SafeShare Administrator's Guide
Toggle TOC panel
Configuring SafeShare Administration properties

The Configuration page allows SafeShare administrators to modify a restricted set of properties on their Cocoon Data Platform instance, which are used to tweak specific functional aspects and the behavior of their Cocoon Data Platform instance.

Modifying these properties affects the behavior of SafeShare across all organisations configured on the Cocoon Data Platform.

Note: Other properties in configuration files can be modified by systems administrator/s responsible for setting up on-site deployments of the Cocoon Data Platform.

Configuration/Properties page

Modifying a SafeShare Administration property value

To modify a SafeShare Administration property value:

  1. Ensure you are signed in to SafeShare Administration.
  2. Click the Configuration option on the left of the SafeShare Administration interface to open the Configuration page.
  3. Click the Edit link to the right of the relevant SafeShare Administration property.
  4. In the Edit Configuration dialog box, update the Property value field as required.
  5. Click Save and the value of the SafeShare Administration property is modified with immediate effect.
    Notes:
    • For properties whose value consists of a simple true or false, the Edit Configuration dialog box has a Property Value check box, which should be selected for true or cleared for false.
    • It is not possible to modify the names of SafeShare Administration properties, since these are fixed.

SafeShare Administration properties

The following SafeShare Administration properties are available in the following categories.

User authentication properties

The User Authentication properties section allows the configuration of factors that affect how users sign in to SafeShare.

See Modifying a SafeShare Administration property value above for instructions on how to modify these properties' values.

Property Detailed description
Minimum password length The minimum number of characters required for a Local user's password. This property has no affect on LDAP user's password since the authentication of LDAP users is delegated to their respective LDAP server.
Temporary password expiry time in hours

When a new Local Cocoon Data user account is created, the user receives an email notification containing a temporary password (generated by the Cocoon Data Platform), which the user requires to set their own password for their user account. Hence, the value of this property defines the validity of this temporary password.

Note: If this temporary password expires, the user can still set their password through the Cocoon Data Sign-in page by clicking either the Don't have a password? or Forgot your password button and following the instructions in the resulting email notification sent to their email address.

Maximum number of password retries The maximum number of incorrect sign-in attempts permitted by a Cocoon Data user mistyping their password before the user account becomes locked. The user will need to do one of the following to unlock their account:
  • Follow the instructions in the email notification which is sent to the user after their account is locked. The email notification contains a link to unlock the user's account. The validity of this link is equivalent to the Account lockout time in minutes (below).
  • Wait until their account is unlocked; the duration of this period is defined by the Account lockout time in minutes (below).
  • Reset their password by clicking either Don't have a password? or Forgot your password on the Cocoon Data Sign-in page.
Account lockout time in minutes

The amount of time that a Cocoon Data user needs to wait before their user account (which was locked as a result of the user mistyping their password beyond the Maximum number of password retries above, during sign-in) is automatically unlocked by the Cocoon Data Platform. This amount of time also defines the period for which the link to unlock a user's account (contained in the email notification sent to the user) is valid.

Important: Ensure this value is positive and do not set it to 0 (zero). Setting this value to 0 locks a user account indefinitely (as a result of the user mistyping their password beyond the Maximum number of password retries above) and as a SafeShare administrator, increases the risk of you locking yourself out of SafeShare Administration if you mistype your password. If this value was 0 following a Cocoon Data Platform upgrade, then change it to a positive value.

