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Dropbox accounts created after Oct. 2012 won't have a public folder

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Re: Dropbox accounts created after Oct. 2012 won't have a public folder

#71

Post by bigiain »

nsm wrote: post #45
gk1 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a Dropbox Plus user and I didn't see a single email or in-app message about this.

There was an email in mid December 2016, another one at the beginning of March 2017, and if I remember correctly, one even before that. I'm not even a Pro user.

Confirming, I got mail on Dec 16 and Mar 03 notifying me of this. (Pro User, they renewed my account automatically on Dec 01, which annoyed me somewhat... "Here' we're taken your payment, but failed to mention to you we were announcing in two weeks the removal of the most useful bit to you from the service you're paying for! Have a nice day!"

Re: Dropbox accounts created after Oct. 2012 won't have a public folder

#72

Post by saycheese »

filleokus wrote: post #64
saycheese wrote: post #47

>> "Dropbox accounts created after October 4, 2012 won't have a Public folder." Given the initial release was in June 2007, does anyone know why this only applies to accounts created after October 4, 2012?

Just guessing, but might they have had something in their EULA / TOS up until October 4:th 2012 that somehow forces them to keep the Public folder available? Maybe some language about how features are removed /deprecated, or about how changes in the EULA / TOS are allowed to be done, that makes it infeasible to do without breaking the contract?

Maybe here are the policies from 2009:

https://web.archive.org/web/20091228083110/http://www.dropbo...

And the policies from end of 2012:

https://web.archive.org/web/20121216094126/https://www.dropb...

That said, given the Terms of Use say they were last modified on March 26, 2012 — it appears possible that is not the reason.

Re: Dropbox accounts created after Oct. 2012 won't have a public folder

#73

Post by whyenot »

onli wrote: post #20
cpg wrote: post #11

I relied on this "light" publishing for a few things and I'm quite pissed off. I did not notice any notification on this. To me, this should be done very very visibly and with tons of warnings. I used it to communicate screenshots with details, etc. Now all links are broken and I'm SOL with no viable solution to changing those links from documents, bugs, etc., etc. Very very very bad!

Oh, they definitely notified their users. There were emails and warnings in the UI, it was very visible. Really, you can't blame Dropbox there. However, one can still blame Dropbox for the change itself. I used this on several occasions, including hosting archives for academic publications. No way in hell I can change those links. Maybe that wasn't a wise choice, but at that time it looked like a good way: The link d…

> Oh, they definitely notified their users.

I am a Dropbox Plus user. I never received any emails. I just checked and the email address that dropbox has is correct. This change breaks the links to PDFs of some papers and posters that I presented at scientific meetings a few years ago. I didn't expect the links to last forever, but it's still a shame.

Re: Dropbox accounts created after Oct. 2012 won't have a public folder

#74

Post by bigiain »

cpg wrote: post #27
zitterbewegung wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have an email notification from Dropbox in December of last year saying this will be disabled.

Yes, I probably missed the notifications somehow. They probably should have had some warning on the app itself when putting or sharing files from that folder. It's a free service, so my bad for using it without a good backup, but I had used programs for a long long time that produce screenshots with one keystroke and copy the URL to the clipboard, saving time. I figured this was relatively low overhead for them and a…

I got (and noticed the email), but putting notification in the app or website would have most likely gone completely unnoticed for me. The nice thing about Dropbox (for me) is that it vanishes completely to me. It's just another folder on my Macs that "magically" has the same stuff everywhere, and in my phone/tablets I pretty much exclusively use it's other-app-integration. I can't remember the last time I opened the Dropbox app or visited the site.

Re: Dropbox accounts created after Oct. 2012 won't have a public folder

#75

Post by bigiain »

fjarlq wrote: post #25
cpg wrote: post #11

I relied on this "light" publishing for a few things and I'm quite pissed off. I did not notice any notification on this. To me, this should be done very very visibly and with tons of warnings. I used it to communicate screenshots with details, etc. Now all links are broken and I'm SOL with no viable solution to changing those links from documents, bugs, etc., etc. Very very very bad!

-edited to remove wrong info-

Nope - only the business plan - my Pro Plan (which they rebilled two weeks before announcing this change) has also just broken all its public folder links...)

