Using My Content

Using My Content

New : Watch a closed captioned movie that shows you how to use my content

My Content is a personal, 50 megabyte hard drive that you can access from any internet-connected computer.  You can use My Content to ferry documents between computers, store backup copies of your papers and presentations before you leave for a conference, share files with colleagues here at CSULB or around the world, and much more.  My Content is available to all CSULB faculty and staff.

To access My Content,

  1. Login to BeachBoard. https://beachboard.csulb.edu/
  2. Click the My Content tab

Step One: Create a public and private folder in My Content

The first time you use My Content, you need to create two folders into which you will put your files: one folder named public and one named private.

  1. Login to BeachBoard. https://beachboard.csulb.edu/
  2. Click the My Content tab
  3. Click the Folder icon.
  4. In the Folder Name box key in the word public.
  5. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the Submit button.  This creates a public folder in My Content.

Repeat these steps to create a private folder as well.

Step Two: Put Files into My Content

Now that you have created both a public and a private folder, you need to upload files from your computer to those folders.  The public folder is for files you are willing to share with others, and the private folder is for files you don’t want to share with anyone.

To upload a file to your public folder in My Content,

  1. Login to BeachBoard. https://beachboard.csulb.edu/
  2. Click the My Content tab.
  3. Click the public folder (Public Folder image) [or one of the two folders you created in step one.]
  4. Click the Item button.
  5. Under File Information, click the Browse button to choose the file on your computer you wish to upload.  This is just like attaching a file to an email message.
  6. Once you have attached the file you want to upload, scroll to the bottom of the page and click the Submit button.  BeachBoard will upload the file from your computer to BeachBoard.  You may need to click BeachBoard’s [not Internet Explorer’s] Refresh button for your file to show up.

Repeat these steps to add any additional files you want to put into your public or private folders.

Step Three: Share your public folder with others

To share the contents of your public folder with others,

  1. Login to BeachBoard. https://beachboard.csulb.edu/
  2. Click the My Content tab
  3. To the right of your public folder—and make sure it is to the right of your public folder and NOT your private folder—click the Permissions "hand" (Permission Hand image) icon.
  4. You can choose to share the contents of your public folder with:
    • Certain BeachBoard users [by clicking on the Add Users button];
    • Students and faculty in particular BeachBoard Courses or Organizations [by choosing Course User List or Organization User List in the pull-down menu];
    • Groups in particular BeachBoard Courses or Organizations [by choosing Course Group User List or Organization Group User List in the pull-down menu];
    • All CSULB students, faculty, and/or staff [by choosing Institution User Role List in the pull-down menu];
    • Every internet user in the world with a web browser [by choosing Public in the pull-down list]; or
    • All BeachBoard users [by choosing All System Accounts in the pull-down list.]
  5. In this case, let’s just share your public folder with everyone on the internet.  In the pull-down list choose Public and then click the Go button.
  6. Leave the permissions unchanged—only the Read checkbox should be checked.  [You do NOT want to give the public at large the ability to write files to, remove, or manage the files in your public folder.]
  7. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the Submit button.

To find the publicly-accessible URL [or "web page address"] of your public folder,

  1. Login to BeachBoard. https://beachboard.csulb.edu/
  2. Click the My Content tab.
  3. To the right of your public folder, click the Modify link.
  4. Then, click the Properties link.
  5. Do not make any changes to this page.  Just copy the Location URL and share it with anyone you want to be able to access your public folder.