Maximum number of email my password retries The maximum number of times that a Cocoon Data user can click either Don't have a password? or Forgot your password, be sent an email notification containing either a one-time access link/password or password reset instructions and fail to successfully sign in, before their account is locked.
Notes:
  • Ensure that this value is positive and do not set it to 0 (zero). Doing so increases your risk (as a SafeShare administrator) of locking yourself out of SafeShare Administration in the event that you mistype your password.
  • Although a Cocoon Data user may click either Don't have a password? or Forgot your password successively, an email notification from this action is only sent out at a rate of once every five minutes. This default value is defined by a property that can be modified by system administrators responsible for setting up on-site deployments of the Cocoon Data Platform.
Number of character type categories that must appear in a password There are four categories of character types that can be used in a password:
  • Lower case letters
  • Uppercase letters
  • Numerals
  • Special characters
The value of this property determines how many of these four character type categories must be present in a password (whenever it is set) for this password to be valid. For instance:
  • Specifying 1 means that the characters in a password only need to derive from one of the categories above.
  • Specifying 2 means that the characters in a password must derive from at least two of these categories, etc.
Multi-factor authentication configuration link expiry time in days When multi-factor authentication (MFA) has been enabled on a Cocoon Data user account (by the user themselves through SafeShare for Web, Organisation Administration or SafeShare Administration, by a SafeShare administrator on any SafeShare administrator's account, or by an Organisation administrator for all members of their organisation) the user receives an email notification informing them about this. This email notification contains a time-limited configuration link, which leads to step-by-step instructions for the user to:
  1. configure their mobile device with an appropriate authenticator application (aka authenticator app), as well as
  2. configure the authenticator app with the Cocoon Data user account (thereby allowing the app to generate appropriate authentication codes).
Hence, the value of this property defines the validity of this configuration link.
Allow organisation users to enable Multi-factor Authentication Prevents any Cocoon Data user from being able to set MFA on their account (see the 'My Account' feature of the SafeShare for Web User's Guide for more information). This also prevents the ability for Organisation administrators to set MFA for all members of their organisation through Organisation Administration, as well as SafeShare administrators to set MFA on any SafeShare administrator's account through SafeShare Administration.
Password validity in days The number of days from the time when a Cocoon Data user last changes their password until this user is required to change their password again.
Note: For this SafeShare Administration property to take effect, the Password expiration enabled property (below) must be set to true.
Password expiration enabled Determines whether (i.e. true) or not (i.e. false) the Cocoon Data Platform enforces every Cocoon Data user (whose account is registered on the system) to change their password after their Password validity in days period has passed.
Note: When a Cocoon Data user changes their password, the Cocoon Data Platform checks to ensure that the user does not specify the same password utilised when last changing their password. However, the Cocoon Data Platform neither keeps nor acts upon an historical record of previously used passwords.

Analytics properties

The Analytics properties section allows the configuration of Google Analytics properties, which collect data on visitor traffic through SafeShare for Web, Organisation Administration and SafeShare Administration.

See Modifying a SafeShare Administration property value above for instructions on how to modify these properties' values.

Property Detailed description
The tracking code used for Google Analytics

The tracking code given to you when you sign up for Google Analytics.

Note: For Google Analytics to work with your Cocoon Data Platform instance, this value must be used in conjunction with The tracking domain used for Google Analytics (below).

The tracking domain used for Google Analytics

The domain of your Cocoon Data Platform's web server.

Note: For Google Analytics to work with your Cocoon Data Platform instance, this value must be used in conjunction with The tracking code used for Google Analytics (above).

Application links properties

The Application Links properties section allows the configuration (i.e. exposure) of links to SafeShare client applications, which are better designed for the platform on which the user is currently accessing SafeShare.

See Modifying a SafeShare Administration property value above for instructions on how to modify these properties' values.

Property Detailed description
Show smart banner on iOS devices linking to the native iOS client Sets a 'flag' on the Cocoon Data Platform which results in a smart banner appearing at the top of SafeShare for Web pages whenever it is accessed through Safari on iOS devices. This encourages users of iOS devices who have clicked a direct URL to an item from 'New items have been shared with you' email notification (which opens the item in SafeShare for Web) to access the item in SafeShare for iOS instead (by clicking the link in the smart banner).

User limits properties

The User Limits properties section allows the configuration of limits applied to Cocoon Data user accounts.

Maximum number of contacts allowed per user The maximum number of contacts that any given Cocoon Data user can add to their account through SafeShare for Web, as well as SafeShare for Windows or iOS.

File limits properties

The File Limits properties section allows the configuration of limits associated with files managed by SafeShare.

Maximum number of collaborators per file/folder

The maximum number of collaborators which are permitted on an item through the SafeShare for Web, as well as SafeShare for Windows or iOS.

Note: Be aware that this limit includes collaborators on an item which have been implicitly inherited from folders (containing this item) to which collaborators have been explicitly added.