Re: Dropbox accounts created after Oct. 2012 won't have a public folder

#76

Post by the_af »

morganvachon wrote: post #55
onli wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh, they definitely notified their users. There were emails and warnings in the UI, it was very visible. Really, you can't blame Dropbox there. However, one can still blame Dropbox for the change itself. I used this on several occasions, including hosting archives for academic publications. No way in hell I can change those links. Maybe that wasn't a wise choice, but at that time it looked like a good way: The link d…

> Maybe that wasn't a wise choice, but at that time it looked like a good way: The link did not give a clue about my identity, making peer review easier, and DB being a well-funded and known internet company those links were surely meant to work forever, cool URLs don't change is something they had to know. Boy was I wrong. I also fell into the trap (back when I had an active Dropbox account) of using the Public fold…

Even worse: the new "shared links" do not work for hotlinking photos, which is the only use I had for them. I understand Dropbox may not like this kind of traffic, but it still sucks they removed the functionality.

Re: Dropbox accounts created after Oct. 2012 won't have a public folder

#77

Post by jorams »

saycheese wrote: post #47

>> "Dropbox accounts created after October 4, 2012 won't have a Public folder." Given the initial release was in June 2007, does anyone know why this only applies to accounts created after October 4, 2012?

I don't understand why October 4, 2012 is even mentioned here. That's when they disabled public folders for new users, but now they are getting rid of all of them. Dropbox is getting rid of public folders entirely.

Re: Dropbox accounts created after Oct. 2012 won't have a public folder

#78

Post by bigiain »

filleokus wrote: post #64
saycheese wrote: post #47

>> "Dropbox accounts created after October 4, 2012 won't have a Public folder." Given the initial release was in June 2007, does anyone know why this only applies to accounts created after October 4, 2012?

Just guessing, but might they have had something in their EULA / TOS up until October 4:th 2012 that somehow forces them to keep the Public folder available? Maybe some language about how features are removed /deprecated, or about how changes in the EULA / TOS are allowed to be done, that makes it infeasible to do without breaking the contract?

Maybe just coincidental, but while I was searching thru Dropbox mail looking for details for another reply here, I noticed this message from Aug 26th 2016:

"We’re reaching out to let you know that if you haven’t updated your Dropbox password since mid-2012, you’ll be prompted to update it the next time you sign in. This is purely a preventative measure, and we’re sorry for the inconvenience."

Re: Dropbox accounts created after Oct. 2012 won't have a public folder

#79

Post by ovao »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #51
codazoda wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect they just want to focus on their core benefit so that they don't stretch too thin.

The core benefit of Dropbox is being "a folder that syncs". They've pretty much nailed it at the very start, and all the recent changes seem to be only step backwards. Lack of ability to link directly to files (instead of their heavy and useless web UI with "download" button) is something that makes their product worse, from user's POV.

Although it involves a redirect, so it's not, per se, direct, appending ?dl=1 to a Dropbox link does at least trigger a file download.

Re: Dropbox accounts created after Oct. 2012 won't have a public folder

#80

Post by TeMPOraL »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #29
mjevans wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm guessing they can't go that route because youtube (google), and twitch (amazon) are the only 600lbs gorillas that can do /something/ to stave off the insane 100lbs gorilla that goes for the jugular (MPAA/RIAA and the like). Photo-gallery, as you've noted opens them to competing with other such providers... who all seem to eventually race towards throwing ads on everything to try and make some profit. Freely acces…

> This mostly sounds like DB is out of areas they want to / feel they can succeed in tapping for new customers and thus they attempt to cut back on costs with the hope of inertia retaining the existing users. I'm okay with how Dropbox as-is as a Pro user, and have no problem giving them $100/year in perpetuity. A product must not constantly evolve/improve for it to succeed (I'm looking at you Github with your damn da…

> A product must not constantly evolve/improve for it to succeed

Unfortunately, it goes against the startup ethos. That's why I avoid using startup products whenever I can. With regular companies, the problem is less pronounced, though it exists nonetheless.

It's sad people have to keep fucking up things they first made work, only because they're looking for more profit.

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