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Shared doc viewing

I would like the ability to see if/when a document link I've shared has been viewed (dates/times).

Real world example: a group of us tenants needed to send an email to the owners of a building. We needed to include videos with this email message; however, videos are huge files and our server would not allow them to be sent as attachments. So we added Dropbox links in the body of email message (using the "anyone with a link can view" option) so that they could simply click on each link to view each video.

What we want to know now is if, when, and each time the owners actually clicked on the links to view the videos. We need some sort of log that will give us that info. Don't necessarily need to know who (unless logging an IP address is possible); mainly just would like to know if a link got clicked on and when by someone besides the Dropbox account holder.

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Walter

Hey @KeepMeAnonymous, thanks for posting on our Community!

Have you considered using the Transfer feature instead of shared links which would help you track the views and/or downloads of the files you sent out?

Let me know when you get the chance!

KeepMeAnonymous

Hi @Walter

No, this is a letter sent anonymously to protect the tenants from individual retaliation. We don't want to transfer the videos to them and we have turned off their ability to download for the same reason. We only want them to have a clickable link to view. What we would like from Dropbox is to be able to see each date and time that a clickable shared link has been viewed by a guest/recipient (i.e., anyone other than the Dropbox account owner). Sort of like a read receipt does in email.

Jay

Hi @Danielle K.1, depending on the plan of the owner of the shared link, you might have access to viewer info.

The only way to get more detail on user activity on files, is via the admin console on certain Dropbox Business teams.

KeepMeAnonymous

Hi @Jay

I have Dropbox Professional. Are there no abilities that I am looking for on that plan at all? I keep getting conflicting answers.

Walter

Viewer info is available to Professional users so you should be able to utilize it normally @KeepMeAnonymous

Have you had the chance to give it a go yet? Let us know if this would be close to what you had in mind.

KeepMeAnonymous

Where do I look. That is the problem I had with support chat. They didn't even know where it was. They kept telling me to go to the Traffic & Insights tab, and I kept telling them I don't see anything that says Traffic & Insights, where was it supposed to be, what does it look it. After a bunch of back and forth, they finally said, Oh, I guess you don't have that. Try going to the Dropbox community. (Oy) So here I am.

Does anyone actually know where this is and what it looks like (like, with screenshots so I know what on earth I am looking for)?

Hannah

Hey @KeepMeAnonymous, the article that Jay and Walter linked for you in their replies above will show you more info and screenshots on how to locate the viewer info.

I hope this helps.