Documentation/ Uploading documents/ A Dropbox folder
A Dropbox folder: drop documents in and let them process themselves
Connect a Dropbox folder and everything left in it is processed on its own. It works well when that is already where your documents get saved, or when several people drop them in from a phone without ever opening the application.
Account › Dropbox Connection
On this page
What you need
- The administrator role.
- A Dropbox account allowed to authorise applications.
- A live plan. The connection is not available during a free trial, and the screen says so.
Step 1: make the folder
In Dropbox, create a new, empty folder, something like "Dijit invoices".
New and empty matters. Connect a folder that already holds years of documents and every one of them gets processed, with the cost to your plan that implies.
Step 2: connect the account
- Press Connect Dropbox.
- Sign in to Dropbox and accept the permission.
- You come back to the application with the account linked.
The consent screen opens in the same tab. Do not close the window or move the process to another tab halfway through: the authorisation would be lost and you would start again.
Step 3: pick the folder and the type
Freshly connected, the connection shows as not configured: it still needs to know which folder to watch. Choose folder finishes the job.
As you pick it you also set the document type, with a warning in plain sight: every document in this folder will be processed as that type.
Both can be changed later with the action to change the folder or the type.
Keeping document types apart
Because the type belongs to the folder, the way to handle several types is several folders:
| Folder in Dropbox | Type given to it |
|---|---|
| Dijit invoices | Purchase invoices |
| Dijit expenses | Expense invoices |
| Dijit delivery notes | Delivery notes |
You connect them separately, each with its own type. It is what the screen's own help recommends, and it saves correcting the type document by document afterwards.
When the folder is checked
The automatic check runs once a day, at 06:15. It is not continuous: dropping a document in does not process it there and then.
To process something now there is Sync now, which looks at the folder immediately.
It is the same arrangement as the email route, fifteen minutes apart on the clock.
The statuses
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Not configured | The account is connected but no folder has been chosen. |
| OK | The last check worked. |
| Error | The last check failed. |
| Never synced | None has run yet. |
Beside the status is the date of the last sync. If it has not moved for days, the connection is broken or the Dropbox permission has been withdrawn.
Using it day to day
One rule makes this work:
Only drag documents into that folder that still have to be processed. It is not an archive folder; it is an in-tray.
Using it as a historical archive has two consequences: things get processed that should not be, and your plan goes on paying for it.
It is especially handy when several people, sales staff or shop managers, have to get documents in without learning the application: dropping the photo or the PDF in the shared folder is all they do.
Things that come up
| What you see | Why | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| It will not let you connect Dropbox | The account is on a free trial. | Activate the plan. |
| The connection stays "not configured" | No folder has been chosen. | Press Choose folder and set the type. |
| Hundreds of old documents got processed | A folder with content already in it was connected. | Always connect a new, empty folder. |
| Documents come in as the wrong type | The type belongs to the folder, not to the document. | Use one folder per type, or change the connection's type. |
| Something was dropped in and is not there | The automatic check is daily, at 06:15. | Press Sync now. |
| The connection has stopped bringing anything | The Dropbox permission was withdrawn. | Connect the account again. |