You might see that the Dropbox Community team have been busy working on some major updates to the Community itself! So, here is some info on what’s changed, what’s staying the same and what you can expect from the Dropbox Community overall.
How have you used Dropbox lately?
So you might have seen our little exploration into how Dropboxers use Dropbox, from the small stuff like online games and to do lists, right up to the big stuff, like buying a home and sharing baby photos. In fact, I’ll be back soon to share how I recently used Dropbox to take the pain out of planning a wedding (tips and tricks incoming). Great and all as it is to hear how we use Dropbox, we want to know how you use it! Day to day, big projects, sharing files with friends and family - we want to know about it. Share in the comments below, and if your tips are truly inspiring, who knows, you might even earn the Mighty Badge and the extra space that comes with it!Dropbox Basic: Learn the Basics
If you are reading this, chances are you are new to Dropbox. Welcome! Many of us begin our Dropbox journey with a Basic Account, which has so many perks, and of course, it is free! The basics of your Basic account: Users and Space The Dropbox Basic account allows for 1 user. This means you are the only person that can use this account. But don’t worry, one user doesn’t just mean one device - you can have 3 different devices connected to your Dropbox account. I connected my dropbox account to my phone, tablet, and laptop. When I was in Ghana, I was able to access all of my files from my phone, and to upload some photos. Want to learn more about connecting your mobile devices? Discover how to make the most of your mobile access to Dropbox. Using your Dropbox Basic account: So to get started, you can upload almost any file type to your Dropbox account and keep your important files safe! Whether it’s music files, pictures, media, documents, simply upload and you can access your files anytime, anywhere!With a Dropbox Basic plan you have 2GB of space to use. And of course, we keep your files safe! Dropbox uses multi-factor authentication to ensure that all of your files are secure. Check out howDropbox uses encryption to provide security for your files.When I received my first multi-factor message I said to myself, “Come on Safety”. Dropbox Basic tools you might not know about: The tools within Dropbox are the real secret sauce. Here are some Dropbox features and products you might not know about, check them out below and find out if they can help you to make plans, organize files and save time! Dropbox Paper is a collaboration tool with endless possibilities! Charts, headings and formatting is made easy with one click, LITERALLY. This program is great for creating proposals, project plans and just quickly taking notes. The best part of it is that it takes up very little space in your Dropbox account. Trust me, I make paper docs for all of my todo lists, to plan family trips and to organize any personal projects. Paper has truly become one of my favorite products to use. HelloSign allows you to send 3 documents for eSignature per month. In the digital world we live in, this is a perfect way to get a signature from someone you may not see in person. Explore HelloSign, a simple and easy way to get documents signed securely online. I recently needed a contractor to sign a document that I drafted to fix my home and the document was signed and sent back to me within minutes. And of course, the signed docs are safe and secure too! Dropbox Capture is a tool used to Capture the attention of the person you‘re chatting to. With Capture you can share your thoughts with screenshots, GIFs, or simple videos recorded right on your screen. The upside is that you can clearly say what you mean without scheduling another meeting. Learn more about how to use Dropbox Capture. Having a Dropbox Basic account is more than just a space to store your information. Use Dropbox to manage and organize your files, whether it’s for a project, sharing memories or connecting with others.😁 Will you use these tips to make the most of your Dropbox Basic account?Dropbox Basic: work within the box
Maximize your Dropbox account and work within the box. Dropbox transforms your folders into connected workspaces.Working within Dropbox allows you to keep your account tidy as well as navigate your virtual files. Dropbox is now my personal toolkit where I keep my files tidy and use features provided by Dropbox to make my virtual workspace functional. This saves me time daily. Find files faster You can spend less time searching for files and more time completing task with your Dropbox Basic Account. Think of your Dropbox folder as your own personal file library. You create the organization system for the files and folders, making locating files the least of your worries. Create a folder hierarchy For my Dropbox file library I create a folder hierarchy by giving every file a designated home. When giving every file a home, I group folders and subfolders into categories that are useful to me. The hierarchy is created when I add fewer folders at the top level, then add more towards the bottom. Depending on the files, I also use intelligent filters and visual browsing to quickly find the content I need to streamline my workflow. Naming conventions Establishing a naming convention that helps with grouping the folders has saved me time and energy when looking for files. I save several files for different parts of my workflow such as personal life, vacation life and family life, so using naming conventions is my saving grace. Some naming conventions that I’ve found helpful are listed below. Alphabetical