How to use the Salesforce File Sharing Application?

As a Salesforce CRM user you must be well-acquainted with its benefits and its working. Every information stored by you in the Salesforce CRM is recorded as data of your organization. But there is some information that although is important for the organization but you do not want to store in records, but only as a particular file (s). Interestingly, there are lots of ways by which you can save some of your files in Salesforce CRM without recording them as data. It would be interesting to know that depending upon your requirement you can share these files only with the persons to whom you want to access them.

File Sharing: By using the Salesforce File Sharing Application you can share important files with other users according to their status and relationship related to those files. This although sounds like a complex task, but easier to do in practice. The only thing you need to do is to perform all the steps according to your requirement and determine the access conditions accordingly.

Status of File Sharing: There are three ways by which you share the files.

1. Private File: It is the file that is shared only by its owner and he is only allowed to add or delete its content. However, depending upon his will he can allow some of the users to make the corrections only after granting them the permission to “ Modify All Data”. The file owner has the power to prevent the data from these users also by saving the file in a private library. It should be remembered that the File metadata should not be regarded as the file itself, and therefore it is not private. The File metadata relates to the name and keywords used for storing the file, and not the file itself.
2. File Share Privately: A file shared privately is a self-explanatory term that relates to the files shared only with a few people or specific groups within an organization. This may be done either through Salesforce sharing, by sharing the link of a file, or posting the files as a feed on records or saving the file in a private library. Users having the permission to “View All Data” or “Modify All Data” can only view and modify the file according to the permission granted by the administrator.
3. File Shared Within the Company: Files that are posted to the public feeds allowing all the users in your organization to view its content are regarded as the files shared within the company. These users are only allowed to view the files, but not to modify any of its content.

Actions Required for Sharing the Files: Three are certain actions that are required to be performed strictly for sharing the files within the groups or an organization. These actions are summarized as below:

Shared with Records: Sharing files with records is also referred to as attaching a file with the record. This can be done by sharing privately with individual (s), chatter groups, libraries, and by sharing the link.

Restrictions on File Sharing: Using the Salesforce file sharing application allows you to share the file according to your preferences, but doesn’t allow you to share the file several times as you wish. You cannot share a file with more than 100 people or groups. If you want to share beyond it, then you need to follow a different strategy of making the file as a link and then sharing with anyone to whom you want to access the file. You can also share the file with your chatter feed, where it can be accessed by everyone associated with your chatting group.

File sharing application is a useful application to share an important with the members in your organization according to your requirement without bringing it in the notice of the other persons.