[Owncloud] Terminology changes for sharing

Michael Gapczynski mtgap at owncloud.com
Tue Apr 10 01:42:59 UTC 2012


As sharing has evolved some of the terminology being used doesn't match up or 
is causing confusion, at least for me. I'd like to propose some changes to the 
terms for the next version of ownCloud.

This proposal came about because of a recent idea/patch from warhog to include 
a list of the user's shared files. Naming it 'Shared' doesn't make much sense 
because of the 'Shared' folder, which contains files shared with the user.

Files shared with users probably shouldn't be tied to a folder, but rather 
populated into the root folder with the ability to move around as the user 
chooses. I'm not sure how much work this requires, but it probably won't show 
up in OC4. Removing the 'Shared' folder will reduce the confusion and I 
believe adding a subentry navigation item to 'Files' called 'Shared' is the 
proper place for the list of shared files. 

'User or Group' -> Any suggestions or is this clear enough? I'm aware that it 
can be confusing because users and groups aren't divided in the select form, 
which I plan to fix. Even worse is that users and groups can have the same 
name, which breaks somethings. Are there valid use cases for a user with the 
same name as a group or can we block this?

'can edit' -> I think this is still good. Does anyone have a better 
suggestion?
 
'Make public' -> 'Create private link' or 'Share with private link' The links 
that are generated can't be guessed by anyone and it requires the user to pass 
on the link. So, I think this type of sharing should be considered private.

A true public file should have a logical link that can be accessed by anyone 
e.g. /files/public/MTGap. An extra entry to the sharing drop-down would be 
added: 'Share with public.' Just like the list of shared files I believe 
'Public' also deserves a spot as a subentry navigation item to 'Files' to list 
all of the user's public files.

I'd appreciate some feedback.


Michael





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