Filebox Documentation

What is Filebox?

How Much Space?

Signing Up for a Filebox Account

Accessing the Account Via the Web

Transferring Files Using WebDAV, Web Folders, or Web Interface

Organizing the Files in an Account

Setting Access Restrictions

Creating a Web Page

Using Server Side Includes (SSI)

Adding a "Search my Web site" Option

Adding a Web Counter and Getting Usage Statistics

Adding a Feedback Form

Adding a Guestbook

Virginia Tech's Policies Related to Filebox Use and Contents

Filebox is an internet-accessible file storage space for documents, Web pages, etc.
Use it to

• create your home page.
• share files with your friends and coworkers.
• transfer files from campus to your home.
• backup important data.
• grant/restrict access to certain people.

How Much Space?

The default quota (space limitation) for Filebox is currently 30 MB. If you exceed your filebox quota you will receive e-mail from filebox@vt.edu. Once you have exceeded your quota you cannot add new files or folders to your filebox, but you can use a WebDrive or Goliath (WebDAV clients), Web Folders, or the Filebox Web Interface to delete files or folders so that you can reduce your disk usage and quota.

Once your disk usage is below your quota, log on to the Filebox Web Interface (http://filebox.vt.edu). This will re-enable your filebox for uploading files and folders. You can then use WebDrive, Goliath or the Filebox Web interface to upload files again.

Signing Up for a Filebox Account

Current students, faculty, and staff can use their Virginia Tech PID to sign up for an account (https://admin.filebox.vt.edu/filemanager/signup.jsp).

Accessing the Account Via the Web

You can access the contents in your filebox account by pointing your Web browser to the following address (URL):

http://filebox.vt.edu/users/[your PID]/

For example, the URL for the user "John Smith" who might have the PID "jsmith", would be:
"http://filebox.vt.edu/users/jsmith/"

Transferring Files Using WebDAV, Direct Connection to the Server, or the Filebox Web Interface

There are three different ways to transfer and organize files:

• WebDrive/Goliath (WebDAV Clients)
• Direct Connection to the Server
• Filebox Web Interface

The following table gives an overview of the pros and cons of each method.

Using the Filebox Web Interface

You can use the Filebox Web interface to upload files, copy, move, delete, and rename files and folders. Furthermore, the Web interface is the only way of setting access restrictions on your folders.

Organizing the Files in an Account

Your account can be organized in a way similar to your computer hard disk. You can use folders (alias directories) and sub-folders to structure your account.

Example for a folder structure

Using sub-folders (think of it as folders inside a folder), you can avoid having too many files in one location. Separating the files according to their content (different projects, text vs. images, etc.) has the advantage of making maintenance easy. Especially after the number of files in your account has grown enough, you will start to appreciate a logical file structure. Furthermore, creating sub-folders allows you to benefit from the access control feature.

For an example, imagine you are using your account to publish your homepage, to share group project files with fellow students, and to transfer files between a computer on campus and your home computer. A suitable account folder structure would look like the example on the right:

The "images" folder would contain all the pictures used for the homepage (index.html). The "transfer" folder would work as the temporary storage place for the files which are transferred between campus and home. The access to the "projectx" folder would be restricted to the members of the project group. As you see in the depicted structure, folders can be nested. "Projectx" for example has two different sub-folders called "backup" and "reports".

Setting Access Restrictions

The access to any folder can be restricted by setting "Access Restrictions" (i.e., permissions). A folder that is restricted by permissions allows only specified persons or groups of people to gain access using their user name and password to read from or write into this folder.

There are several choices you will need to make:

• There are two types of access you can grant a person:
  • Read Access: This person can use a Web browser, navigate to your filebox (e.g., http://filebox.vt.edu/users/jsmith/pictures), and view the Web site, documents, pictures etc. contained within this folder.
  • Write Access: This person can update, edit, and delete files within that particular folder. To do so, the person will have to use WebDrive/Goliath. Only the filebox owner can use the Web interface.

• There are different groups of people to choose from:
  • everybody
    Everyone has access to the folder without having to provide a user name and password.
    Caution: If you check the option "Everybody (no password prompt)" then this filebox folder will be publicly readable. Search engines (like Google) will start indexing your content. If your filebox is publicly accessible, your content may appear in Google's search results. Also, if your files have been publicly accessible once, certain Internet services like Google or www.archive.org are likely to have a copy (aka "cached version") of your files which you will not be able to protect anymore. If you want to avoid public access, then do not select the option "Everybody (no password prompt)" (see picture).
  • admins
    No one except the filebox owner(s) have access to the folder.
  • authenticated users
    Everyone with a valid Virginia Tech PID/password plus all non-Virginia Tech affiliates you have defined have access to the folder.
    • Access for people with a valid Virginia Tech PID: Refer to Assigning Access to Your Filebox or Web Hosting Site to Virginia Tech Affiliates.
    • Access for people without a Virginia Tech PID (e.g., your sister, your father): You can define a user name and password combination (e.g., "filebox.mary") which then can be used to specify access restrictions to particular folders within your filebox. For instructions, see Assigning Access to Your Filebox or Web Hosting Site to Non-Virginia Tech Affiliates.

