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Ending support of public folder
Just heard from dropbox that support for the public folder is ending.
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As a result, we’ll soon be ending support for the Public folder. Dropbox Pro users will be able to use the Publ...
- LGM - the issue is that people are abusing it and causing issues for everybody by getting the Dropbox domains blacklisted which cause emails to fail and downloads to be blocked by firewalls etc.
In terms of changing the extension, sorry, no idea how you would do that!
Mark
Super User II
Super User IIThis isnt exactly new news I'm afraid.
And it was replaced a LONG LONG time ago by shared links which are pretty much Public Links BUT allowed in any location within your Dropbox: www.dropbox.com/help/167 (as per the link in the email)
Edit: apologies I have received my email now. I believed initially this was a change to the way HTML files were rendered not that they were going completely.
This is a real shame. Normal public /u links were superior to the new /s links. I understand that the old style of sharing was vulnerable to filename guessing, but I accept that in exchange for the superior convenience, and being able to give people direct links instead of links to slow-loading dynamic pages with poorly zoomed images.
Unless some option to use this is retained, I'm afraid I'll be looking for a new cloud storage provider in March 2017.
Alternatives from Dropbox ; If it is to help I can indicate the following:
Amazon S3 (Cheap and Easy) https://aws.amazon.com/s3
You just need to click on the file and choose the function 'make a public'
Google Cloud https://cloud.google.com/storage
You just need to select the public link option and click on it to copy the link
Canceling my dropbox account yet this month I suggest a bulk cancellation!!!
I've never posted here before, but this was important enough for me to make an account on the forums just to post.
The main reason I've been using Dropbox for years is how easy it's been for me to share images on forums via the public folder. When I started running out of space, instead of using any of the other similar file hosting sites, I shelled out for Pro because of how happy I was with how things worked. I'm so disappointed.
I don't mind having to run some sort of extra bbcode generation thing for forums in the future, but breaking years and years of image posts (these aren't just dumb memes, mind you, but works in progress, tutorials and guide for artwork, stuff in a professional setting), to the images being moved is extremely inconvenient.
Dropbox, if I can't trust you to keep my old links working, how can I trust you to keep my future files safe and accessible? Surely that's not unreasonable to ask that my old image files would still work?
Thanks for your feedback, Pablo f6! Much appreciated.
I haven't watched this entire video playlist yet -- but, FWIW, these videos may provide some helpful comparative information for those who are now considering alternatives to Dropbox, in light of the planned death of the Public Folder
> Dropbox vs Google Drive vs iCloud vs OneDrive vs Amazon Cloud Drive | 2016 Edition
Note:
> From what I can tell, Dropbox quit providing the Public Folder in new user accounts back in 2012.
> Since this video play list was created in January of 2016:
-- the Dropbox video does not address anything spefically related to the Public Folder and
-- it will obviously not be informed by today's Dropbox announcement to kill the Public Folder next year (09.01.17).
@Pablo
Unfortunately, both S3 and Google Cloud storage are not really designed to be used by people for personal reasons - I mean, you can, it's just not friendly or intuiative (e.g. no search function). Most people who use them automate them through their respective APIs, rather than using the primative web interface. I do use S3 to distribute installation files for software I develop to people, mostly because Dropbox is insistant on asking users to 'sign up' before downloading files. I wouldn't use it for anything personal though.
Other cloud storage services including OneDrive and Google Drive are still good contenders. I used DB for the slickness of the web interface (recently bogged down with upgrade notifications to already-paying clients), and for Linux support. I will find aways around it. I refuse to use a service which refuses to listen to its customers and makes decisions purely for the purposes of how it will will be viewed by investors.
I don't think this company will be around in 5 years.
