Web Interface (Web UI)

Use the Files.com web interface to manage files, folders, and site settings in a browser. Use it for day-to-day file work and site administration.

Features Unique to the Web Interface

Some Files.com features are available only in the web interface. These are features that require interactive setup or generate downloadable reports.

The Bulk User Import feature processes a CSV import file to create many users at once. It can also assign the users to groups, add folder permissions, import hashed passwords and create SSH keys for the new users.

Online editors for editing business files are web applications, so the only way to access them is through the web interface.

Child Sites can only be created through the web interface. Creating a child site provisions a new site, including certificates and DNS configuration. Files.com requires an interactive setup for this operation.

Some reports run in the background and produce a CSV download. All of these must be started from the web interface, which handles the CSV generation and delivery. Data Table Exports, the Site Usage by Folder Export, the Permissions Audit Export, and the Share Links Audit Report must be run from the web interface. If you need similar data in another workflow, use the Files.com CLI or SDKs to build your own report.

Login

Log in to the Files.com web interface at your site's custom subdomain URL (https://SUBDOMAIN.files.com). If you're using a custom domain, log into the web interface at that address instead.

At the login page, you'll be prompted to enter your username and password.

If Single-Sign-On (SSO) is enabled for your site then a list of Sign-On providers will be displayed on the login page. Select the Sign-On provider that you wish to authenticate with.

When you have access to child sites of the current site, you can choose from the list of available sites during login on the main site.

Default Folder

When you log in, you will see the folders and files that you have been granted permission to access.

Users with only access to one folder will be automatically placed within that folder.

Users with access to multiple folders are placed into the highest level intersection folder, so they can navigate to all their folders as easily as possible.

Site Administrators start at the top-level folder of the site when they log in.

Left Menu

The functions available in the web interface are organized into a Left Menu for navigation. Site Administrators use Left Menu Customization to show or hide menu items for different users.

Data Tables

The Files.com web interface uses data tables to organize and manage items in your site. Tables support adding, editing, filtering, sorting, and exporting data.

Columns

Most data tables include a Columns button. Use it to choose which columns you see. This only affects your own session.

Filters

Many data tables let you limit which records are shown. The web interface displays filter fields for the columns available in each table.

Filters send a request to Files.com servers to retrieve matching records. Each table supports filtering on a specific set of columns for performance.

Filtering a table listing also limits which rows are included in an export of the table data.

Sorting and Searching

Tables sort and search in two modes. For sets of 1,000 records or fewer, your browser sorts and searches instantly. For larger lists of records, Files.com sorts and searches on the server and reloads the table. The web interface chooses the mode based on the number of records available.

Client-Side Sorting and Searching (In Your Browser)

Client-side sorting and searching runs inside your browser. It is available when the table has 1,000 rows or fewer, or when filters reduce the results to 1,000 rows or fewer.

Client-side sorting and searching feels instant, because your computer doesn't have to request anything from the server or wait for a response. All of the data is already present in your browser, and you're able to sort by any column in the table.

Data tables do not reload when you use client-side sorting, because that would slow down the process of working with your table. Since the browser already has data locally, it doesn't need to request a fresh listing from the server.

Use the table search to narrow down the rows currently loaded in the table. Search matches text across the table’s columns, including columns you are not displaying. This search only works on the data the browser already has, so it does not request a fresh listing from the server.

Server-Side Sorting and Searching (Via the API)

Server-side sorting and searching runs when there's more than 1,000 rows of results. In this mode, sorting and searching reload the table, and can take longer than client-side sorting and searching.

When a data table has more than 1,000 rows available, only the server-side search or sort is supported. This prevents users from starting a very slow request that blocks them from working.

Not every column supports server-side sorting because the platform relies on specific indexes to ensure that results are returned quickly. To prevent you from running a bad sort, the web interface only lets you sort by those indexed columns the API can sort efficiently. Our developer documentation lists which columns can be sorted on the server for each type of table.

Search uses a separate field from the filters. Not all tables support server-side search. When a table does not support it, the search field is hidden.

How Filters and Sorting Layer Together

Filters narrow the result set first. The server then returns fewer records to your browser.

If that filtering brings the table down to 1,000 rows or fewer, the table switches to client-side sorting and searching.

If there's still more than 1,000 rows after filtering, the table stays in server-side mode. Client-side sorting is disabled because your browser only works with up to 1,000 records at a time; enabling client-side sorting for those chunks would be misleading.

Pages in Tables

Data tables load up to 1,000 rows at a time, and the web interface shows those rows across pages of up to 100 records. If more rows match your filters, the web interface loads the next set as you advance to that page.

Export

Export creates a CSV file of the records shown in your table. You can use the CSV in other apps or for reports.

Exports run in the background. You can start an export and continue working while Files.com generates the CSV.

If you start an export and close the window before it completes, you will receive an email to download the CSV when it is complete. The email indicates when the link will expire.

The Export function runs a background process on the server to gather your records and create a CSV file of those records. If you have filtered your list, the export reflects those changes.

Client-side searching or sorting does not restrict which rows are included in the export, because the export does not run in your web browser; it runs in a background process on the server.

Export Output

The Export function does not reproduce the table display exactly. The output CSV uses the underlying field names and values, not the on-screen formatting.

Regardless of which columns are currently displayed in the table, all data columns are included in the export CSV. The column headers may not match the headers shown in the table; they will instead match the properties listed in our developer documentation. For example, exporting the Users table listing will include the columns shown in the User Object.

The values listed in each column may not be formatted the same way they appear in the on-screen data table. For example, columns that display "Yes" or "No" on your screen will instead be "true" or "false" in the export, and dates will be presented as a timestamp string with timezone adjustment, such as 2022-08-20 17:34:17 -0400 instead of Aug 20, 2022 5:34 pm.

Some data tables combine several underlying fields into a single column for presentation, and this is not included in a data export. For example, the Automations data table includes a human readable summary of when the automation runs in the Trigger column, but the CSV export will instead include the relevant values in the interval, recurring_day, schedule, path, and so on. Similarly, the Users data table displays the name of a user's SSO provider in the Authentication Method column, but the CSV export will have "sso" in the authentication_method column and the ID of the SSO provider in the sso_strategy_id column.

Some data tables display values from related records, but the export of those tables will only include the ID numbers of the related records. As an example, the data table for Share Links can include a Clickwrap column, which displays the name of the associated clickwrap, but the CSV export has the unique numeric ID in the clickwrap_id column.