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chaseclay's avatar
chaseclay
New member | Level 2
3 months ago
Solved

Shared Link Previews / Redirects Fail When Using Dynamic Link Aggregator Pages

Hi everyone,

I’ve run into a problem related to how Dropbox handles preview metadata (title, image, etc.) and redirects when links are shared via pages that act as link aggregators (they collect group / invite links and redirect).

For example, I have a page: indian Girls Group

When a user shares a WhatsApp invite link from this kind of page, then tries to share that link using Dropbox file/folder sharing tools or Dropbox Paper, the preview often fails or shows nothing (no thumbnail / description). Also, sometimes the redirect doesn’t open properly when tapped — it stays blank or just doesn’t navigate to the intended place.

My questions:

Could Dropbox’s preview scraping be failing because of missing or malformed metadata (Open Graph / Twitter cards) on the aggregator page?
Does Dropbox block or sanitize redirects from non‑static pages / aggregator pages for security/trust reasons?
Any suggestions on how to ensure that links (via aggregator pages) show proper preview in Dropbox shared contexts (Paper docs, shared links, embed previews)?

Dropbox Basic
Third Party Integrations
Web
  • chaseclay's avatar
    chaseclay
    3 months ago

    Thanks for following up — I really appreciate the response.

    Sorry for the confusion! Let me clarify what I’m trying to troubleshoot:

    We work with WhatsApp groups in a community project, and we aggregate a lot of group invite links (WhatsApp, Telegram, etc.) on a central page like [removed by moderator].

    We then sometimes share these links via Dropbox Paper docs or in shared Dropbox folders — either as part of instructions or collaboration docs.

    The issue is that when someone pastes one of these URLs into Dropbox Paper (or even into a file stored in Dropbox), the link preview fails — no image, no description, sometimes it doesn’t even render at all. Same thing happens when you preview the shared doc via public link.

    I’m guessing it could be due to how Dropbox handles redirects or scrapes OG metadata? I’m also wondering if there’s any sanitizing or blocking of dynamic pages like ours.

4 Replies

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  • Megan's avatar
    Megan
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    3 months ago

    Hey chaseclay, thanks for posting here! 

    I want to make sure we're aligned, so allow me to gather some additional info before I respond to your questions. 

    You mentioned a file/folder sharing tool. Can you clarify what you're actually sharing, because you also talked about Whatsapp invite links. Would you be able to share some additional info with me, as to how Dropbox is involved in this case? 

    If you have any screenshots that'll help me visualize what you mentioned, I'd be grateful.

    Keep me posted, and we'll take it from there!

  • chaseclay's avatar
    chaseclay
    New member | Level 2
    3 months ago

    Thanks for following up — I really appreciate the response.

    Sorry for the confusion! Let me clarify what I’m trying to troubleshoot:

    We work with WhatsApp groups in a community project, and we aggregate a lot of group invite links (WhatsApp, Telegram, etc.) on a central page like [removed by moderator].

    We then sometimes share these links via Dropbox Paper docs or in shared Dropbox folders — either as part of instructions or collaboration docs.

    The issue is that when someone pastes one of these URLs into Dropbox Paper (or even into a file stored in Dropbox), the link preview fails — no image, no description, sometimes it doesn’t even render at all. Same thing happens when you preview the shared doc via public link.

    I’m guessing it could be due to how Dropbox handles redirects or scrapes OG metadata? I’m also wondering if there’s any sanitizing or blocking of dynamic pages like ours.

  • Megan's avatar
    Megan
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    3 months ago

    That sounds great chaseclay!

    I'll be waiting for further updates. Reply back to me once you have more info. Thanks!

  • Hannah C's avatar
    Hannah C
    Icon for Dropbox Product Manager rankDropbox Product Manager
    3 months ago

    Hi chaseclay​! I work on previews at Dropbox so I'm interested in learning more about the problem you're experiencing. 

    Just so that I'm understanding the problem correctly:

    • You create share links for Dropbox paper docs or Dropbox folders
    • You post that link to a different site where others can look at the content
    • However, that link does not show any preview of the content

    Is that right? Does this only happen with Dropbox links? If you share the same link with someone else like within WhatsApp message instead of the central page, does the preview or thumbnail show?

    Thanks!

    Hannah

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