Introduction to Folderize

Folderize provides a traditional file-system style document repository, either as a supplement to, or replacement for, Salesforce Files and Attachments.  It offers a hierarchical structure helpful for organizing many types of document collections.

Folderize has two modes of deployment:

  • As a separate tab, holding an entire document collection. We refer to this as the main page or full view.  This was the original Folderize functionality, introduced in 2014.
  • Object-record view.  This provides a folder structure to hold documents related to accounts, opportunities, or other Salesforce “objects”. It was introduced in 2018.

Folderize documents are stored in Salesforce.  No external resource or integration is used.  The app is built with Salesforce tools and runs entirely in the Salesforce cloud.

For some additional overview description and screen shots, see the Folderize AppExchange Page.

Technical Background

If you will be a Folderize administrator, it is worth understanding how Folderize relates to other document facilities in Salesforce.

Salesforce Classic had (or still has) separate features that came online at different times, and they comprised several underlying databases. In order of introduction date, they are:

  • Documents
  • Attachments
  • CRM Content
  • Libraries
  • Files

The Documents tab has the most limited capabilities and it does not share files with other tabs or with attachments. The other tabs and attachments can share files.

In Lightning, Libraries became a feature under the Files tab and CRM Content was subsumed under the search feature.

Although each of these tabs has its own user interface and features, all now store documents in the same underlying database — technically the objects ContentDocument and ContentVersion, which are hidden from users.

The Files tab evolved to become a user’s window into the entire ContentDocument-ContentVersion database. So “Files” as an object has two meanings in Salesforce:

  • Files is a tab for storing documents.
  • Files is the repository for documents stored in any tab or attached to any record.

Finally, Folderize stores its documents in the same ContentDocument-ContentVersion database. This is why you can see Folderize documents (without their folders) in the Files tab. If you don’t want users to see this duplicate view of your documents, simply hide the Files tab, or remove the Files section from the object layout where you use Folderize.

Your org’s file storage space limit applies to everything in that database together, regardless of which apps or tabs they appear in, which thus includes Folderize.

With the understanding above, key technical points about the Folderize app are:

  • It consists, in effect, of custom metadata defining a folder hierarchy and each document’s position in that.
  • It stores the documents themselves in the above-mentioned database, referencing them by id.
  • It has a distinct user interface for navigating and managing its folders and documents.
  • It can share files with other tabs mentioned above and with attachments.
  • The number of folders is unlimited, and subfolder depth is unlimited.
  • Folders you may find in other parts of Salesforce, such as in the Reports tab, are unrelated.

Also of importance to some customers: Folderize permissions are managed via standard Salesforce features that most admins already know how to use:

  • Sharing settings to define file access.
  • Sharing rules to define access to folders.
  • Permission sets to define app privileges.

Aside About Terminology

  • In Folderize and in Content/Files/Libraries, documents may be called files or vice-versa.  They are the same.
  • In Salesforce you will see references to “My Private Files” and “My Private Library”.  These are the same.
  • Salesforce refers to “sharing” a document with a library, or “publishing” it to a library.  These are the same.
  • The Files object was originally called Chatter Files.  We still call it that at some points in this app and documentation.
  • In Classic a Library is effectively a subset of Content, and the two terms may be used interchangeably.  The Classic Content tab shows all files in your Libraries.

Additional Background For Salesforce Classic Customers

If you are just beginning to use Content or Libraries in Classic, you may want to review Publish Files to Libraries, Content Overview and View and Edit Libraries.  If you are just beginning to use Chatter Files, see Using Salesforce Files.