Category: Dropbox

These changes will happen automatically; there’s nothing you need to do.

Today, the final group of people moving from Zimbra to Gmail got their “all clear” message stating that all the email for all the people in this migration cohort had been copied to Gmail. This means that individual accounts for all Carleton people are now officially complete. Meanwhile, the project team continues to work hard to move all the shared inboxes in use on campus from Zimbra to Google.

As you settle into using Gmail and Google Calendar, if there are things you can’t figure out how to do, we invite you to contact the helpdesk (x5999 or webhelpdesk@carleton.edu) or try the “help” tool available under the gear-shaped button in Gmail and Google Calendar.

Turning attention to Dropbox, we are excited that Dropbox will soon implement features that will be quite beneficial to the Carleton Community, and we have signed on to be a beta testing campus for these new features. As we learn more about these features and about the beta testing process we will use this information as we work with departments to determine a good date for each of their moves to using cloud storage (Dropbox and Google Drive) for departmental files and folders.

The largest batch of people to move from Zimbra to Gmail have now completed their transitions. Only one more batch of people is still waiting to move to Gmail, and they will all move beginning the evening of July 7th. By this time next week, the whole campus will be using Gmail and Google Calendar!

As we near the end of the email and calendar move, various departments are working with ITS to determine their best options for shared email resources (like shared inboxes or shared email addresses). ITS is reaching out to people we know of who use these shared resources but if you haven’t heard from us about a shared resource you use, please contact the ITS helpdesk (webhelpdesk@carleton.edu or x5999).

As the email and calendar transitions wind to a close, the transition from Collab to the Cloud is ramping up. Our three early adopter departments (ITS, Library & Archives, and Off Campus Studies) have all completed their transitions and report that the process went well. We have learned a lot from the experience of these early adopters and are now distilling what we’ve learned into a process for the rest of campus. Plan to hear from us 6-8 weeks before your department is scheduled to transition away from Collab! And if you’re curious or want to get a jump start, there is is an ever-increasing amount of information about Dropbox and Google Drive and ever-increasing training information available on our website.

Zimbra was quite generous with the file sizes it allowed people to attach to emails. No other major email system is as generous, and Gmail is no exception. This means that if you have a file larger than 25MB, you’ll have to use a method other than email attachments to send it to other people. While there are lots of ways to do this, the two most common and best supported on campus will be to send links from either Dropbox or Google Drive. Here’s how to manage this….

Last week, the majority of faculty and a few staff got their Gmail accounts and began having their email and calendar appointments copied over from Zimbra to Gmail and Google Calendar. The process went well, by and large, with two minor snags. First, there was a configuration error that resulted in incoming email bouncing back to the sender for 50 minutes on Thursday evening. ITS was able to contact the small number of people who would have received these bounced messages and tell those intended recipients who had emailed them and what the subject line of the message was. Second, the initial stage of email copying had to be run twice, resulting in the initial copy finishing up around 11am on Friday morning rather than at 8am as planned.

Email sent to lists (like those ending in @lists.carleton.edu) was also delayed initially, but is now running smoothly.

If you have not yet attended a training session online or in person, check out the training options. And if you are having trouble getting Gmail to work for your needs, consider stopping by a drop-in session or contacting the ITS Helpdesk.

In COLLAB news, Off Campus Studies will begin moving their COLLAB files to Dropbox and/or Google Drive tomorrow! They have been thinking through their new file organization and seem ready to make the leap.

After OCS moves from COLLAB to the Cloud, the next big transition will be moving all the returning students from Zimbra to Gmail and Google Calendar starting the evening of June 23rd.

As of last Thursday, all ITS staff are now living in Gmail and Google Calendar, so everyone should be familiar with the system and the transition process if you have any questions at all. We’ve also published all of the preparation emails that people will get in the month before they move, so if you’re curious about what’s coming or if you lost the message that was sent to you, they’re all now posted here.

Next week, on Thursday June 9th at 5pm, faculty and departmental assistants will begin using Gmail and Google Calendar. There are many online and in-person training options available, and early adopters who attended or used these report that they were very useful even for people who have prior experience using personal Gmail accounts.

Just as a reminder, people’s email addresses will not change when they move to Gmail (except for the people who specifically asked for a change).

In file storage news, the Library and Archives moved their files from COLLAB to Dropbox beginning last Thursday. The next department making the move from COLLAB to the cloud is Off Campus Studies, who will begin moving on June 16th.

ITS started moving its own departmental folders to a combination of Dropbox and Google Drive late last week, and tomorrow the Library and Archives will begin the same process. As early adopters, these departments will test the transition process and begin the campus-wide conversation about best practices, tips, and tricks.

Since we expect that the various departments on campus will use the various file storage options quite differently to suit their needs, the process of moving from COLLAB to Dropbox and/or Google Drive will involve much more departmentally tailored information sharing than the Zimbra-to-Gmail process had. Much of the information you get will come to you from your department’s File Management Steward, who will work closely with ITS to develop a plan for your department’s transition.

Meanwhile, pre-migration training for the transition to Gmail and Google Calendar is well underway. Here is a list of scheduled training sessions. Faculty and Departmental Assistants will get their Gmail accounts on June 9th, so if you’re in that group come to one of our upcoming training sessions to learn about Gmail and Google Calendar. Even those early adopters who have used Gmail and Google Calendar for years have reported that these training sessions are useful, so come over to CMC110 and join your colleagues in preparing for the move to Gmail!

And finally, we’re gathering a whole year’s worth of “Tips of the Week” for Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive, and Dropbox. Did you know you can set up your calendar so that students can sign up for pre-defined appointment slots? Or that you can filter emails from your aunt to a special space that only appears if there’s a new message to read? Watch this space!

This week, around 20 people have submitted requests to have their usernames lengthened to current standards. If you would like to join these ranks, here’s how to submit your request. The deadline is May 30th!

Thursday evening, our second group of Early Adopters made the move to Gmail and Google Calendar. This second group includes SERC and Summer Academic Programs staff as well as some others. If you’re in this group, we recommend coming to a training session!

Next week, on May 17th at 11am, File Management Stewards for administrative departments can join in training provided by Dropbox. If you are a File Management Steward and would like to join, you can either come to CMC 110 or join the video call from anywhere with an internet connection. Details are here.