Forum Discussion

Jonathan R.32's avatar
Jonathan R.32
New member | Level 1
10 years ago
Solved

Shorten link not working

 Hi there!  All of a sudden, the shorten link feature in my public folder is not working - not that the link won't work - it won't shorten it anymore.

 

Any help would be appreciated - thanks!

  • The shorten link functionality in Dropbox has been deprecated and will likely not return. They have been heading in this direction for a while now, having first started removing the feature from other parts of Dropbox a couple years ago. This was one of the last remaining locations where it still functioned.

    As Olivia stated, you will want to look at other services that provide that functionality. Bit.ly and Goo.gl are among the most popular.

49 Replies

Replies have been turned off for this discussion
  • Mark L.58's avatar
    Mark L.58
    New member | Level 1
    10 years ago

    Dear Rich R.
    Thank you for all your help and many thanks to the team at DropBox, my Public Folder link is now functioning normally and perfectly.
    By the way, I am sorry for being vulgar with my comment a few days ago, but it was of pure frustration at the need of having a long and best feature of DropBox functioning normally.
    And also be aware that I am personally responsible for a huge international record company as a paying customer of DropBox since 2011 and they in turn have turned on a lot of artists and producers as paying customers as it is a very convenient way of working collaboratively over long distances and for sharing works in progress with A&R people and various label sites around the world.
    Thanks again.
    Kind regards,
    Mark L. 

  • Cyrus D.'s avatar
    Cyrus D.
    New member | Level 1
    10 years ago

    10/1/2016

    The shorten link option was fixed a few days ago, BUT, it was taken away (again). The option (link) was removed.

    Why?

     

  • Leonard O.1's avatar
    Leonard O.1
    New member | Level 1
    10 years ago

    I don't understand why Something which has worked for years is now an inconsistent mess. Now the sharing via the web site has had all options removed The "Shorten Link" option was fixed for perhaps three days, now it is gone and the situation is worse than ever.

  • LB's avatar
    LB
    New member | Level 2
    10 years ago

    I have also received no help from DB with this problem. The first response told me that the ticketing system was causing problems and my query had been closed.

    My next ticket raised was answered by the response that I should change my browser, this would solve the problem. I replied to that answer by saying why would changing my browser re-instate a functionality provided by DB. It didn't make sense. I had no response to that email.

    My third ticket has just been answered, telling me that:

    Thank you for writing in with your questions about the shorten public link option in Dropbox. I can definitely understand your concern and I will be glad to help.

    The shorten public link function has been removed from Dropbox, as we move towards focusing on our core offering. If you would like to continue to shorten any of your links, you will want to look for services that focus specifically on providing that service.

    There are a wide range of companies that focus on shortening provided links, and you can find these companies by searching on your preferred browser.

    Please let me know if you have any further questions.

    Regards,

    Olivia.

     

    I am very unhappy with this state of affairs and it is obvious from this string of queries that I am not alone.

     

    Come on Dropbox replace this functionality for all those users who are paying good money for a product which suddenly changes functions without notifying customers.

     

     

  • Rich's avatar
    Rich
    Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II
    10 years ago
    The shorten link functionality in Dropbox has been deprecated and will likely not return. They have been heading in this direction for a while now, having first started removing the feature from other parts of Dropbox a couple years ago. This was one of the last remaining locations where it still functioned.

    As Olivia stated, you will want to look at other services that provide that functionality. Bit.ly and Goo.gl are among the most popular.
  • sueros's avatar
    sueros
    New member | Level 2
    9 years ago

    Rich wrote:
    The shorten link functionality in Dropbox has been deprecated and will likely not return. They have been heading in this direction for a while now, having first started removing the feature from other parts of Dropbox a couple years ago. This was one of the last remaining locations where it still functioned.

    As Olivia stated, you will want to look at other services that provide that functionality. Bit.ly and Goo.gl are among the most popular.

    Makes no sense that Dropbox would get rid of this simple functionality. While I have no problem going to Bit.ly or Goo.gl and shortening the link, why would Dropbox make users take this additional step and leave Dropbox environ? 

  • Rich's avatar
    Rich
    Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II
    9 years ago

    sueros wrote:

    why would Dropbox make users take this additional step and leave Dropbox environ? 


    I can't speak for all of the reasons behind it, but I know one reason was because it was being abused by spammers, and there were many complaints to Dropbox over it.

About Apps and Installations

Have a question about a Dropbox app or installation? Reach out to the Dropbox Community and get solutions, help, and advice from members.

The Dropbox Community team is active from Monday to Friday. We try to respond to you as soon as we can, usually within 2 hours.

If you need more help you can view your support options (expected response time for an email or ticket is 24 hours), or contact us on X, Facebook or Instagram.

For more info on available support options for your Dropbox plan, see this article.

If you found the answer to your question in this Community thread, please 'like' the post to say thanks and to let us know it was useful!