In this quick start, we show you how to connect your files, configure a link and see analytics on that link all within Salesforce. If you haven't already, follow this  Installation guide to set up the CloudFiles app from the Salesforce AppExchange. Once you have CloudFiles installed in your Salesforce objects, refer to the 5 steps below.

You can drag and drop the folder widget onto any standard or custom Salesforce object. Simply go to the 'Edit Page' from the object page, add a new tab to your object and drag and drop the widget -

You can check more details on how the CloudFiles LWC works in our article on CloudFiles Lightning Web Components for Salesforce.

Click on the Link file / folder button in the LWC. This opens a dialog box with all your libraries showing. You can connect anyone with a one-click, one-time process. Once you click the connect button as shown below, standard Google / Microsoft, Box, Dropbox login will follow. Once connected, your files will instantly start showing up.

If you do not wish to use any of these providers, simply use the CloudFiles Library. This lets you freely upload files and keep them in a secure Amazon AWS S3, outside of Salesforce. You can check more information about this in our FAQ on How are Cloud Drive permissions handled by the CloudFiles.

From the content library dialog above, you can select any folder and 'attach' it to the Salesforce record. Attaching a folder to the Salesforce record means creating an association between the record and external folder such that you can access its contents from the Salesforce record.

Once you have the folder attached, you can upload files or see the the currently uplaoded files in it right in the widget. On the right side, a quick action dropdown will appear using which you can create a sharing link. This is shown in the image in the section below.

If you haven't already done so, check out our article on Connect external folder to a record which talks about this in detail.

Once the file / folder has been attached, you can use the options dropdown on the right side of the tile in the widget. Click on the attachment dropdown and choose the Share option. This is shown in the graphic below.

You can set a number of security & analytics settings on this link. You can further change these settings anytime right from the Salesforce object. The security settings open up when you click on the Share button above. You can also update these settings by clicking the 'Edit Link Settings' option from the same dropdown as shown above. This option appears after you have created a sharing link.

To checkout how your file looks in the CloudFiles viewer, copy the link from the dialog above, and paste it in a browser window. This will open the file as a webpage, right there in the browser.

You can also white-label the viewer by using your own custom logo & domain.

You can view your file analytics right there from the Salesforce object. You can analyze a number of details such as opens, time spent, page wise analytics etc... You can also drill down into individual users, devices & sessions in case the link has been accessed multiple times. Analytics can be accessed by using the 'View analytics' button in the same dropdown. This option appears after you have created a sharing link. 

You can further see your overall analytics through the CloudFiles Custom Object as shown below. This object can also be used to build reports or in flows for automations based on content engagement.

You can also do any of the things above through CloudFiles flow builder triggers or actions provided. These customizations can further streamline your processes. We provide a Create link action that can automatically create a sharing link and an Update Link Settings action that can be used to add security settings on a link.

For more information on the various flow actions availabel in CloudFiles, check our articles on Flow Actions.