Notifications properties

The Notifications properties section allows the configuration of the types and behavior of email notifications sent by the Cocoon Data Platform.

See Modifying a SafeShare Administration property value above for instructions on how to modify these properties' values.

Property Detailed description
Item shared notification frequency in minutes

The time interval defining the frequency with which email notifications for shared items (i.e. 'New items have been shared with you') are sent by the Cocoon Data Platform.

Note: If any given Cocoon Data user has multiple items shared with them during one of these time intervals, the user will receive a single email notification (at the end of the interval) listing all the items that were shared with them since the previous interval/notification they received.

User adoption notification reminder frequency in days

The number of days between each of a series of user adoption email notifications being sent out to new Cocoon Data users with the Originator role. See the User adoption notification reminder enabled property's description (below) for more information about these types of email notifications.

Notes: For this SafeShare Administration property to take effect, the User adoption notification reminder enabled property (below) must be set to true.

User adoption notification reminder enabled Determines whether (i.e. true) or not (i.e. false) the Cocoon Data Platform sends a series of user adoption email notifications to new Cocoon Data users with the Originator role. Each of these email notifications contain tips and information to encourage these new Cocoon Data users to use SafeShare applications (for example, how to share data using these applications).
Notes:
  • There are a series of four user adoption email notifications which are sent out at a frequency defined by the User adoption notification reminder frequency in days property (above). The user adoption email notification period is defined as the number of different user adoption email notifications (four) multiplied by the User adoption notification reminder frequency in days property value (15 days by default), which is a default of 60 days.
  • User adoption email notifications are only sent out to new Cocoon Data user accounts from the time their account is first created (either through SafeShare Administration or Organisation Administration). If a Cocoon Data user with an existing account is added to a new/different organisation (even with the Originator role), they do not receive any user adoption email notifications.
  • If an existing Cocoon Data user is granted the Originator role for the first time (within any organisation), they do not receive any user adoption email notifications unless their user account was granted the Originator role within the user adoption email notification period of their account's creation date. If so, such a user would receive user adoption email notifications for the trailing part of this period.
Registered user summary enabled Determines whether (i.e. true) or not (i.e. false) the Cocoon Data Platform sends a 'snapshot' summary of users (on the 1st of each month) to the email addresses specified in the Registered user summary email addresses (comma separated) property below. This summary is useful for billing purposes and consists of the following information for each organisation on the Cocoon Data Platform:
  • The total number of Cocoon Data user accounts (in the organisation).
  • The total number of Cocoon Data user accounts with the Originator, Collaborator and Ad hoc roles. Users with the Collaborator role are separated into the two Account Type categories Local and External.
  • The 'total quota', which is the amount of storage currently allocated to users with the Originator role in the organisation (i.e. the sum of all these users' quotas, based on the users' plans).
  • The total 'used quota', which is the total amount of storage currently utilised by Cocoon Data users in the organisation.
Notes:
  • For this SafeShare Administration property to take effect, the Registered user summary email addresses (comma separated) property (below) must contain at least one email address.
  • By default, this user summary is configured to be sent on the 1st of each month. The frequency with which this email is sent can be changed through a configuration file property (by the systems administrator/s who set up your on-site deployment of the Cocoon Data Platform instance).
Registered user summary email addresses (comma separated)

One or more email addresses to which the user summary (activated through the Registered user summary enabled property above) is sent by the Cocoon Data Platform. Separate multiple email addresses using a comma only.

Notes:

  • For this SafeShare Administration property to take effect, the Registered user summary enabled property (above) must be set to true.
  • Any email address specified in this property does not need to correspond to a registered Cocoon Data user account on the Cocoon Data Platform.

System details properties

The System Details section allows the configuration of text and URLs, which are used to customise:

  • the application and company names + support and help URLs for:
    • SafeShare for Web (+ SafeShare Administration and Organisation Administration) and
    • Cocoon Data Notification email messages,
    as well as,
  • the copyright notice appearing at the base of Cocoon Data Notification email messages

See Modifying a SafeShare Administration property value above for instructions on how to modify these properties' values.