Creating a Web Page

The contents and design of a Web page is specified in a language called HTML (the Hypertext Markup Language). It is nothing more than a format to describe the text and picture layout on the page. If you are not a person who likes to see and write the actual code the Web page is based on, you can use a WYSIWYG editor (What You See Is What You Get) to design your Web page. Microsoft Frontpage or Macromedia Dreamweaver (recommended) are two popular WYSIWYG editors. You can obtain a copy of those programs from Information Technology Acquisitions (http://www.ita.vt.edu/). A good idea for an easy start is to browse the Web for a nice looking template page, download it to your computer (usually the File/Save command in your browser) and change it according to your needs.

Once your page is created, you have to transfer the Web page to your filebox. If you want it to be your homepage (the page that automatically shows up if somebody points a Web browser to the address of your filebox), its filename has to be "index.html" or "index.htm".

If you signed up for a filebox after April 2002, you will also need to change the access restrictions to your filebox. By default, all newly created fileboxes are only accessible by the owner.

Adding a "Search my Web site" Option

You can use Virginia Tech's search engine to offer a search option on your own Web site. To add a search box into your Web page, just copy and paste the following HTML into your Web page:

<form method="get" action="http://www.google.com/u/virginiatech"> <label for="q">Search:</label> <input type="text" id="q" name="q" size="12" maxlength="300"> <input name="hq" type="hidden" value="inurl:filebox.vt.edu/users/jsmith/"> <input type="submit" value="Go"> </form>

Adapt the parameter "filebox.vt.edu/users/jsmith/" to match your filebox.

If your search does not immediately work, it is probably because Google has not yet indexed your Web site. Google updates its entire index automatically on a regular basis (typically in a 30 day interval). During this process (Web crawling), they find new pages, discard dead links, and update links automatically. Dead links returning a (404 - Not found) error code, should "fade out" during Google's next crawl. In the worst case, you may have to wait about 30 days before you can add a search to your Web site.

For more information, please read Adding the Virginia Tech Search to Your Web Site (http://computing.vt.edu/internet_and_web/web_publishing/webmasters_toolkit/vtsearchandgoogle.html#add_search).

Adding a Web Counter and Getting Usage Statistics

Filebox does not offer Web counters. However, you can use Filebox in conjunction with a free Web counter or usage tracking service. Refer to Adding a Web Counter to Your Filebox Web Page (http://www.answers.vt.edu/ask4help/email/vtkb2412.htm) for instructions for using StatCounter, a free Web counter, with your filebox.

Adding a Feedback Form

You can use survey.vt.edu (http://survey.vt.edu/) in order to create a feedback form, registration form, etc. for your Web site. Once you have created the form and opened it for data collection, you can copy and paste the link to the form (e.g., "http://survey.vt.edu/survey/entry.jsp?id=1024613331970") into your Web site.

If you would like the form to exactly match the look and feel of your Web site in Filebox, please read Creating a Feedback Form that Matches the Design of Your Web Site (http://computing.vt.edu/internet_and_web/web_publishing/webmasters_toolkit/survey_maker/tips.html#matchingsitedesign).

Adding a Guestbook

Filebox does not have a built-in guestbook service. However, you can use Filebox in conjunction with a free guestbook service. Refer to Adding a Guest Book to Your Filebox Web Page (http://www.answers.vt.edu/ask4help/email/vtkb2413.htm) for instructions for using Dreambook, a free guestbook, with your filebox.

Virginia Tech's Policies Related to Filebox Use and Contents

These policies describe the Do's and Don't's for using the Filebox service and publishing information. If you have questions concerning these policies, please contact webmaster@vt.edu.

• Policy 7000: Acceptable Use and Administration of Computer and Communications Systems (http://www.policies.vt.edu/2015.pdf)
• Acceptable Use Guidelines (http://purl.vt.edu/vtdocs/policies/acceptuse)
• Use of University Logo and Other Trademarks (http://www.lic.vt.edu/)
• Policy 12000: Policy on the Usage of the University Name (http://www.policies.vt.edu/12000.pdf)
• U.S. Copyright Law - Title 17 of the U.S. Code (http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/title17/")
  

If you have additional questions regarding Filebox, please send an e-mail message to filebox@vt.edu.