Using Actionstep with Dropbox

In this article:

• Overview 
• Configuring Dropbox with Your Actionstep Account 
• Using Actionstep's Dropbox Integration Once Set Up 
• Copying/Moving Documents Between Drives 
• Understanding How the Integration Works 

Actionstep offers an integration with Dropbox that allows you to see documents related to your matter that are stored in Dropbox from within Actionstep. 

This article explains how the integration works and how you can set up this integration in Actionstep. 

Overview 

Actionstep keeps its own internal drives for storing and managing your documents that relate to your matter. These are: 

• Matter Documents: the main repository for documents on your matter 
• Email attachments: Attachments to messages saved to each matter 
• Documents Trash: A temporary area for any deleted documents. You can recover documents from trash or delete them permanently

These are accessed from the Documents tab of the matter. 

You can also integrate with an external document management system. Dropbox is one of these. This integration makes a nominated folder in Dropbox available to be accessed by each matter in Actionstep. 

Configuring Dropbox with Your Actionstep Account 

Your access to Dropbox is as an individual. By integrating your account with Actionstep, you are integrating your personal access to Dropbox, not necessarily your company account. This also means that all Actionstep users at your firm can access the Dropbox documents saved to the matter folders. (Your other non-matter-related documents should remain private.)

This also might mean that when viewing the Dropbox integration in Actionstep, your name might appear for the drive. Creating a company account for your Dropbox account can be a workaround for this. 

You can assign multiple Dropbox accounts to one Actionstep account. 

To set up the configuration:

1. In Actionstep, go to Admin > Integrations. The Integrations page appears.
2. In the Dropbox section, click Connect with Dropbox. 
3. When prompted, sign in to your Dropbox account and accept that Actionstep will integrate with Dropbox. Be careful to select the correct Dropbox account if you have access to more than one. 

Using Actionstep's Dropbox Integration Once Set Up 

Once you have set up the Dropbox integration, an icon appears on the left side of the Documents page for your matter. 

Click this icon to view all the documents that are saved to this matter in your Dropbox.  

Copying/Moving Documents Between Drives 

You can copy or move one or more documents between drives.

To do this:

1. In Actionstep, view the matter with the document you need to move. (See Editing a Matter for help.)
2. Click the Documents menu icon. The Documents page appears.
3. Select the documents you want move or copy.
4. Do one of the following: 
   • Click the More menu and choose Copy or Move.
     
   • Right-click on the file and choose Copy or Move from the shortcut menu that appears.

Understanding How the Integration Works 

The following explains at a high level about the Dropbox integration.

Where the Documents Are Stored 

Actionstep's integration with Dropbox allows you to access documents stored on Dropbox from your matter. It does not copy the document stored on Dropbox to Actionstep, only allow you to see those documents and open them. 

How Documents Are Accessed in Dropbox 

When you connect to Dropbox, Actionstep creates a set of folders in Dropbox that controls what each matter can access in Dropbox. 

The first folder is called Actionstep. It is placed in your root directory in Dropbox. 

Under the Actionstep folder, you'll see a folder named after your Actionstep organization key. If you have access to more than one Actionstep account, you might see more than one folder here. 

In the organization, the key folder is called Actions which has subfolders for each matter. The folders are named based on the matter number. 

EXAMPLE: 
If your organization key is "goodlawyers" and you want to see documents in matter ID 5648, the folder structure on the external drive will be:

Actionstep
        → goodlawyers
                  → Actions
                          → 5648

Once connected to your Actionstep system, the folders may be moved or renamed by users in Dropbox. While the connection should be maintained in most scenarios, your exact configuration may not match the diagram above.

Any folders you create in the matter folder (and the documents stored within that folder) will be accessible through Actionstep. 

If your external drive is already organized under this structure, Actionstep will connect the existing folders to the associated matter instead of creating new ones.