A Team Folder is created by the CSUF IT Dropbox admin at the request of a department. Team folders are owned by the department and not a specific individual, so content can be easily synced and shared with all group members even if individuals separate from the department/university. In a team folder, you can choose with whom to share individual files or subfolders within the team folder.

A Shared Folder is a folder owned by an individual user who has granted access to other users. If the owner of a shared folder separates from the department/university, ownership of the folder will need to be changed or the files will need to be transferred to a more accessible location before the individual leaves. In a shared folder, all users with access to the folder are able to see all files and subfolders contained therein.

Team folders offer groups more centralized access and granular control over folder/file permissions than shared folders.

If you want to share content in a Dropbox Team Folder, there are two options:

1. Have the DITC submit a request to add a user to the Dropbox Group that is associated with the Dropbox Team Folder. This will give the user access to all content in the Dropbox Team Folder, with the exception of any subfolders that are restricted to specific users. This is recommended for any new employees in your department as it means that they will get access to all existing content and any new content that is added in the future.
2. Use the Share function to give a user access to specific files or folders. This will give the user access to only the content that is shared. This is recommended for employees outside of your department and off-campus users who only need to be able to access specific content in the Dropbox Team Folder.

The screenshot below shows the path to a subfolder within a Dropbox Team Folder on Dropbox.com. In this example, there is a Division of IT Team Folder that all employees in Information Technology have access to. Under that folder is the 10356 IT Training Team Folder which is only available to employees in the IT Training department and their manager. The Operational and ATI Scans subfolders are available to all users who have access to the 10356 IT Training Team Folder.

The screenshot below shows the same folder as the screenshot above, but viewed on a Windows PC that has the Dropbox desktop app installed. The full file path to the folder is shown; it is the same as on the web but in the image below you can see that the folder is located in the logged in user's folder (Lori Arthur) in their CSU Fullerton Dropbox account folder.