Files and uploads

A file is a spreadsheet you give Gridline. Upload it once and your company can find it, share it, check it, keep its versions and talk about it. This guide shows how to upload, find, download and delete files.

What you can upload

Files can be up to 25 MB. An empty file is refused, and so is anything that is not a spreadsheet.

Upload a file

1. 1

   Open Files

   Choose Files in the sidebar. At the top of the page is a dashed box that says Drop spreadsheets here.

2. 2

   Decide who can see it

   Next to Choose files is a menu called Who can see them. Whole company is the default. Pick Only me and admins if the file is private; you can share it with particular colleagues afterwards (see Sharing and access).

3. 3

   Add the files

   Drag one or more files onto the box, or choose Choose files and pick them. You can send several at once.

4. 4

   Watch it arrive

   Each file shows its progress, then appears at the top of the list. Its report is built in the background, usually in a few seconds, and the stamp on its row changes by itself when it is ready: no need to reload.

If a file cannot be accepted, the reason is shown under the box in plain words, for example that only CSV, XLS and XLSX files can be uploaded, or that the file is over 25 MB. Nothing is stored and nothing counts against your plan.

When you are over your quota

Each plan includes a number of files per billing period. Past it, what happens depends on the plan:

• Free and Basic stop accepting uploads. The message names your plan, how many you have uploaded, and the date the allowance resets, so you know your options.
• Premium keeps accepting files and charges for each extra one. The upload still succeeds; the extra file is simply billed.

A refused or failed upload uses none of your allowance. You are warned at 80% and 100% before it matters: see Notifications and alerts.

Find a file

Files lists every file you are allowed to see, each one once, as its newest version, with the newest upload first. Each row shows the file's name, its type and version, a stamp for its report, its size, who uploaded it and when.

Above the list are filters. Each narrows the list at once:

Long lists load in pages. Choose Load more at the bottom for the next page.

Open a file

Choose any row. The file's page has everything about it in four tabs: Report, Preview, Versions and Comments. Above them are the actions: Download, Upload new version, and, for its uploader and admins, Sharing and Delete.

A file you are not allowed to see does not show up in the list, and its address shows a plain not found page. That is deliberate: see Sharing and access.

Download a file

1. 1

   Open the file

   Choose its row in Files.

2. 2

   Choose Download

   Your browser starts downloading the original file, exactly as you uploaded it.

Gridline never passes your file through its own pages. It checks that you may see it, then gives your browser a private link that works for 5 minutes. If a download link has expired, choose Download again.

Change who can see a file

Only the person who uploaded a file, and admins, can change who sees it. Open the file and choose Sharing. How it works is in Sharing and access.

Delete a file

1. 1

   Open the file

   Only its uploader and admins see the Delete button.

2. 2

   Choose Delete

   A box asks you to confirm and tells you what will happen.

3. 3

   Confirm

   Choose Delete version. You are taken back to Files.

Two things to know:

• Deleting does not give the upload back to your allowance: the upload happened.
• Deleting removes one version. If it was the newest, the version before it becomes the newest again. Version numbers are never reused.

When something goes wrong

From code

Everything on this page can be done over HTTP too: upload, list, download, share and delete. See Files, versions and reports.