order Chronological order (YYYY-MM-DD) Numerical order By group (i.e., client, location, file type) Adding tags Adding tags to files and folders is also another way to keep tabs on your work. Using tags allows you to quickly search for a document or file that is tagged. Some tags you can use include, #family, #work, #school. Creating tags is just another technique you can use to locate files and folders quickly. Here’s how: Click the checkbox to the left of the file or folder you want to tag. Type your tag in the # Add a tag box in the right-side panel. Press Return (Mac) or Enter (Windows). To search by tag, use the search bar at the top of your screen. You can also remove tags from a selected file or folder by clicking the X to the right of the tag. Dropbox features Working within Dropbox has allowed me to explore the additional features that Dropbox provides with the Basic Account. Some of these features include Dropbox Capture, Dropbox Replay and Dropbox Shop to name a few. DropBox Capture: The pandemic has pushed us to make the best out of our new reality through virtual communication, and Dropbox Capture adds to that convenience. Dropbox Capture allows you to get your message across with screenshots, GIFs, or simple videos recorded right on your screen. I’ve previously used Dropbox Capture to create video tutorials for my students and they found it fun and easy to follow. You can use Dropbox Capture to send video emails, tutorials, and much more. Dropbox Replay: Dropbox Replay on the other hand allows you to easily edit videos collaboratively. Do you sometimes need feedback from your best friend and get frustrated with trying to explain what part of the video you need help with? If you are a videographer, avid Tik Toker or create reels as a hobby, this Dropbox feature will make your video editing so much simpler. Dropbox Replay makes it easy to consolidate comments, take action on feedback, and finalize your video and audio projects in one place. And, when it's that easy, everyone loves it. Dropbox Shop: My best friend who makes T-shirts uses Dropbox Shop as a virtual store. She easily set up her online storefront with pictures directly from her Dropbox account. You can setup your first listing in 3 clicks, customize your online storefront, and sell directly to your customers with products that you have available in your Dropbox Account. Dropbox Password: Dropbox Passwords allows you to sync and store your passwords, generate new random passwords, and automatically capture and fill passwords on the web and in apps. You won't forget another password with this feature. Working within Dropbox has allowed me to explore creative ways to stay organized and virtually connected. Exploring Dropbox has opened up doors for my friends and has truly served as a way for me to stay on top of my personal life. Learn more about how to work within the box by accessing Learn the Fundamentals course on Dropbox Learn.Dropbox Basic: Apps and Integrations
Have you toggled between several applications to maintain your virtual workspace, but you still feel disorganized? Your Dropbox account serves as a hub to hold all of the files and documents that you work with daily, no matter the platformused to create them. With your Basic Account, Dropbox makes it seamless for you to collaborate with any team member or friend using several different tools and software. As a new user to Dropbox, you should know that it will sync with applications that you are familiar with and may use daily. I use apps and integrations for organization of files, planning and to help with my personal life. Organization of Files Dropbox apps and integrations help with the organization of your personal files. When I think of organization for my virtual workspace, I consider labeled folders, storing various documents in one space, and being able to easily access any of my important files from multiple devices. I also consider how I can use the applications that I love with ease. There are applications and integration that help make the most of file organization, such as Dropbox for G-Suite, Dropbox for Microsoft Office, and Adobe. With Dropbox for G-Suite, you can create, edit, and share Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides in Dropbox. This integration has saved me so much time because I no longer switch between multiple tools and instead create new Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides directly from Dropbox. Note: To use Dropbox for G Suite, the email you use for your Google account must match the email you use for your Dropbox account. Find out how to change your Dropbox email address. Similar to Dropbox for G-Suite, Dropbox for Microsoft Office allows automatic sync when working in the Dropbox application. Already use Microsoft Office Online, this integration will be great for you. If you feel like you are working in silo with Microsoft office, you could use Dropbox to help your team continuously collaborate. Easily access, edit, and share Office docs online in Dropbox. Learn more about working with Microsoft Office files from your Dropbox account. Use Adobe Acrobat to create, convert, edit, protect, sign and save changes to PDFs in Dropbox. Editing a PDF just became more of a seamless process with the Adobe and Dropbox. Planning Creating a strong plan and staying consistent with follow up is often the hardest part for me in the planning process. Planning has been made easy with Dropbox Paper. I’ve used Dropbox Paper to plan events, meetings and even project proposals. The beauty of planning with Dropbox Paper is the consistent formatting, collaboration tools and the useful templates that you can access. Learn