One of the more popular customization requests we receive is to enable the "file://" protocol in Clearspace hyperlinks, thereby allowing users to access files directly from the file server on which they are stored. This document will explain how you can set up Clearspace to support this functionality.

** Quick Disclaimer **

The reason the file protocol is NOT enabled by default is because it poses some well-known security risks. Most major browsers (Firefox, Chrome, Safari) do not enable the links at all, though Internet Explorer still does. If you are going to enable the file protocol in your Clearspace instance, be sure you fully understand the risks involved. This should not be enabled on an externally facing site.

There are three simple changes you'll need to make:

1) Add "file://" to the "Allowed URL Schemes" field in the URL Filter (Admin Console > Spaces > Settings > Filters and Macros).

2) Similarly, add "file://" to the "Allowed src/href Schemes" field on the HTML Filter.

3) Finally, add the template file /template/global/content-picker.ftl to your global theme, and find the following function:

function isUrl(s) {
            var regexp = /(ftp|http|https|xmpp|feed|mailto):\/\/(\w+:{0,1}\w*@)?(\S+)(:[0-9]+)?(\/|\/([\w#!:.?+=&%@!\-\/]))?/ 
            return regexp.test(s);
        }

You'll want to change the regex to include the "file" protocol prefix, i.e. "(ftp|http|https|xmpp|feed|mailto|file)". Then you should be able to create "file://" links just as with any other type of link.

Enjoy!