Sharing, comments and mentions

Who sees which files

File visibility in BuildColab is personal. Belonging to a company or being on a project team does not by itself show you its files. In the file manager you see a file or folder only when one of these is true:

• You are its owner. The owner is the person who created the folder, uploaded the file or created the document.
• It was shared with you at Read (Четене), Comment (Коментиране) or Edit (Редакция) level, directly or through a shared parent folder.
• You are the company owner. The company owner has full access to every file of the company and of all its projects. This access cannot be removed.

As a result, two members of the same project can see different files in the same folder. If one file deep in a folder structure is shared with you, you also see the parent folders on the way to it, but not their other, unshared content.

Your role still has to allow the file manager: the File manager (Файлов мениджър) permission with View (Преглед) or Edit (Редакция). Sharing gives access to specific items; the role permission decides whether you can use the file manager at all. See Roles.

How sharing spreads to new items

• Sharing a folder covers everything inside it, including subfolders, at the moment you share.
• New items inherit the folder's sharing. A file uploaded or a folder created inside a shared folder is visible at once to everyone the folder is shared with, at the same level. The folder's owner also gets Edit access to new files put into their folder by others.
• The top level is private. A folder or file created at the top level of the file area is visible only to its owner (and the company owner) until it is shared.
• Copies take the destination's sharing, not the original's.

Access levels

Even with Edit access, actions that add or change content also need the Edit level of the File manager permission in your role.

How to share a file or folder with colleagues

1. In the file manager, right-click the file or folder and choose Share (Споделяне). The dialog Share "{name}" (Споделяне на „{name}“) opens.
2. In a project, make sure the Team (Екип) tab is selected. In the company file area there is only the team list.
3. Type a name or e-mail in Search members (Търсене на членове). Only members of the company (for company files) or of the project team (for project files) can be found.
4. Click Add (Добави) next to the person. They are added with Read (Четене).
5. Change the level in the person's dropdown to Comment (Коментиране) or Edit (Редакция) if needed. The note Changes pending confirmation (Промени чакащи потвърждение) reminds you that nothing is saved yet.
6. Click Save (Запази). The message Shared users saved successfully confirms it.

Each person who gained or changed access gets the notification {name} shared "{file}" with you. Sharing again with the same person updates their level. The list People with access (Хора с достъп) shows everyone who already has access; the owner and the company owner appear with a fixed label and cannot be changed or removed, and you cannot change your own row.

1. The search field Search members (Търсене на членове) finds colleagues to add.
2. The tabs Team (Екип) and Organizations (Организации) with the number of people and companies that have access.
3. The list People with access (Хора с достъп); owners carry a fixed label.
4. Save (Запази) applies the added people and changed levels.

How to share project files with a partner company

In a project's file manager you can share a file or folder with a whole partner company, for example a subcontractor, instead of choosing its people one by one.

1. Right-click the item and choose Share (Споделяне).
2. Click the Organizations (Организации) tab.
3. Type in Search organizations (Търсене на организации) and click Add (Добави) next to the company. External companies managed outside BuildColab carry a badge.
4. Click Save (Запази). The message Shared partners saved successfully confirms it.

Partner companies get Read (Четене) access. BuildColab gives that access to each of the partner's employees who are on this project's team at that moment, and each of them is notified. If the partner has nobody on the project yet, the save succeeds but nothing is shared; add their people to the project team first (see Project team and access) and share again. The Organizations tab exists only for project files.

1. The Organizations (Организации) tab.
2. The search field Search organizations (Търсене на организации).
3. The list Organizations with access (Организации с достъп).

How to remove someone's access

1. Right-click the item and choose Share (Споделяне).
2. In People with access (Хора с достъп), click the × button Remove (Премахни) next to the person's level.
3. Confirm the question Are you sure you want to remove {email}'s access to {item}? with Remove (Премахни). The message Access removed successfully appears.

Removing access from a folder also removes it from everything inside that folder. Removing takes effect at once, without clicking Save.

Comments

Comments let the team discuss a document where it lives, instead of in e-mail. They are available in the editor (Word, Excel, PDF, Markdown, text, CSV) and in the 3D viewer. Open the file and click the Comments (Коментари) tab in the top right; Close comments closes the panel.

• Tabs. Active (Активни) shows open threads, Resolved (Разрешени) the closed ones, All (Всички) both.
• Plain and anchored comments. A comment can be plain text, or anchored to a place: a cell in Excel (shown as Cell {ref}), a passage in a document (Go to location in document), a pin on a 3D model (Go to pin) or a saved camera view (Go to viewpoint). Click the link to jump there.
• Threads. Every comment can have replies. View {count} replies and Load more replies show them; Hide replies folds them.
• Versions. Each comment belongs to the version it was written on. Comments on older versions appear under a separator Version {n}, or Deleted version if that version is gone.

1. The Comments (Коментари) tab opens the panel.
2. The filter tabs Active, Resolved and All.
3. The field Write a comment… (Напишете коментар…) with the button Post (Публикувай).

How to add a comment

1. Open the file from the file manager and click Comments (Коментари).
2. To anchor the comment, first select the place: a cell in Excel or a passage in Word. On a 3D model, use Drop pin (see 3D/BIM models and processing credits).
3. Type in Write a comment… (Напишете коментар…).
4. Click Post (Публикувай) or press Ctrl+Enter (⌘+Enter on a Mac).

The file's owner is notified with {name} left 1 comment on "{file}". To reply, click Reply (Отговори) under a comment, type in Write a reply… and post; the owner and everyone already in the thread are notified. You need Comment or Edit access; with Read access the panel shows You do not have permission to comment on this file.

How to mention someone

1. In the comment field, type @.
2. The list People you can mention (Хора, които можете да споменете) appears. It shows only people who can open the file: its owner, the people it is shared with and the company owner.
3. Pick the person; their name appears as a chip in the text. Finish the comment and post it.

The mentioned person gets {name} mentioned you in a comment on "{file}" instead of the ordinary comment notification. To involve someone who cannot open the file, share the file with them first; a mention never reveals a file to a person without access. If you edit a comment and add a new mention, only the newly mentioned person is notified.

How to resolve, edit or delete a comment

File notifications

File events appear in the BuildColab notification center under the module File manager (Файлов мениджър), category Files (Файлове). Each notification has the button Open file (Отвори файла) and a line explaining why you got it, for example you have access to the file or you were mentioned. You are only told about files you can open. You can turn the module down or off in your notification settings; see Notifications and their settings.

The company owner can open every file but is notified only about files on which they are the owner, a sharing recipient, a thread participant or mentioned, so their notification center is not flooded by every upload in every project.

Common questions

Related

• File manager
• Project team and access
• Notifications and their settings
• Roles
• 3D/BIM models and processing credits