Related Links

Related Links on Local Servers
If your related links that are connected to your local network suddenly stop working, this could be due to updates to Windows or to Internet Explorer. All web browsers are removing or already have removed the ability to open local or network-shared files by using a web link. Internet Explorer is one of the last browsers to have supported that feature for backwards compatibility, but it will eventually drop support for links to local files altogether. So, even if you can find a way to open local files through IE by turning off some security setting now, this really should be seen as a wake-up call to move those files to a more web-friendly location.

The web-friendly options for file storage include: a local web server (possibly using SharePoint or another file management system), a local server running a shared Web Folder, or a hosted file storage solution like Dropbox, box.net, Amazon S3, Google Docs, etc. Many of the online file storage companies are former SAS70 and now SSAE 16 compliant systems and use the latest AES encryption, so they are in most cases just as secure as local file storage.

Our experience with IT departments trying to set up local web-friendly file storage has led us to highly recommend the online storage options. It *is* possible to use any of those online options with Connections Online today, but we have plans to simplify the integration in the future.

While we do not recommend local files any longer, you can still use Internet Explorer to use local file links, but you will have to lower the security settings to do so:

1. In Internet Options, open the Security tab
2. Select the Trusted Sites zone
3. Press the Sites button to open the list of trusted sites
4. If https://my.connectionsonline.net is not listed, add it here
5. Close the site list and return to the Security tab in Internet Options
6. Set the security level to Low
7. The checkbox for Enable Protected Mode should not be checked

Once this is set, Internet Explorer should open local files, at least for now.