Cleanse

Day Seventeen: Control Your Collaborations

A hand holding a quill pen as if to write on a page.
Let's work on documents together in someone else's cloud! (Credit: WiscOnline)

Table of Contents

Cooperation makes it happen (dig it!)

If you're like millions of other people in the world, you probably use some kind of cloud storage for your documents and files. And again, like millions of others, you not only use these cloud storage services for holding on to things, but to collaborate on shared projects, too.

Collaborative document editing took a long time to study and figure out: at one of the conferences I go to as an academic, people have been studying this since the 1990s! Now this lowly, basic task is now one of the defining features of work in the twenty-first century. Not only does everyone have files that they want to keep, they also have files they are working on with other people, that they want to store or keep active for continuing collaboration.

Today, we're going to tackle these two sides of the same cloud--er, coin. One, is to take back and store all the old documents and materials you've been sitting on forever, and bring that home.

Like your email, we are going to dig into your Google Drive, your Dropbox folder, whatever, and start downloading as much as we can. You will save it all on your trusty little external drive that you picked up on Day One. Now you own it, and it isn't going anywhere.

Second, you may want access to some of those files because you are collaborating with people. You may need them for work. How to move forward?

There is no one-sized fits all solution here, but if you balkanize and Render to Caesar accordingly, you will find the right solution for you in a combination of tools and systems. Here are a few ground rules for starting out:

1. Anything related to "work" or your employment, stays in one spot. You will Render To Caesar that stuff away from your personal life. Perhaps that's a Microsoft OneDrive or a Google drive provided by your employer. The only thing on those servers (which are, ultimately, someone else's computers) should be the materials that belong to your workplace. Period.

2. Anything you're currently working on, leave the collaboration as is. When it wraps up or you move onto the next report or spreadsheet or document, you can switch collaborative tracks. We know from years of research that once a collaboration gets going, it's very hard to integrate new tools.

3. You will not put all your eggs in one basket. You will likely use different tools for different things, and that is okay. Only you will know the rationale behind which tools you use, and for which purposes. Just like only you will have the passwords!

4. The next few collaborative projects you start up, you will attempt to use non-Googly tools to do so. Gently suggest to your partners or friends that you are trying to reduce your reliance upon the tech giants and offer a different tool or suite of tools for collaboration. This way you'll transition gently over to a different collaborative toolkit.

Below are instructions for downloading and capturing everything on your online drives, so you own your data. Data sovereignty for the win!

Then, I will go into some options for cloud storage and access. Have a look at these tools in combination with your Data Roadmap and see what combination will work for you.  It's okay to try things out (they should come with a free trial) until you find what you like. 

Finally, I'll lay out some alternative collaborative editing suites, because we so rarely write alone anymore! Let's dig in!

Take It Back

First, we're going to set off a download of your cloud-based materials and bring them back home to you. At bare minumum, you will retrieve materials you are no longer working on or that are at least five years old or older. These tiles are going into storage --your storage. Your external drive, to be clear.

You want to do this because chances are, you have a whole mix of materials in one place (everyone does!). If that gets hacked or someone else gets access, too bad for you. So you're looking to balkanize and render to Caesar that stuff.

You also want to do this because many cloud providers -- Google and Microsoft for sure-- can use your materials for their own purposes, including to train their AI. If they have all your documents, those documents are theirs.

I recommend you start by downloading everything you possibly can. Here are some instructions for doing so. 

Remember that "downloading" is different from "syncing." Many of these systems will save a copy of whatever you're working on, on your local computer, and keep that synced with the cloud copy. If you delete from the Cloud, you delete it on your computer too. So you want to actually download these materials separately from syncing. When you do so, make sure to select your external hard drive as the place to save your documents (instead of just to the Downloads folder on your computer):

I suggest you get this started as soon as you can so you can let it run in the background while we move on to other services.

Collaborative Clouds

The whole reason to have these online services, however, is because you want to keep working on them, in active storage, and in association with other people. I therefore suggest you render-to-Caesar some of those files out to some other service for some other purpose.

For instance, say you have a Google Files full of work materials, personal documents, and volunteer service stuff, as well as family stuff and your side-hustle gig. First things first: you should take everything down that is greater than five years old (or less) and move that into deep storage on your personal drive, as I mention above. But you likely want to move the files that are active into other cloud solutions as well to keep them alive.

Remember the whole purpose of Render to Caesar and Data Balkanization is this isn't an all or nothing effort!  The trick is, you don't need to keep them all in one place. You don't have to totally leave a Big Tech platform, you just want to make sure you don't give them everything. So the key here is to know which other options you'll need for which purposes.