more about the templates that you can access here. One of my personal favorite templates to use for planning, is the Project Proposal Template. This template gives you the best of several worlds. If your work is mostly built around meetings, tasks and presentations, here are some apps and integrations to help you. With the Dropbox integration for moday.com you can manage work, meet deadlines, and build a culture of accountability and inclusion for your team. Use Trello boards to plan your weekly tasks. I used Trello when I worked at a high school. On our Trello board, there were links to documents that lived on Dropbox, making it super easy to keep up with all the moving parts that went into the busy school day. Prezi is a great program used to create presentations. When Dropbox is linked to your Prezi account, you can upload files and pictures directly from Dropbox to the Prezi presentation. Personal Life I’ve made it a point to highlight how we can use our Dropbox basic accounts to organize and plan by using applications and integrations. Dropbox is also a useful tool in personal life. Stay on your personal schedule with the Google Calendar and Outlook integration. Never miss a doctor’s appointment again. Learn how to add these integrations to your workflow. Exercise your creativity and use Canva to create beautiful graphics from your content on Dropbox. I’ve used Canva to create flyers for game night, custom menus for dinner parties and even to spruce up my instagram post. Virtual education is now a new norm since Covid-19 has affected the world. Explain Everything Whiteboard is a Dropbox integration that allows you to create a virtual whiteboard for your Dropbox files. Create videos, teach, and collaborate on an infinite canvas. Zoom was my favorite application for video conferencing during and after the pandemic. Stay connected with friends and family virtually with Zoom video call and Slack messaging. Automate communication using Dropbox and other applications with Zappier. Zappier will allow you the ease of sending out communication to your team or friends automatically. Dropbox apps and integrations are used for creativity and to sync files quick and easy. In our self-guided learning library, you can explore Dropbox features at your pace. With an eye to your own work, you can pick and choose topics that help you best learn how to make the most of your Dropbox account.
How we use Dropbox: Paul
We’re back with another edition of ‘How we use Dropbox’ and I have to say, I’m really excited about this one. You’ve heard us talk about working from home, and Dropbox is a remote first company but we recently for back into the office, now known as the Studio - and the super heroes that updated the space and got it ready to welcome us back includes Paul. Paul and the team tackled a mountain of work to make that a reality, and they used Dropbox to do it, so here are some of the ways they did that, in Paul’s own words. Once everyone was set up to work from home and we were starting to understand the new normal, we started planning the office 2.0. From October 2020 my team and I were working on the Dublin Studio Project. Throughout this project, we had multiple workshops, kicking off with a group session featuring some internal and external stakeholders to help define the look and feel of our studio. We also planned our furniture itinerary and planting strategy via a virtual Miro Board, which was integrated with Dropbox so we all had access to the most up to date files and could work collaboratively in realtime, and asynchronously too. Once the decisions were made, we then used Dropbox Paper to transfer this all of this information into tables where we could track orders and quantities etc. I love how easy it is to move things around in the tables on Dropbox Paper, and our external vendor was able to edit and comment on the table and let us know of any tweaks that need to be made. Then as the furniture arrived and we organized the new space, we were able to tick off the sections one by one until we were ready to open! A lot of our role requires helping employees feel safe when they are at work and creating content to convey our health and safety policies. For example have used a Dropbox Capture to create our mandatory fire marshall training. We’ve also used this tool to help create video content for region wide meetings. Capture is fast, intuitive and a really smooth way of creating great content. We know as much as the next person that too many process docs can lose you! We use Dropbox for so many things in the process of running the day to day - planning events, managing files, working with all the different teams who come in and out of the Dublin Studio and I wouldn’t have it any other way! Having seen the proof of all this excellent work, I have to say, I am Paul (and the team’s) number one fan, and I love to see how Dropbox was used for something so tangible! Have you ever used Dropbox to manage a project with visible results before?Discover Dropbox Transfer in video!
Hi beloved Community! Has any of you used Dropbox Transfer, our feature allowing you to share large files to anyone, Dropbox user or not? We put together a video featuring Madison, one of our Product Marketing Manager who built this amazing feature, and some of our users who will explain themselves, in their own words, how Transfer works! Check Dropbox Transfer video here! BTW, we actually recorded this video using Dropbox Capture, another cool product that allows anyone to record videos and screen captures easily. Did you like this video? And would you like to see more lightweight, educational videos on Dropbox features in the future?
