<\/span><\/h3>\nLog in to your admin portal and go to Settings > Admin, and set the following values:<\/p>\n
Allow Account Signups -> True<\/strong><\/p>\nThis will allow accounts to be created automatically in the background.<\/p>\n
Automatic Account Approval -> 3<\/strong><\/p>\nThis configures the system so that \u201cLimited\u201d or external accounts are the default account to be created in the background.<\/p>\n
Note: External User Accounts don\u2019t count towards your license; you can create as many as you need. These accounts have a few limitations: they can only be accessed via the web browser (no applications), and you can only share files with external user accounts from the User UI, not from the Admin UI (for example, Team Folders cannot be shared).<\/p>\n
<\/span>Allow accounts to be created when creating a new share.<\/span><\/h3>\nIn your admin portal, go to Settings > Policies and edit the \u201cGlobal Default Policy.\u201d Then go to \u201cUser Policy\u201d and change the following values:<\/p>\n
Disable Invitations to New Users -> No<\/strong><\/p>\nThis configures the system to \u201csend\u201d invitations to new users. (Default Value: No)<\/p>\n
Create account on new user shares -> Yes<\/strong><\/p>\nThis configures the system to \u201callow\u201d the creation of new accounts \u201cwhen\u201d creating a new share. (Default Value: No).<\/p>\n
Changing these settings will allow accounts to be created in the background when creating the share.<\/p>\n
<\/span>Configure FileCloud to Only Create Private Shares<\/span><\/h2>\nNow that external accounts are allowed to be created in the background, the next step is to restrict the type of shares that can be made. For that, go to Settings > Policies > Edit the Global Default Policy. Then select the \u201cGeneral\u201d tab.<\/p>\n
Share mode -> Allow Private Shares Only<\/strong><\/p>\nThis configures the system to only allow the creation of private shares.<\/p>\n
<\/span>How Sharing Works After Configuration Changes<\/span><\/h2>\nAfter the configuration changes are made, when you create a new share, this is the result:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.filecloud.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Share-Link-Create-Accounts-with-New-Shares-Figma.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
The option to \u201cAllow selected users or groups\u201d is selected by default, with the options to \u201cAllow anyone with the link\u201d and \u201cAllow anyone with link and password\u201d disabled.<\/p>\n
Note:<\/strong> The ability to invite users and enable \u201cPrivate Shares Only\u201d is a setting based on Policy Group. This means that you can apply these restrictions to a subset of your users and still allow other groups of users to create different types of shares.<\/p>\n<\/span>Add an External Account to the Share<\/span><\/h2>\nTo invite a new user, you need to click on the \u201cInvite Users\u201d button; this will open the invite window; write the email address of the external user you want to add, then click on the \u201cInvite\u201d button below the email address. You can add multiple new users in the same way; once completed, click on the \u201cAdd Users to this Share\u201d button.<\/p>\n
Once you have added all the emails necessary to your share, you can check the sharing permissions desired for the users in the original share link box.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.filecloud.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Share-Link-Adjust-Permissions-Figma.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Now, those two accounts have been created as \u201cLimited User Accounts\u201d in the background; you can confirm these external accounts have been created by visiting the Admin UI > Users section.<\/p>\n
<\/span>The External User Experience<\/span><\/h2>\nAfter adding the account to the share, the External User will receive two emails. If you checked the \u201csend email\u201d box when adding them, they only receive one.<\/p>\n
<\/span>Welcome to FileCloud Email<\/span><\/h3>\nThe first email they receive is the Welcome to FileCloud! Email. This email includes the Server URL, user email, and login password.<\/p>\n
<\/span>Shared Files Notification Email<\/span><\/h3>\nThis email includes the name of the \u201cFull User\u201d that has shared files with the \u201cExternal User.\u201d Additionally, it consists of the Folder Name (if you share a single file, they will get the single file name) and the share link URL to directly click on it.<\/p>\n
Once the external user logs in, they will gain access to the shared content.<\/p>\n
<\/span>Improve Traceability and Auditing with External Accounts<\/span><\/h2>\nFollowing our example, the external user uploads a PDF file.<\/p>\n
The Full User can view shared document and folder details, including \u201cActivity,\u201d which shows who uploaded the file, to which folder, and when. Without an External User account,<\/em> this file information would show as uploaded by \u201cANONYMOUS.\u201d With an external account, the file information includes the user\u2019s information.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.filecloud.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Upload-File-View-Activity-Figma.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
If you click on the \u201ci\u201d icon to the right of the username, you can view details like the IP address, date, and time of when the file was uploaded.<\/p>\n
Collectively, external user accounts provide more information about your external shares and help you identify when a user uploads\/downloads or takes any action on shared content.<\/p>\n
In following blog posts, we will discuss how to maintain these External User accounts automatically and enable 2FA.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Article written by Daniel Alarcon<\/strong>\u00a0and Katie Gerhardt<\/strong><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
One of the most frequent use cases of FileCloud is \u201csharing files securely with an external user.\u201d By default, FileCloud enables all types of shares (public, public with password-protection, and private shares), with a focus on security and collaboration. In this article, we will review the recommended configuration to securely share files to external users […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,1],"tags":[1784,569],"yoast_head":"\n
FileCloud Best Practices: How to Use Private Shares and External User Accounts - FileCloud blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"External Accounts in FileCloud can help support auditing and traceability when it comes to sharing files and folders.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.filecloud.com\/blog\/filecloud-best-practices-how-to-use-private-shares-and-external-user-accounts\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"FileCloud Best Practices: How to Use Private Shares and External User Accounts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"External Accounts in FileCloud can help support auditing and traceability when it comes to sharing files and folders.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.filecloud.com\/blog\/filecloud-best-practices-how-to-use-private-shares-and-external-user-accounts\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"FileCloud blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/tonidopage\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-08-04T22:10:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-09-11T07:45:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.filecloud.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/FileCloud-Best-Practices-External-User-Accounts-Banner.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Katie Gerhardt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@getfilecloud\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@getfilecloud\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Katie Gerhardt\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.filecloud.com\/blog\/filecloud-best-practices-how-to-use-private-shares-and-external-user-accounts\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.filecloud.com\/blog\/filecloud-best-practices-how-to-use-private-shares-and-external-user-accounts\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Katie Gerhardt\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.filecloud.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ea3506ea3e9eb7bb2036e6c7c8fc05ea\"},\"headline\":\"FileCloud Best Practices: How to Use Private Shares and External User Accounts\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-04T22:10:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-09-11T07:45:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.filecloud.com\/blog\/filecloud-best-practices-how-to-use-private-shares-and-external-user-accounts\/\"},\"wordCount\":1054,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.filecloud.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"external accounts\",\"file sharing\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Admin Tools and Tips\",\"Enterprise File Sharing\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.filecloud.com\/blog\/filecloud-best-practices-how-to-use-private-shares-and-external-user-accounts\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.filecloud.com\/blog\/filecloud-best-practices-how-to-use-private-shares-and-external-user-accounts\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.filecloud.com\/blog\/filecloud-best-practices-how-to-use-private-shares-and-external-user-accounts\/\",\"name\":\"FileCloud Best Practices: How to Use Private Shares and External User Accounts - 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<\/p>\n