External File Storage in Dropbox

If you want to be able to manage your uploaded files via Dropbox instead of Jive, you can set up a place-level connection to synchronize files from both sides.

To integrate selected places with Dropbox as the external file storage provider, and to socialize the documents you store in your Dropbox folders, you can connect a Dropbox account to a Jive community. The initial relationship is created when you connect a Dropbox account to your community. When community users and administrators create places, a folder within the Dropbox account is created and identified with the name of the place. Files added to or modified in that folder from either the Dropbox side or the Jive side are then synchronized.

When a Jive user uploads a file to the group, the file is posted to the Dropbox group using the Dropbox Integration user. This means Jive users don't need Dropbox accounts to access the information in places to which they have rights. They can access and modify any files posted there from the Jive side. However, they won't have access to the contents of the folder from the Dropbox side unless they also have a Dropbox account. Dropbox users who have access to the folder will also need a Jive account if they want to add more documents to the Jive-linked Dropbox folder or modify its contents.

Setting up the Integration

The complete setup includes these steps:

On the Dropbox side, create the Dropbox Integration User. This user is the account you'll use to connect your Jive community to Dropbox. It's also the basis for the Jive system user that will be a member of every Dropbox-linked place in Jive, linking it to the associated Dropbox folder. The only requirements for this account are that it be dedicated to the integration, and that it have sufficient storage to handle the files you want to make available in Jive.
On the Jive side, connect Jive to Dropbox using the Jive Integration User credentials. Then decide whether users can create new places with a Dropbox-connected folder, as described in Setting Up External Storage in Dropbox.

Tips, Tricks, and Limitations

You can't change the name of anyJive group that's connected to Dropbox.
Likewise, you can't change the filename of a binary file inside a Dropbox-connected Jive group.
If you need to delete a binary file in the Jive group and replace it with a file with the same name, you'll need to delete it permanently from Dropbox first. Trying to re-add a file with the same name before deleting it from Dropbox will result in errors and a bad state.
Moving a file from one Dropbox-connected Jive group to another one and then back will fail, as will any action that creates a duplicate filename situation in Dropbox.

Using More than One External Storage Provider

You can use more than one type of external storage. For example, you can have some of your groups store files in Jive for SharePoint, and some in Box.com. After you've set up the initial community connections to your storage accounts, connections are set up group by group. When you create a group, you decide whether the group will use native Jive storage or another storage. However, you can't connect the same group to more than one storage provider.