File Manager

Contents

1. Introduction
    1.1 Features
    1.2 Assumptions

2. File Manager overview

3. Managing files
    3.1 Add (upload) files
    3.2 Create subfolders

4. Delete files and folders

5. Using files: file paths

6. VIRUS!

7. Concluding remarks

1. Introduction

In Website@School the File Manager is used to upload materials like images, documents, souds and video, et cetera, i.e. files to the right locations like areas, themes, sections, pages, groups of users or individual users.

What is 'the right location'? It's a good idea to store files for Areas in their respective Area. Eventually subfolders can be created in the Area. The same goes for Groups, Users and My Files: the personal files of the useer that is logged in.

A user like Herbert Spencer in the (see Guided Tour), pupil of grade 8, stores the pictures to his poems in his My Files folder, for example in a subfolder Poems.

NOTICE:
Please bear in mind that links in pages, for example images, are stored in their Areas. Moving an Area to another Area, or moving a section with pages to another Area, will most probably result in broken links.

NOTICE:
Take care when deleting files! They might be in use in some place. It is not possible to move files with the File Manager. This is a feature.

1.1 Features

The features of the File Manager, in no specific order:

Most items in the File Manager are configurable. Please see the chapter Configuration Manager, paragraph 5. Site for configuration and details.

1.2 Assumptions

This chapter elaborates on other chapters. We assume you have read and done the General part of the Table of Contents.

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2. File Manager overview

To enter the the File Manager, please click on the File Manager [ files ] icon to open its dialogue:

[ My Files /users/wblader ]
filemanager_file_manager_my_files.png

My Files is the default opening dialogue after the user has logged in.

[1] NOTICE:
In this case, Wilhelmina Bladergroen is the webmaster who has full access to all Areas, Groups and Users, and of course her own My Files. If Herbert would log in, he sees:

[ My Files /users/herbert ]
filemanager_file_manager_user_herbert_my-files.png

After logging in Herbert also has access to his My Files. Wilhelmina has set them in Herberts Admin permissions.
Several icons are greyed out (Module Manager, Account Manager, Configuration Manager, Statistics and Tools), indicating that Herbert has no access to these functions. The File Manager is accessible.
When Herbert clicks Areas, he would not have seen the other Areas (Exemplum Primary School, Exemplum Intranetand Exem[plum inactive):

[ Areas /areas ]
filemanager_file_manager_user_herbert_areas.png

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3. Managing files

Clicking the File Manager icon [ files ] opens the My Files dialogue:

[ My Files /users/wblader ]
filemanager_file_manager_my_files.png

Explanation:

3.1 Add (upload) files

Clicking the Add (upload) files link, opens the Add (upload) files dialogue:

[ Add (upload) files, entry fields, browse buttons ]
filemanager_file_manager_add_files.png

For this screenshot only 4 files can be uploaded in one time. The number of uploadable files (default 8) can be set. Please see chapter Configuration Manager paragraph 5. Site for details.

Click the [Save] button, whereafter you return to the My Files dialogue. Please observe the status messages:

[ My Files, message= success, file added ]
filemanager_file_manager_file_uploaded.png

The image is uploaded to the My Files directory. No virus(es) were detected.

NOTICE:
The last line implies that a virusscanner is installed and working properly. For further information on this subject, see chapter Installation, paragraph 4.1 Virus scanning and section 3.2 Create subfolder Clicking the Create a new subfoler link, opens the Create a subfolder dialogue:

[ Create a subfolder, entry field ]
filemanager_file_manager_create_subfolder.png

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4. Delete files and folders

NOTICE:
A warning in advance. Take care when deleting files and folders. Most probably they will be in use somewhere in Areas, themes, groups, or in sections and pages. Deleting them can cause broken stuff.

We only describe deleting files. Deleting folders is the same procedure, except that in the dialogue file is replaced with folder.

NOTICE:
Folders can only be deleted when empty.

[ My Files, /user/wblader, some files ]
filemanager_file_manager_files_uploaded.png

To delete fil(s) either:

[ Confirm file delete, some files ]
filemanager_file_manager_delete_file.png

The fie(s) to delete are displayed.
Click [Delete] to delete the files or [Cancel] to end your apparently unwise action.

NotiCe about copying files when merging or splitting areas

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5. Using files: file paths

Paths to files can be set in different ways, depending on where you have put them.

[1] For an explanation of 'Document Root Folder' and 'CMS Program Folder', please see the Installation chapter, paragraph 1.3 Preparations.

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6. VIRUS!

On a school with so many users who upload files from everywhere (school, home, vaction Internet cafe, et cetera), virus scanning is an absolute must. See also chapter Install, paragraph 4.1 Virus scanning to check if a virus scanner is installed. When a virus is detected during the upload process, the following message is produced:

[ My Files, /users/wblader, message= virus ]
filemanager_virus_found.png

At the same time, an alert is sent:


There was an attempt to upload a file containing
a virus. The output of the virusscanner is as follows:

/tmp/phpi21GgP: Eicar-Test-Signature FOUND

----------- SCAN SUMMARY -----------
Infected files: 1
Time: 0.000 sec (0 m 0 s)

The currently logged in user was
Wilhelmina Bladergroen (wblader)

and the file was /tmp/phpi21GgP (nice_picture.jpg).

Kind regards,

Your automated webmaster

You can see that we used the innocent test virus eicar.com.

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7. Concluding remarks

Do the virus check!

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Author: Dirk Schouten <schoutdi (at) knoware (dot) nl>
Last updated: 2012-02-27