# Shared files: Nextcloud team folders

**Put shared work in a team folder. Don't share files one by one.**

Team folders are Nextcloud's version of Google's shared drives. They belong to NFE rather than to one person, and the group you're in decides which ones you can open. Join a group and you see its folders; leave it and they're gone. Nobody has to share or unshare individual files.

## Our team folders

| Team folder | What goes in it | Who can open and edit it |
|---|---|---|
| **NFE Business** | Sites and customers (Sezibwa Rentals, Pearl Marina), proposals, fundraising and pitch decks, partner and community updates, conference and market material | NFE Everyone |
| **NFE Product** | Metering, gateway and hardware: vendor spec sheets and quotes, meter data and exports | NFE Everyone |
| **NFE Team** | Meeting recordings, logos and icons, anything else for the whole team | NFE Everyone |
| **NFE Finance** | Tax, bank and company registration documents, supplier invoices and payments | NFE Leads |

The folders follow the Library's books (Business, Product, Team, Finance). If you know which book a page belongs in, you know which folder its files belong in.

## Groups

| Group | Members (October 2026) | Team folders |
|---|---|---|
| **NFE Everyone** | Aaron, Hillary, Dansturn, Nickson, Tom, Dismas, Daphine, Esther | NFE Business, NFE Product, NFE Team |
| **NFE Leads** | Aaron, Hillary, Dansturn | NFE Finance |

A Nextcloud admin manages these groups in Nextcloud (*Accounts*). Joining or leaving a group follows the [Access Management Policy](https://bookstack.nearlyfreeenergy.com/books/security/page/access-management-policy). Team folders don't use the LDAP `everybody` group, because it also contains service and test accounts.

## Working with team folders

- **Where they are:** at the top of your Files, next to your own folders. The desktop and mobile apps sync them like any other folder.
- **Save shared work straight into the right team folder.** Keep your own Files for drafts and personal things.
- **Should only some people see it?** Ask the Security DRI for a group or team folder rather than sharing file by file.
- **People outside NFE:** share the file from inside the team folder, by email or public link. Always give a public link a password and an expiry date.
- **Links survive moves.** Nextcloud private links (`https://nextcloud.nearlyfreeenergy.com/f/<number>`) point at the file itself, not its folder. ERPNext attachments made this way keep working when a file is moved or renamed, but not if it's deleted and uploaded again.
- **Deleted something by mistake?** Each team folder has its own trash under *Deleted files*, and file versions work as usual.
- **Big folders:** NFE Team holds several hundred MB of meeting recordings. On mobile data, turn on the desktop client's virtual files option or untick that folder in its sync settings.

## What stays out

- **Code** lives in Gitea. Don't sync git checkouts or `node_modules` through Nextcloud.
- **App folders** (`Talk`, `Deck`, `Notes`, `Templates`, `Forms`, `Photos`) belong to their apps. Leave them in your own Files.
- **Passwords and keys** go in the password manager, never in a file.

## For admins

- Team folders are managed in Administration settings → *Team folders* (the Team Folders app). Each folder is given to one group with full rights. There are no quotas or advanced permissions.
- New team member: add them to NFE Everyone, and leads to NFE Leads too. See [Onboarding and Offboarding Access](https://bookstack.nearlyfreeenergy.com/books/security/page/onboarding-and-offboarding-access).
- Moving files from someone's own Files into a team folder keeps their file IDs and existing shares (tested 29 October 2026). Only the owner can move them, so ask them to do it.

*Set up on 29 October 2026 by Aaron Tushabe with Claude. Owner: the Security DRI. Checked in the quarterly access review.*