"All Files" should mean... All Files

avatar Matt Robenolt Pro Jul 25. 2009. 1:35 pm #1
Why is that All Files does not include attachments? It would make 10x more sense to have All Files list all files. Regardless if they were posted as an attachment or not. Then the current "All Attachments" category could be renamed to just "Attachments" and it'll work as a filter. Just like any of the other categories.

I find this very annoying when I'm not sure if a file was posted as an attachment or uploaded separately. "I know I uploaded that file yesterday, but it's not listed in All Files!"

Grr.
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avatar Ilija Studen Staff Jul 26. 2009. 10:34 am #2
Matt Robenolt:
Why is that All Files does not include attachments?


Some customers find it really confusing - that they could do some things with some files (Files), but not with other (Attachments). Because of that, we made Attachments available on Files tab for convenience only.

What do you think that would be the best approach for finding files that you know that you uploaded / saw, apart from mixing files and attachments?
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avatar Matt Robenolt Pro Jul 26. 2009. 2:00 pm #3
To be completely honest, I don't know of any better way. If I'm looking for a file, I'm going to look under All Files. It just seems to make the most logical sense to me instead of needing to look through All Files and All Attachments.

It happens rather frequently between people at our company and clients. We go to look for a file (since we're all bad at categories and tagging) and it takes a while to find. Especially if we're trying to dig up an old file. While we may have 15 pages of all files, it's much easier to look through one folder of them all instead of 10 pages of All Files, and 5 pages of All Attachments.

The problem is the vagueness of "I uploaded the file last week." "I don't see it under All Files. Where is it?" "Oh, check under All Attachments as well. I think we added it as an attachment to a ticket, but I can't remember."
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avatar Mike Bosch Dec 1. 2011. 6:31 pm #4
I agree with Matt. This is confusing. At least, until you figure out that you should look under all attachments, also.

What if...
"All Attachments" could be a category that automatically gets associated with a file when a file is uploaded via the attachment method?

Or perhaps...
At least rename "All Files" to "All Uploads" or something. That terminology seems to better reflect the relationship.

Keep up the great work aC! You have a new fan!
avatar Ilija Studen Staff Dec 1. 2011. 6:40 pm #5
Hello Mike,

Our opinion at the moment, from both technical and usability perspective, is that attachments should not be treated like other files in Files section. Because of that, we removed attachments listing from Files section in upcoming activeCollab 3, to avoid confusion in the future.

If you need an attachment to be treated like a file, with full versioning support, comments etc, upload it to Files section using Upload Files tools. Attachment is just that - a file that was attached to a specific object and, in activeCollab 3, it exists only in that context (you can either preview it, or download it, in similar fashion like you do with files attached to email messages in your email client).
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avatar Randall L. Pro Dec 1. 2011. 8:22 pm #6
Thanks, Ilija. aC support has always been impressively responsive.

I'm really excited about version 3, especially for the enhanced email features. So...when do we get to see the public beta for aC 3? :)
avatar Ilija Studen Staff Dec 3. 2011. 4:14 am #7
Hello Randall,

Thanks :) We do not have exact date set for activeCollab 3 beta.
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avatar willemn Dev Dec 3. 2011. 1:28 pm #8
I think that a listing of all attachments per module (somewhere in the modules top access level) would be the very best way to awesomely solve this dilemma AND give users an amazingly easy way to discover/find their "attachments".

The attachments would be listed by name and its related ticket/page/discussion ID/Name link behind it.

In V2 of that concept, it would be even more amazingly helpful to then be able to "replace" the images (update), at least in the case of pages, where they would be used for documentation and for instance updated screenshots need to be placed in existing pages.

This obviously has absolutely nothing to do with "file" uploads. That is an FTP like function and has a completely different target purpose.
While we are at it, the File upload and exchange function should be able to send out temporary links to non-users (non members of AC install, or a non member of the project) so that files can be shared with others who should not become more involved.

I know you guys are not looking for more work, but maybe someone else can pick this up somehow in case this is a bit to "futuristic".. :)
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