Sharing
Share a file or folder from its menu in Files. Under Who it’s for, choose anyone who has the link, or one person’s network: one you know, from the list, or another by their network card, a code their Iceblock shows under Sharing, on the Collections tab. A share for a network you know is sent to them too.
Ways to share
- View only: they view it from your devices; nothing is copied.
- Share a copy: their devices hold it too, and follow your changes. They can’t change it.
- Work together: you both hold it, and can do anything with it. Only for someone named by their network card.
- Share with roles: their devices hold it too, and they can do what their role allows. An Owner can do anything. A Caretaker looks after it, but can’t delete it. A Contributor adds and changes files, and deletes to the trash. A Member only sees it. Anyone with the link who isn’t named can be at most a Contributor.
- Give a copy: a gift. It becomes theirs, and nothing links it to yours afterwards.
Sharing a copy, working together and sharing with roles all keep one Collection, held by both of you: the same files. Whoever shared it keeps it safe. The others’ devices keep what they open, and fetch the rest when it’s opened. To keep a copy on your own devices too, choose Keep a copy… for the Collection, a folder or a file, and how safely: it’s your choice alone, and changes nothing for anyone else. Sharing a folder this way makes it a Collection of its own first, still where it was in Files. A single file is shared view only.
A share can have a time limit. When a share that’s held together is stopped or runs out, it goes from their devices. Sharing lists what you share, to copy a link again or stop sharing, and what’s shared with you.
Looking after what you’ve shared
Sharing, from the Collections tab, lists what you’ve shared and what’s been shared with you, under each Collection’s name; Open goes to it in Files. In a share’s menu:
- Recipients lists who has it. Remove beside one stops giving it to them alone: they can’t open it any more, and a copy their devices held goes at their next sync. Everyone else keeps it.
- Change… makes it another kind of share (view only, a copy, or working together), or asks you before anyone new gets it. Those who have it already follow the change at their next sync. Turning approval on doesn’t take it from them.
- Move them to another share… gives everyone who has it another of your shares in its place at their next sync, of the same Collection or a different one: for when you shared the wrong thing. Share the right thing first, then move them to it. They don’t need a new link. The old share stays in the list, saying how many have moved, until they all have.
- Revoke… stops it working for everyone. A revoked share can then be Removed from the list.
Opening a share
A share link opens Iceblock’s website. If Iceblock is installed, Open in Iceblock opens it there; on Android, the link opens Iceblock straight away. If it isn’t installed, Get Iceblock copies the link first, and Iceblock offers to open it the first time it starts.
Anyone holding a link made without naming someone can open it, so send it only to the person it’s meant for. Or turn on Ask me before anyone gets it: then opening the link only asks you for it. You’re asked in Notices, or under Asked for it in the share’s menu on Sharing. Each person gets it once you approve them, whenever that is, and someone you decline gets nothing. Until then, they see it on their Sharing page as waiting for your approval.
When a shared network can’t be reached
Iceblock keeps track of how to reach each network you share with, and finds the other network’s devices on your local network too. If a Collection someone shares with you hasn’t been brought up to date for several days, a notice says so. Reconnect…, in the notice or on the Sharing page, shows a link and a QR code saying how to reach your network: send it to them by message or email. When they open it, their devices reach yours and say how to reach theirs. If they send you theirs, open it there too.