Novell Filr 1.2 Web Application Quick Start

April 2015

This document helps familiarize you with Novell Filr and helps you quickly understand some of the most important concepts and tasks.

1.0 About Novell Filr

Novell Filr lets you work with files in these important ways:

  • Access: Access the files you need in multiple ways, including from a web browser, from your desktop, or from a mobile device.

    For more information, see Accessing Novell Filr.

  • Share: Share files with your co-workers and grant them specific rights to the files. For example, you can share a file and give User A Read-Only access, and then share the same file and give User B Edit access.

    You can easily see what has been shared with you and what you have shared.

    For more information, see Sharing files and Folders in the Novell Filr 1.2 Web Application User Guide.

  • Collaborate: Make comments on a file. All users with access can see your comments and make comments of their own.

    For more information, see Commenting on a File in the Novell Filr 1.2 Web Application User Guide.

Filr lets you access, share, and collaborate on two key types of files:

1.1 Files in Net Folders

Novell Filr gives you easy access to folders and files on your corporate file system. Corporate files can be files on your home directory, files on a mapped drive, or files on a remote server. Filr gives you seamless access to these files, regardless of their location. The corporate files that you have access to are defined by your Filr administrator.

In Filr, you access these corporate files by clicking Net Folders in the masthead. Or for files in your Home directory, you access them by clicking My Files. For more information about Net Folders, see Accessing Files and Folders in the Corporate File System (Net Folders) in the Novell Filr 1.2 Web Application User Guide.

1.2 My Files

The My Files area can contain personal storage files (files that you upload directly to the Filr site) and files from your Home directory. Your Filr administrator determines the functionality that is available to you in the My Files area.

You can upload files directly to the Filr site for your personal use or to promote collaboration. You can create folders to better organize your files. For more information about how to upload files, see Adding Files to a Folder in the Novell Filr 1.2 Web Application User Guide. For more information about how to create a folder, see Creating a New Folder in the Novell Filr 1.2 Web Application User Guide.

Files and folders that are located in your My Files area are visible only to you by default. You can make files and folders available to others by sharing them, as described in Sharing files and Folders in the Novell Filr 1.2 Web Application User Guide.

Unlike files in the Net Folders area, personal storage files in the My Files area do not exist on an external server; instead, they are on the Filr server itself.

Files in your Home directory do exist on an external server.

Depending on the settings made by your Filr administrator, you access both types of files by clicking My Files in the masthead.

2.0 Accessing Novell Filr

Novell Filr provides three convenient access methods:

2.1 Accessing Novell Filr from a Web Browser

You can access Novell Filr from a web browser as described in the Novell Filr 1.2 Web Application User Guide.

2.2 Accessing Novell Filr from Your File System

You can access Novell Filr directly from the file system on your computer (Windows or Mac).

For more information, see the Novell Filr Desktop Quick Start for Windows and the Novell Filr Desktop Quick Start for Mac.

2.3 Accessing Novell Filr from a Mobile Device

There are native iOS, Android, and Windows Phone mobile apps for accessing the Filr site. Accessing Filr through a web browser on a mobile device is not supported. Instead, download the Filr mobile app that is compatible with your mobile device.

For more information, see the Novell Filr 1.2 Mobile App Quick Start.

Mobile Phone Interface

This example shows Filr on an iOS device. The look and feel differs on Android and Windows devices.

Tablet Interface

This example shows Filr on an iOS device. The look and feel differs on Android and Windows devices.

3.0 Accessing Novell Filr from a Web Browser

In addition to starting Novell Filr from a web browser as discussed in this section, you can also access Filr from your desktop or from a mobile device, as described in Accessing Novell Filr from Your File System and Accessing Novell Filr from a Mobile Device.

To start Novell Filr from a web browser:

  1. Launch a web browser (such as Mozilla Firefox or Internet Explorer).

  2. Go to the URL of your corporation’s Novell Filr site.

  3. (Conditional) If Guest access has been enabled on your Filr site, you can click Enter as guest on the login dialog box to log in to the Filr site as the Guest user. (Only items that have been shared to the public are available to the Guest user.)

  4. In the User ID field, specify your Filr user name.

  5. In the Password field, specify your Filr password.

    If you do not know your Filr user name and password, contact your Filr administrator.

    The Forgot your password? button applies only if you are an external user (you were invited to the Filr site through an email invitation). If this is your company’s Filr site, you are most likely an internal user and you cannot change your password by using this feature.

  6. Click Sign In.

4.0 Getting to Know the Novell Filr Web Interface and Its Features

When you first launch Novell Filr in a web browser, you see the My Files page. You can manage all of the files that you have created from this page.

4.1 Understanding the Masthead

The Masthead contains the following features:

People: Click the People icon to see a list of all users in your system.

What’s New: Click the What’s New icon to see an up-to-date view of the latest changes that are happening in the Filr site.

Use this area to view the latest changes to documents that you have access to. New files and modified files are displayed here, along with information about which users modified the files.

My Files: Manage all the files that you have created.

Shared with Me: View all the files that other users have shared with you.

Shared by Me: Manage all the files that you have shared with other users.

Use this area to manage the rights that other users have to the files that you have shared with them. You can revoke rights, grant additional rights, and so forth.

Net Folders: View all the files and folders that you have access to on your corporate file system.

Public: View all the files and folders that have been shared with the public. This area is available only if sharing with the public has been enabled for the Filr site.

Name Link: Click your linked name in the upper right corner of any Filr page to view the following options:

Search Field: A global search that searches all content within the Filr site, including file metadata and content within files.

4.2 Understanding the Content Area

The Content Area in Filr is where the majority of information is displayed.

5.0 Changing Your Password

Only local and external users can change their passwords as described in this section. If you cannot change your Filr password as described, contact your Filr administrator.

  1. Click your linked name in the upper right corner of any Filr page.

  2. Click Change Password.

    The Change Password dialog box is displayed.

  3. Specify your current password, then specify and confirm the new password.

  4. Click OK.

6.0 Modifying Your Profile

You might need to manually update your profile in order for important contact information to be seen, such as your email address, phone number, and picture.

  1. Click your linked name in the upper right corner of any Filr page.

  2. Click View Profile.

  3. Click Edit, make any necessary changes, then click OK.

    Available fields:

    • User Id

    • Password

      This information might not be available for you to modify if your information is being synchronized from your corporate directory.

    • First Name

    • Last Name

    • Picture

      When you update your profile picture, the updated picture can take up to an hour to be updated in the Filr mobile app.

    • Time zone

      Do not change this setting; it is overridden by your browser time zone setting each time you start Filr.

    • Locale

      This changes the language that Filr is displayed in when you access Filr on the web.

    • Job Title

    • About Me

    • Email

    • Phone

      If you have a phone number specified in your profile, you can elect to have file subscription notifications sent to you via text message, as described in Subscribing to a Folder or File in the Novell Filr 1.2 Web Application User Guide.

    • Text Messaging Email

    If you are unable to edit any fields, it is probably because they are being synchronized from your corporate directory.

7.0 Displaying Help Documentation

  1. Click your linked name in the upper right corner of any Filr page.

  2. Click the Help icon

    Filr displays the Web Application User Guide in a new browser window.

8.0 Logging Out

  1. Click your linked name in the upper right corner of any Filr page.

  2. Click Sign out.

9.0 Legal Notices

Copyright © 2013-2015 Novell, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, photocopied, stored on a retrieval system, or transmitted without the express written consent of the publisher. For Novell trademarks, see the Novell Trademark and Service Mark list. All third-party trademarks are the property of their respective owners.