We have improved our support for file collaboration:
(1) Users can turn on the file versioning feature. For new users, "file versioning" is automatically enabled. For existing users, it can be turned on from the "Account Options" page. With "file versioning" enabled, if a file is overwritten, the previous versions will be kept. Users can easily roll back to an older version.
(2) If two persons are editing the same file at the same time using DriveHQ FileManager or DriveHQ.com website, then only the first person can save the file. If the second person tries to save the file, it will report an error saying "The file has been changed on server".
We recommend file locking using the following method: (it is more flexible than the traditional file locking method).
The traditional file locking method locks a file when one person is editing the file. Other people cannot edit the file. However, the first person might have finished editing the file but left the file open. There is no easy way to find out who locked the file. This is very inconvenient.
A better file locking solultion is to setup a rule:
If a team of people need to work on the same file "project.doc", then each person must manually "lock" the file before he starts editing the file. When finished, he must "unlock" the file.
To lock a file, a user (e.g. John) just need to rename the file. For example, rename "project.doc" to "Project-John.doc".
This way, other users know that the file is being used by John. After he finishes editing the file, he shall "unlock" the file.
Users can also open the file without locking it. It is much more convenient.