I always hated that folder.
Dropbox' Public/ folders will be phased out soon
41–50 of 153 posts
Re: Dropbox' Public/ folders will be phased out soon
#42This is a major downgrade in the Dropbox user experience. It makes it more confusing to know what is shared WITH THE ENTIRE WORLD and what is not, which is a tremendously important thing to know. Simultaneously, it makes it more difficult to share files. Dropbox "gains" by adding their splash screen into the file download process, but every user of the product loses. This is a decision made by the marketing departmen…
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.
Re: Dropbox' Public/ folders will be phased out soon
#43Wow, how are people using their "Public" folders? I'm honestly surprised at all this outrage. I was unaware you could share any folder/file before so I just played around with it. From your file manager, right click any dropbox file or folder and select 'Get Link'. The browser will open and send you to a page displaying all those files and folders. You can copy/paste that link to anyone. Is the only difference that i…
It's a nice and simple way to serve a webpage or two. Here's an example:
I have a folder with an `index.html` and a `image.jpg` in it. The HTML file can reference that JPG by requesting `./image.jpg`, the browser will try to fetch it from the same directory — and it will find it. Also, the links to an users `Public` folder will not expire.
With the new'ish "share link" functionality, I can't do that, since every file is served from is own path, from its own preview page. To get that link, I need to query the API; to get the direct/media link, I need to query the API again, the resulting link will be different, and it will expire after four hours.
So no more dropping a mockup for a client in a folder, sending her the link to the `index.html` and be done with it. That's a step backwards. Yes, I could store the files on my own server, but that's besides the point.
Re: Dropbox' Public/ folders will be phased out soon
#44This 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…
"Let users host web sites out of their public folder! Hand craft HTML still has a place among basic users who just want to put up a web page about their dog!"
I think this is one of the reasons they are phasing out the public folder, as people are able to do exactly that[1]. I remember it was mentioned on Lifehacker a while back[2], so maybe its becoming an issue. With the share functionality, you just get the code[3], making it impossible to use dropbox in this way.
[1] - http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4146904/HelloHN.html
[2] - http://lifehacker.com/5528104/use-dropbox-to-share-and-host-...
[3] - https://www.dropbox.com/s/6d3tz52kv87we0w/HelloHN.html
Re: Dropbox' Public/ folders will be phased out soon
#45Earlier quoted context omitted.
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/9910153/20111022_131203.jpg https://www.dropbox.com/s/s3wlvb7h36o5uvb/20111022_131203.jp... There are your two links. One is a public folder the other is not. One takes you to a web browser before you can even get the link. One does not. Guess which one I would rather have. And now guess which one they are removing :(
Add "?dl=1" to the second one it is a simple link again https://www.dropbox.com/s/s3wlvb7h36o5uvb/20111022_131203.jp... Magic!
Except now Firefox actually wants to download it instead of just displaying it.
Re: Dropbox' Public/ folders will be phased out soon
#46I 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 web pages. I use Dropbox to sync files across machines and to occasionally share large files with my colleagues. Consequently, I find this change to make things more usable, not less.
Just another data point, since the comments here seem to be predominantly negative. Part of what attracted with to Dropbox in the first place is its simplicity. If anything, I'm curious about their business model since I've earned so much space through their competitions and such that I no longer need a paid account.
Re: Dropbox' Public/ folders will be phased out soon
#47This is a major downgrade in the Dropbox user experience. It makes it more confusing to know what is shared WITH THE ENTIRE WORLD and what is not, which is a tremendously important thing to know. Simultaneously, it makes it more difficult to share files. Dropbox "gains" by adding their splash screen into the file download process, but every user of the product loses. This is a decision made by the marketing departmen…
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)
Re: Dropbox' Public/ folders will be phased out soon
#48Terrible idea. Having the public directory there to just drop files into and knowing that it is all "Public" is one of the features that differentiated Dropbox from its many competitors.
Re: Dropbox' Public/ folders will be phased out soon
#49Wow, how are people using their "Public" folders? I'm honestly surprised at all this outrage. I was unaware you could share any folder/file before so I just played around with it. From your file manager, right click any dropbox file or folder and select 'Get Link'. The browser will open and send you to a page displaying all those files and folders. You can copy/paste that link to anyone. Is the only difference that i…
I use dropbox a lot to send stuff to friends over IRC. Screenshots, save files, snippets of code. You can put up a HTML page that loads a SWF from your public folder, no worries. I have some music in there too and a HTML music player that points to the files so I have a simple music library on any computer with web access.
Sending you to a landing page instead of just serving up the content is unnecessary and disrupts all of these activities.
Re: Dropbox' Public/ folders will be phased out soon
#50This is a major downgrade in the Dropbox user experience. It makes it more confusing to know what is shared WITH THE ENTIRE WORLD and what is not, which is a tremendously important thing to know. Simultaneously, it makes it more difficult to share files. Dropbox "gains" by adding their splash screen into the file download process, but every user of the product loses. This is a decision made by the marketing departmen…
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.
What I hear you saying is that there's no way to know from the Dropbox app that a particular private file containing your SSN and porn collection is shared with the entire world.
Also, it's broken. When I click "Get Link" to get a shareable link for the file, I get this:
> "Error Creating Link There was an error creating your link. Please try again."