Notes:

  • Please be aware that any modifications to any of these properties apply to all organisations configured on the Cocoon Data Platform.
  • For more information about customising the appearance of SafeShare, refer to Theming SafeShare's web-based interfaces in the Appendix of this guide.
Property Detailed description
Admin Email An email address, typically for an Organisation administrator, which is used as the 'fallback' contact email address for an organisation whose Organisation Admin Email property is not defined through Organisation Administration - see Configuring Organisation Administration properties for details.
In such circumstances, this email address would be used by such an organisation:
  • in Cocoon Data Notification email messages and
  • for the Need help? ... link on the Authentication code entry page for multi-factor authentication (MFA) whenever a Cocoon Data user with MFA enabled on their account signs in through the Cocoon Data Sign-in page.
If a Cocoon Data user cannot successfully sign in (typically due to the user losing the ability to generate authentication codes for their 2nd authentication factor), the user can click this Need help? ... link to begin emailing their Organisation administrator a request to re-configure MFA for their user account.
See Administering users within an organisation in the Organisation Administration section of this guide for more information.
Notes:
SafeShare Administration Help URL

The URL of the help documentation for SafeShare Administration, which is accessible from the Help option/link available from the email address drop-down menu at the top-right of SafeShare Administration (and from the footer).

Notes:

  • The default value of this property is the SafeShare Administrator's Guide (i.e. this guide) on the Cocoon Data documentation web site.
  • Clearing this value hides these Help options/links from the SafeShare Administration interface.
Android Phone Authenticator URL

The URL of the authenticator app for Android-based devices, which is accessible from the Install link in Step 1 of the instructions for a Cocoon Data user to configure a mobile device for MFA once MFA has been enabled or re-configured on this user's account * .

Note: The default value of this property is the Google Authenticator application for Android devices page on the Google play web site.

Application Name

The application name which appears to the right of the header logo of SafeShare for Web as well as throughout Cocoon Data Notification email messages.

Note: The default value of this property is 'SafeShare'.

Company Name

The company/organisation name, which is used as the 'fallback' company name for an organisation whose Company Name property is not defined through Organisation Administration - see Configuring Organisation Administration properties for details.
In such circumstances, this company name value would appear throughout this organisation's Cocoon Data Notification email messages.
This company name value would also appear in Cocoon Data Notification email messages sent out as a result of activities conducted through SafeShare Administration.

Note: The default value of this property is 'Cocoon Data'.

Email Notification Copyright Notice

The copyright notice which appears at the base of Cocoon Data Notification email messages.

Note: The default value of this property is '<year> Cocoon Data.'.

iPhone Authenticator URL

The URL of the authenticator application (app) for iOS-based devices, which is accessible from the Install link in Step 1 of the instructions for a Cocoon Data user to configure a mobile device for MFA once MFA has been enabled or re-configured on this user's account * .

Note: The default value of this property is the Google Authenticator application for iOS page on the iTunes web site.

Legal URL

The URL of the company's/organisation's legal page, which is used as the 'fallback' legal URL for an organisation whose Legal URL property is not defined through Organisation Administration - see Configuring Organisation Administration properties for details.
In such circumstances, this URL would be accessible from the organisation's Legal link in the footer of SafeShare for Web and Organisation Administration.
This URL is also accessible from the Legal link in the footer of SafeShare Administration.

Notes:

  • The default value of this property is the Cocoon Data End User License Agreement.
  • Clearing this value hides this Legal link in the footer of SafeShare Administration, as well as from the SafeShare for Web and Organisation Administration interfaces (for a given organisation) in scenarios where this property is not defined/empty in Organisation Administration.
Organisation Administration Help URL

The URL of the help documentation for Organisation Administration, which is used as the 'fallback' help URL for an organisation whose Organisation Administration Help URL property is not defined through Organisation Administration - see Configuring Organisation Administration properties for details.
In such circumstances, this URL is accessible from the organisation's Help option/link available from the email address drop-down menu at the top-right of Organisation Administration (and from the footer).

