a specific Shared folder, without being able to see the contents of that folder. Construction companies may need to securely solicit bids from subcontractors, but don't want them to see their competitors’ pricing or a university professor wants a way for students to upload problem sets without peeking at each other's answers. Upload links can solve both of these dilemmas.
In this article, the details are covered on how to create upload links, what additional link options a user can customize, and information on what the upload process is like for those using the links. For Admin who need to change the settings for upload links or see what upload links have been shared, refer to the Upload Link Settings article.
Power or Admin Users with Editor, Full, or Owner permissions to a Shared Folder will be able to create an upload link and request files from others.
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Create an Upload Link
Additional Options
Create an Upload Link
To create an upload link, navigate to the Shared folder where the uploaded files should be stored. Then, click the Share option and select Request Files from Others from the drop-down menu.
There will be two options for dispatching the upload link: the user can copy the link and paste it into another place (social media, company's website, etc.) with Get Link, or they can email the link right from Egnyte and specify link recipients with Email Link.
Get Link
To collect files from a lot of people, send the link through a chat client, or if the user isn't sure who will respond on the link (e.g., customer suggestion boxes, resume uploads...), they can select the Get Link option at the bottom of the screen. The link will be shown, and the user can copy it to the clipboard and paste it anywhere.
Email Link
To send the link to a handful of recipients, Email Link may be the easier option. Simply enter the email addresses of the people who need to upload a file, enter a message if desired, and click Send.
The recipients of the email will not be able to see who else is receiving the link.
When the recipients click on an upload link, they will see a screen similar to the one below. The recipient will enter their name, email address, and the optional company name field before clicking Continue.
If the user used the Email Link option, the email address field will be greyed out.
Users will be able to upload files to the folder by dragging and dropping or through their file explorer/Finder. They'll be able to upload a maximum of 500 files per session, each file can be up to 25GB in size (or plan limit, whichever is smaller), and the total upload quota for one link cannot exceed 10% of the plan limit. However, they may be subject to the browser's inherent upload limits.
Once the user clicks Send these files, they'll appear in the linked folder. Each file will include a Comment which contains the following information:
- The name of the uploader who uploaded content using the link (remember, this is a self-reported value and not a system username).
- That uploader’s company (if they entered it in the upload screen).
- The IP address and approximate geo location where the files were uploaded from.
- When the files were uploaded.
Additional Options
Link Expires
If it is required for the link to be active for a certain period of time (e.g., the user does not want to receive resumes after the position is closed), the user can set an expiration date so the link will no longer accept uploads. Before copying or emailing the link, make sure the box next to Link expires is checked.
From the drop-down, the user can choose to have the link expire in 1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month, or on a specific date.
Separate Folders for Each Recipient
To help the users stay organized, Egnyte provides an option to have each recipient’s files stored in a unique sub-folder. If 100 people respond to the upload link, the user will see 100 sub-folders with each person's name and email address as they entered it on the form.