Dropbox has brought simple file synchronization between machines that are not necessarily on the same network, to the masses, but they need to do it in away that doesn't make you want to drop Dropbox when it goes wrong. I had a machine with Dropbox installed turned off for a year, and when I turned it on, it's clock was wrong, so when I updated the clock, Dropbox deleted all files in my Dropbox that were newer than the last time I had that machine running. What did it delete? Hard to tell. And Dropbox doesn't support restoration for folders, or points in time, just single files.
Dropbox' Public/ folders will be phased out soon
51–60 of 153 posts
Re: Dropbox' Public/ folders will be phased out soon
#52This is a move absolutely in the wrong direction. I'm sure the idea is to push more eyeballs across the DB logo and grow the userbase. But to those users, DB will look like yet another fileshare a la megaupload/filefront/whatever and not something particularly special. Here's some better ideas: - harden up the way users want to use the public folder and make it more like a CDN - Add another price tier if they must to…
Dropbox is a file storage and sharing service, not a CDN or web host. Just because it could be hacked to make it a CDN or web host doesn't mean those things are highly desirable to customers or good for their actual business.
Re: Dropbox' Public/ folders will be phased out soon
#53Does anyone else think this can be easily fixed with a Powershell (or batch) script? Preconfigure it with your public folder url "id" and make it so it copies the generic url to the clipboard (complete with filename) and just appends a "?dl=1" at the end. Make a shortcut to the script and send it to the context menu. Don't say Dropbox creates a unique token for every link made, which means in that case, we'd have to…
Seriously breaks using the folder as a simple content server.
Re: Dropbox' Public/ folders will be phased out soon
#54I like the change, and also consider the Public folder to be redundant. I hated having to move files to the Public folder every time I wanted to send a link to someone. I am satisfied with https://www.dropbox.com/links as a way to see which links are shared with the world. Some cynics say it's a marketing tactic, but I actually like the preview as well. I don't have any esoteric use cases like using Dropbox to host w…
This is used a LOT in the web design industry, and taking this out is going to piss a lot of people off.
Re: Dropbox' Public/ folders will be phased out soon
#55They are NOT removing the ability to link to files in your Dropbox. Just the Public folder itself, which is no longer needed since any file can now be shared with a public link. EDIT: And for those of you concerned by any impact on using Dropbox as a CDN, there shouldn't be any issues. The links that Dropbox generates from your files have a bit of chrome (a preview of the contents of the file and a couple of buttons)…
Re: Dropbox' Public/ folders will be phased out soon
#56Dropbox public folders for new accounts will be phased out. As mentioned in the link, all current users can continue to use it.
It seems like most people here seem to be missing this fact. From the Dropbox staff response: "All current users retain their Dropbox Public folder, and it's function continues." This news was intended for developers who rely on Public for app functionality. The public folder is not going away for existing users.
Yes, current accounts keep the feature the whole point of grandfathering features is to eventually phase them out entirely.
Re: Dropbox' Public/ folders will be phased out soon
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
I do like the Public folder, but you can still easily get a list of exactly what's shared; the "Links" sidebar ( https://www.dropbox.com/links ) lists all links you've created, and lets you deactivate any that you don't want to be available anymore.
Dropbox has a website? (Yes I knew Dropbox had a website. I'm speaking for all those users who downloaded it once and now use it to synchronize their computers, never realizing there is a website too. And yes, these people do use the public folders: they right click & send the link to someone, but don't connect that to the idea they can see their own files on the web)
I had a very difficult time explaining to her that her same folders and files are available via the web interface.
Those people are out there.
Re: Dropbox' Public/ folders will be phased out soon
#58My friends and I have been working on a way to easily send files. It's called Dropdock. You can check it out at http://getdropdock.com . If you want to signup, use the invite code DROPDOCKBETAP1.
Feedbacks more than welcome :)
Re: Dropbox' Public/ folders will be phased out soon
#59A hint to everyone: If you got the link, made by "Get link", and you don't like the innecessary preview in browser, just add "?dl=1" to the end of the link example: https://www.dropbox.com/s/1axoy96uwa80wko/matfyzak%20%281%29... - ugly preview page https://www.dropbox.com/s/1axoy96uwa80wko/matfyzak%20%281%29... - sane PDF link
And with changes like the one being discussed here I'm guessing a referrer / login check will be in place at some point in the future (basically downgrading DropBox public sharing to the equivalent of Google Sites).
Edit: It's also worth noting that this parameter forces a download rather than opening things in the browser when possible.
Re: Dropbox' Public/ folders will be phased out soon
#60People started to use Dropbox as a free CDN, didn't they? Why do we need AWS CloudFront if we have Dropbox? :)
And this change hardly affects that anyway, except for being an inconvenience.