Fortunately, you made a Data Roadmap! You already know which files you have where, and for which purposes. If you're not entirely sure where those files should go, read on for some options. This way you can sign up for a few other services, and as you download your files you can place them in their new storage-and-collaboration spots right away.

Here are examples I use frequently. You might also mix-and-match your way to the right data solutions for you:

  • Dropbox. This is the industry leader in personal cloud storage. Your files sync directly to your computer, and you can choose which stay on the cloud server and which you sync locally. There are tiers of plans you pay for at different rates for different amounts of storage. You can share files and folders for editing with other people and manage permissions in terms of what they can and can't see, or edit.  Dropbox also offers Dropbox Paper, which is a light collaborative editor. 
  • Box is very, very similar to Dropbox and has all the same functionality--but it isn't Dropbox. This means you can keep all your files for one kind of activity on Dropbox, and then get a Box to keep your files for another kind of activity on instead. Box also has some cool collaborative workflows and whiteboarding products.
  • ResilioSync. This is great for super private materials that you just don't want to store in one place.  It looks and works a lot like Dropbox on the surface: you have an account and it syncs between devices, you can share files, and you can see files in your own Finder or Windows as if they're just on your machine. But behind the scenes, it's a different story. Instead of storing your files in one place, Resilio splits them up into tiny pieces and spreads them all over various servers. The system puts them back together again for you to view and interact with as if they're one file. It's like balkanizing your files, individually.
  • NextCloud. This is a very powerful, run-it-yourself storage and collaborative file management system. You can really do everything in Nextcloud (include keeping contacts, photos, calendars, etc). Most power users download and install it themselves on their own servers, but if you're not feeling up to that challenge these providers will allow you to have your own NextCloud on their servers.  Many of these are hosted in Europe so you benefit from GDPR data regulations. YMMV, so do your homework.

So Happy, Together

People are always wondering what I use to collaborate on live documents since I don't use Google. There are so many options! An increasing number of collaborative editing systems are coming online. They are not as powerful as Google docs but they are getting stronger and better every day.  Some feature integrations with your favorite reference manager or cloud storage solution too. Your mileage will vary with each one, so do your research. But you do have choice.

Beyond shared folders, here are some services I use regularly as replacements for online "office" style, collaborative real time editing tools--give them a try!

  • Cryptpad, based in France, allows you to share and collaborate on documents like word processor, spreadsheet, presentation, and other files. Encrypted and great free plans too!
  • Dropbox Paper allows you to collaboratively write documents across Dropbox contacts and editors.
  • OnlyOffice is built on an open source foundation and allows you to collaboratively write and store documents, spreadsheets, and presentations.
  • ZohoWriter is a collaborative writing tool built into the Zoho suite of apps, including ZohoSheet which replaces Google Sheets easily.
  • NextCloud has built in collaborative editing too.
  • Miro lets you do visual virtual whiteboarding and mind-mapping together
  • AirTable is a well-known database, forms, and sheets competitor to Google.
  • Etherpads are open source, lightweight co-writing text files and can be super fun for quick jottings and note-taking. You can host your own Etherpad or check this link to see who makes their etherpad instances available for others to use. 
  • Overleaf is a collaborative LaTEX editor for those in the sciences. Good user interface and a free pricing plan.
  • Sandstorm gives you the ability to run your own server with plug-and-play applications, including Etherpad, collaborative document editing, document storage, Kanban boards, and more.

I could go on, but hopefully you get the picture---you have many choices!

For instance, I once ran a massive edited volume project with a co-author, six or maybe it was eight other co-editors, and dozens of contributors. I started this project just after leaving Google, in early 2012. My co-author was so gracious as we took notes and brainstormed on Etherpads, spun up a shared Zoho account and used its early-stage document managers, editors and email, then later switched to a shared Dropbox folder for editing papers that came in various phases. It is possible!

Keep your data where you can see it!

By the end of the day today, you should have a copy of all your files (at least 5 years and older) on a local, physical, hard drive that you keep.

You should have anything that is still active or in use, on a suite of cloud systems that spread your data traces out in a way that makes sense to you.

You should have an idea of other collaborative tools you can try out, and you should keep your ear to the ground for new ones that pop up. I promise I'll keep you posted, too!

Finally, an important note. You're not always in control of your collaborations. You don't always call the shots as to which system everyone has to be on. That is a fact of life, and it is okay. That's why I offer these solutions under a more expansive data philosophy. It's okay to keep Google Drive going if you have to for work. Just keep it for work only!

For the things you can control, you can spread your traces. If you're working collaboratively with a spouse, or a non-profit, or a co-author, perhaps you can shift the needle a little by suggesting something new. You do have options, and more of them than you think.

Plus, it's always a good idea to know where your data is.