You might see that the Dropbox Community team have been busy working on some major updates to the Community itself! So, here is some info on what’s changed, what’s staying the same and what you can expect from the Dropbox Community overall.
Forum Discussion
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 Public folder until
September 1, 2017. After that date the files in your Public folder will become private, and links to these files will be deactivated. Your files will remain safe in Dropbox.
If you’d like to keep sharing files in your Public folder, you can create new shared links. Just make sure to send the new URLs to your collaborators.
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It is one of the most useful features of the service for me as I use it to get links to single files that I can send to people without setting up shared folders and requiring them to have dropbox accounts.
(Save file to my public folder locally, syncs, right click, get publick link, paste. Doesn't get any easier than that.)
It's also useful for bb style forum posts where you can link to images with an easy tag.
With the public folder support being removed, is there going to be an alternative solution to allow easy public sharing of single files?
- 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!
As a teacher over the last 6+ years I have been a paying customer of Dropbox utilizing the public folder HEAVILY with links in my school's LMS. I simply can't believe with one action Dropbox is going to wipe all those years worth of links away. I RELY on the public folder feature. This is not the way to do business with your long-time paying customers. If I am forced to upgrade all my links in my LMS you can bet it won't be through Dropbox. The school offers all teachers onedrive for free, which I loath, but at least I won't have to pay for the feature of being noodled over by execs that don't ask their users how a change like this will affect them.
- Public folders are why I've been a Dropbox customer since it's beta days. I'm a paying customer, too, and do not abuse the service.
So, okay, what alternatives exist? Must I spin up my own Apache server again? I've much preferred Dropbox for my purposes for convenience and quick updates from any of my devices. Box doesn't offer anything similar... where else should I look? Seems Dropbox will be losing me if they go this direction.- Yeah, I'll be taking my files elsewhere too.
The public folder is the sole reason I even have Dropbox in the first place. I use zero of its other features. Heck, I couldn't even tell you if it has other features, or what they would be. Had to visit the Help pages to even figure out what "links" were. Unfortunately, after trying it out, I can confidently say that the "links" feature is not a replacement, in contrast to what Dropbox claims - it's just a way to trick the userbase into sending other people unsolicited advertising.
Well, at least we got advance warning. Plenty of time to find an alternative.
Sorry, Dropbox. I had a good time with you for many years. But by killing all my externally linked content in one fell swoop, you might as well have deleted my account. That would have had the same effect. So don't be cross if I do the honors instead.
River - You clearly have not read nor do you care about the concerns of Dropbox users. Dropbox has simply become untrustworthy. Public folder links were the cornerstone of Dropbox and you have decided to bulk-delete all of these links because you wrongly believe they are inferior or replaced by the new sharing feature. You are wrong for numerous reasons outlined by this thread - which have been either not responded to, or poorly explained by super users acting mindlessly to protect Dropbox's image.
You have not just broken links, you have broken the trust of the community. This is by far the worst decision Dropbox has done. Updating these links is simply not possible in numerous situations which have been outlined in this thread. Hundreds of thousands of links and images will now no longer be functional around the internet. This is ridiculous.
Dropbox's response to this issue has been extremely poor and typical. Dropbox genuinely believes it can directly harm its community and not suffer the consequences. For people still here - read this as a warning. What will come next? Systematically deleting .mp4 files in peoples Dropbox? Invalidating the 'new' shared links? You simply can not longer be trusted. I am moving to another service. Goodbye.
One of the most frustrating issues with this change will be the complete and utter inability to modify any links already sent out by email and in newsletters to customers in the past. There won't be any way to create a 301 redirect of any kind, even if we do go with an alternative storage service with public access.
Having said that, we will be moving our files to a publically accessible Amazon S3 bucket. On top of that, to avoid future pitfalls of this kind, we will set up a unique CNAME record in our DNS to point to the S3 bucket. If you are planning something similar, you will most likely have to create the CNAME record anyhow unless you want your images and other media to be rejected by adblockers for not residing on the same domain. This step would also allow us to add a simple "middleware" script to quickly serve correct files by repointing them to correct location on the fly, in case Amazon decides to follow the same idiocratic steps to cancel publicly accessible folders. Or just repoint the same CNAME to a new service provider location, move the file structures intact, and Presto! All links should remain functional for the end users.
Just too bad we didn't follow these footsteps here. Dropbox management, if any of you read these comments, just for the record we are all extremely unimpressed with your decision. And now, I am going to go and pull that big knife out of my back you stabbed us with.
Peace out.
I'm also very disappointed about this change. Even there is time left almost a year, it gonna cause problems. Like many others, I have shared thousands of Dropbox links to customers and friends, and 2017 all of those will stop working.
I have also used the public folder when I have needed to transfer some file quickly to an unknown computer. In few seconds you can download the file you need with web browser without manually copying any sharing link, because the URL to shared folder will always be the same, so it can be remembered by hearth or linked for example via tinyurl.
Just wondering, that is there a technical problem with the public folder, or why it's going to be suspended. Most probably I need to change to use another service after the currect subscription to dropbox ends :(
I'm kind of amazed to see this: Dropbox has deleted the thread requesting they not remove public folders, moving all the comments within it here instead.
Why even have a forum if you're not only going to not let people suggest things, but actively change it so that it doesn't look like there's an organized outcry against a product change?
Forget waiting until March. I'm moving my sh*t to a new product NOW. They don't have time to reply to any concerns, but they have time to essentially tell everyone to f*** off by deleting a thread? That tells me all I need to know.
SolitareLee wrote:
I'm kind of amazed to see this: Dropbox has deleted the thread requesting they not remove public folders, moving all the comments within it here instead.
It seemed to happen right after the news hit the front page of Slashdot. Before removal, the feature had overnight become the 7th most requested one in their tracker. The request and its first several pages of comments are recreated here as they originally appeared. In fairness, at least they didn't censor the content altogether.
Looks like a news agency picked up this story
- I first have two questions:
1. For those users that started with Dropbox after they dropped the Public folder in about 2012. How would they share a link on a public bulletin board running, for example, under vBulletin?
2.For the many users like myself who have used the Public Folder extensively, has Dropbox made any suggestions as to how we should address this "problem"?
The "problem" is that we have posted hundreds or thousands of links posted in various places on the net. Some of those posts have been quoted, copied or forwarded to others. Even if there was a practical way to find and edit the original posts/links, that would not correct the additional downstream links.
The "solution" should not be difficult for smart computer people (Hopefully on the Dropbox team) The existing links must not change. But they should be frozen. Surely Dropbox could move on to whatever new system they want, but still keep the existing public links in some sort of archived server? Maybe not forever, but for an extended period - say 5 years?
Any word from Dropbox on any of the complaints?
I've appreciated, loved and shared the dropbox service for years using the free model, so with this change I figured it'd be time to finally upgrade. It's only fair, that way. But the public folder is removed for paying customers as well? That's insane.
I am very dissapointed.
- Mark
Super User II
This 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.
@Mark - Thanks but the behaviour is different.
@narikaa - I hadn't considered the loss of already posted conent, that is indeed an issue
- MarkI'm not sure how its different behaviour in the examples you gave?
You can also create any link using the format above to get a BB-type link by changing the www. to dl-dropbox...
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!!!
- Can we not just move the shared files/folders to a new location outside Public?
https://www.dropbox.com/help/9194
"Previously, if you renamed or moved a file or folder, any shared links to them would "break." This means that anyone clicking the links would see an error message. Now, you can reorganize and rename files and folders in your Dropbox without impacting any shared links to them."
Edvard
I'm 1 To paid user since the begining.
I'm using DropBox for it's Public folders that I love since the begining, to build website, link images etc ...
Killing this feature will also kill my Wordpress...
So I have 6 month to move to Google Drive
That's really STUPID from DropBox to kill this feature, there are now outsider comparend to Google, Amazon, Microsoft. With Android everywhere anybody have a Google Drive account so why DropBox now ?
Hi, I'm using the public links to provide up-to-date drawings on the building site. Now it
seems that all those links will be disabled. I can understand that this has to be changed.
But it looks to me no big problem to let the existing links still function.
Just disable new files to be shared this way in the future.
Please think of all the broken links this will cause.
Hopefully they will listen to there clients. Thanks.
- The question is one and is very clear, are we going to be able to use direct links or not?
Imo (and of many others as is seems) direct links are what makes a service like this useful. Without this feature, what sets you apart from any other service out there?
River wrote:You just don't get it, do you? AS HAS ALREADY BEEN SAID - IF IT WAS JUST ABOUT ENDING SUPPORT FOR THE 'PUBLIC FOLDER' YOU WOULDN'T BE GETTING A FRACTION OF THIS GRIEF.
It's because you have not given one tiny reason why you're prepared to 'break' large sections of the internet, millions of links that are going to become dead, when it would only take a small bit of code to prevent this.
WHY? Tell us why you are going ahead with this Trump-like megalomania, and making enemies of a large section of your users?
WHY? We just want to know why. The longer you go on not telling us, the more we think everything you do and say is just so much BS.
Right. Here is one solution to the problem.
- First, admit that there IS a problem for many of your users, and for future consumers of content originally posted to forums using the direct links in Public folders
- Give your users notice - a few weeks should be enough - that their Public folders are to become 'read only'. That should give most of us time to clear out of the folder anything we don't want to keep as a live link
- On the due date, when everyone's Public folder is 'read only', grandfather all the links that have been generated from those folders, so that parts of the internet don't just "die" as you are currently prepared to see happen
- From that time onwards, the only links that can be generated will be the type of 'shared link' you want everyone to use.
Now, can you please give us ONE SINGLE GOOD REASON why this should not work?
YOU get what YOU want.
WE get the best of a bad job.
It's win-(almost) win ... instead of the anti-social unbusinesslike chaos you seem happy to visit on the world.
- Well FINALY a reply from DB support:
Thank you for your patience and for contacting Dropbox support.
As we continue to create new features that help you administer your team, we need to deprecate older features that function alongside our newer features. The Public folder is now a deprecated feature, and moving forward I'd recommend using shared links instead. Shared links provide similar functionality but can be used with any folder in your Dropbox. You can find more info here:
https://www.dropbox.com/help/167
You can also force shared links to download automatically, just like Public links. Check out this Help Center article for steps on how to do so:
https://www.dropbox.com/help/201
If you have further questions about this, feel free to reach back out to us and we will be happy to investigate further.
Regards,
Ciara
We have just launched a brand new Dropbox community! You can find immediate answers 24/7. Check it out http://dropboxforum.com
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Reply:
I see your answer (canned response?)
It DOESNT address the issue raised
Web forum software, when using the [img]....[/img] codes , accepts the "https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com......." format of current public folder links , but rejects the "https://www.dropbox.com......" format of current links from any other folder.
Tinkering about with the '=1' / '=0' at the end of the link does nothing to resolve this dilemma
Are you folks not cognisant of the workings of your rivals who have the ability to simply supply 'forum friendly' [img]....[/img] url links at the click of a mouse?
I understand my sharing options just fine. Never using Dropbox again once you break all my years of shared items. Shame on you destroying a useful service like this. Hope you have your CV updated because Dropbox will be forgotten once this happens.
