Kollaborate 2.7.1 - restore deleted files/projects, file expiration, print view, Incognito Mode and more

Kollaborate 2.7.1 is now live on the cloud, with lots of great new features.

Restore deleted files and projects

Files are no longer deleted instantly and can now be restored by an admin for up to 14 days. To view deleted files, click the Show dropdown at the top right of the Files page and select Deleted Files (note: only admins can see this option).

Deleted projects can be restored by choosing Deleted Projects from the dropdown at the top right of the Projects page. You will only see projects you created here and they can be restored for up to 14 days.

File expiration

To protect your content, files can now be given an expiration date from the Metadata page. The file will be deleted once this date passes, but can be restored by an admin for up to 14 days.

Comment print view

You can now view comments in a printable view complete with thumbnails. To do this, click Actions in the player, then go to Export Comments and choose Print. 

Linked accounts can now see all projects

When linking a subscription to your account from the Linked Accounts page, you can now choose whether the user can automatically access all projects you create. If this box is unchecked, they will be able to create new projects but will need to be specifically added to the Team page of each project in order to see them. 

Note: users linked in this way will become admins on every project.

New Share options

There are two new options on the Share page:

Force users to download - This forces the user to download the file instead of playing it in the browser. This is useful for situations where you don't intend to keep a file up for a long time and want to make sure the client downloaded it before it gets deleted.

Automatically relink to latest version - In earlier versions of the site, if you sent out a link and allowed the user to view all versions, the link would still default to the version it was originally linked to even when newer versions exist. This option makes sure that the first file shown is the latest version but still gives the option to view earlier versions.

There is also a new option when emailing a link to send the password in a separate email. This was requested by users who were concerned about link recipients forwarding the link to others.

New Workflows

There are two new Upload Workflow actions:

Don't combine versions - This prevents the uploaded file from being part of a version stack, even if the filename matches that of an existing file in the folder. Files will always be independent with this option switched on.

Remove original file after conversion - This automatically deletes the original file after it has been converted by our encoding servers and replaces it with the highest-quality proxy. This is useful for saving storage space. Note that deleted original files cannot be restored by the new file restoration features. 

There is also a new File Workflow action:

Set file expiration date - This allows you to automatically change the file's expiration date. This is very useful for creating content lifecycles - you can now create multiple File Workflows and set expiration settings automatically depending on the file's sensitivity or importance. 

Improved Adobe panel UI

We've improved the UI for the Adobe panel to make it easier to download files and import markers. 

Note that this is a server-side change so you don't need to update the panel plugin itself.

Incognito Mode

We've renamed the previous Disable Alerts option to Incognito Mode to make its function more obvious.

Incognito Mode allows you to prevent your actions on the site (e.g. uploading a file or making a comment) from sending email alerts to others on the project. It is available by clicking your avatar at the top right of the screen and toggling Incognito Mode.

Unviewed folder icons

This is one of those very simple small changes that can make a big difference. You will now see a blue circle next to folders that contain unviewed files. This can be really useful when working on a big project where lots of changes are happening, so you can just follow the blue dots to find files you haven't looked at yet.

Other changes

• No more black thumbnails - Kollaborate now rejects black frames or frames with little information (like slates) so that thumbnails are more representative
• Storage space now updates dynamically in the bottom right corner when uploading or deleting files
• Views and downloads are now logged on a per-user basis and shown in the Users tab of the player
• Quick Look shows the name of the file at the top
• Quick Look automatically switches to the selected file when user selects a new file with the mouse and closes when files are deselected
• Quick Look - Added a button to open file in player
• Subscribers can change ownership of a project to themselves if it is owned by another user linked to their subscription
• Files - You can now see whether a file has been favorited without needing to hover over it
• Files - Improved resizing of the file table on smaller screens
• Files - Added a button to clear the current search
• Files - You can now choose to go back to the source folder when moving files instead of being taken to the destination
• Player - Individual views / downloads are now visible in the History tab
• Tightened permissions so that non-admins cannot move others' files and you now need upload permissions in order to create a folder.

In addition, we have conducted some server upgrades to make the site faster and more responsive.

Kollaborate is an essential cloud workflow platform that allows you to share files with clients and team members while integrating with Digital Rebellion apps and services. Kollaborate Server allows you to host the platform in-house on your own servers and storage. To find out more, see the Kollaborate Server overview or register for the free cloud trial (Server trials are available on request).