Notes:

  • The default value of this property is the Organisation Administrator's Guide on the Cocoon Data documentation web site.
  • Clearing this value hides these Help options/links from the Organisation Administration interface (for a given organisation) in scenarios where this property is not defined through Organisation Administration.
Days to action organisation removal

The countdown (in days) from which a second SafeShare administrator should approve the removal of an organisation - see Removing an organisation for details. This countdown appears in the Removal Status column on the Organisations page (presented to all SafeShare administrators) and indicates Action in X days, where X is a daily countdown whose value is initially this property's value minus one.

Notes:

  • For all organisations with removal requests, when only one day of the countdown remains (or if this property's value is set to 1), then the Removal Status column for these organisations indicates either Pending (if you initiated the removal request) or Awaiting approval (if you can approve the removal request - i.e. another SafeShare administrator initiated the removal request).
  • Clearing this property's value hides the Send notification to contact person option on the Request to remove organisation dialog box (when a SafeShare administrator initiates the removal of an organisation). Additionally, for all organisations with removal requests, the Removal Status column indicates Pending (if you initiated the removal request) or Awaiting approval highlighted in red (if you can approve the removal request - i.e. another SafeShare administrator initiated the removal request).
The URL of the privacy statement

An additional (custom) URL for the company's/organisation's privacy statement page, which is used as the 'fallback' privacy statement URL for an organisation whose URL of the privacy statement property is not defined through Organisation Administration - see Configuring Organisation Administration properties for details.
In such circumstances, this URL would be accessible from the organisation's Privacy:

  • link in the footer of SafeShare for Web and Organisation Administration,
  • options in the taskbar notification area pop-up menu and application pane of SafeShare for Windows and
  • link in the sign-in dialog box and Help > Privacy option from the SafeShare menu bar of SafeShare for OS X.

This URL is also accessible from the Privacy link in the footer of SafeShare Administration.

Note: The default value of this property is empty, which results in this Privacy link in the footer of SafeShare Administration not being available, including the SafeShare for Web and Organisation Administration interfaces (for a given organisation) in scenarios where this property is also not defined/empty in Organisation Administration.

Support URL

The URL of the company's/organisation's support page, which is used as the 'fallback' support URL for an organisation whose Support URL property is not defined through Organisation Administration - see Configuring Organisation Administration properties for details).
In such circumstances, this URL would be accessible from the organisation's Support link in the footer of SafeShare for Web and Organisation Administration as well as from Cocoon Data Notification email messages.
This URL is also accessible from the Support link in the footer of SafeShare Administration.

Notes:

  • The default value of this property is the Support page on the Cocoon Data web site.
  • Clearing this value hides this Support link in the footer of SafeShare Administration, as well as from the SafeShare for Web and Organisation Administration interfaces (for a given organisation) in scenarios where this property is not defined/empty in Organisation Administration.
Version URL

An additional (custom) URL, which is accessible from the product version number link in the footer of SafeShare for Web, SafeShare Administration and Organisation Administration.

Note:

  • The default value of this property is the Cocoon Data Product Release Notes page on the Cocoon Data Support web site.
  • Clearing this value removes this link from the product version number in the footer of SafeShare Administration, as well as from the SafeShare for Web and Organisation Administration interfaces (for a given organisation) in scenarios where this property is not defined/empty in Organisation Administration.
Web Application Help URL

The URL of the help documentation for the Cocoon Data SafeShare for Web application, which is used as the 'fallback' help URL for an organisation whose Web Application Help URL property is not defined through Organisation Administration - see Configuring Organisation Administration properties for details.
In such circumstances, this URL is accessible from the organisation's Help option/link available from the user's email address drop-down menu at the top-right of SafeShare for Web (and from the footer).

Notes:

  • The default value of this property is the SafeShare for Web User's Guide on the Cocoon Data documentation web site.
  • Clearing this value hides these Help options/links from the SafeShare for Web and My Account interfaces (for a given organisation) in scenarios where this property is not defined/empty in Organisation Administration.
Windows Phone Authenticator URL

The URL of the authenticator app for Windows mobile-based devices, which is accessible from the Install link in Step 1 of the instructions for a Cocoon Data user to configure a mobile device for MFA once MFA has been enabled or re-configured on this user's account * .

Note: The default value of this property is the Authenticator application for Windows mobile devices page on the Microsoft web site.

* Multi-factor authentication can be: