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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!
- It just occurred to me, Dropbox may be "preparing" its platform to be bought by a competitor in the Cloud data hosting game. Looks like it's definitely time for an enterprising group to develop their own site to give current DB users a place to migrate to.
ClaraLMattox wrote:
It just occurred to me, Dropbox may be "preparing" its platform to be bought by a competitor in the Cloud data hosting game. Looks like it's definitely time for an enterprising group to develop their own site to give current DB users a place to migrate to.The problem isnt the migration.. its the fact our data can not migrate on the millions of posts.. with millions of embeded images.
I am dumping them. I will copy everything to my onedrive and just deal with it.
The "alternates" like OneDrive have embed links but they are a PIA to use, JUST like the NEW Dropbox links.
If I am going to be limited fine.. I will go where I have more storage and the cost includes MS Office. Thier Pro account gets you nothing.. the only thing it had for me was the public folder. The sickest thing is their app STILL uses their dame links that they plan to break.
So something they aren't supporting is still a functioning part of their program, if you download their app.
Personally I would love to go to every link on every page I have and post a single " Dropbox screwed you" picture, to replace all the broken images. There will be a large loss to the internet the day they do this.. Much like there was a large loss to the indie music community when MP3.com was bought and shut down by United Artists. It has that same feel. Big guy screwing up something they don't understand, hoping they will make more money due to it closing.
So I think you are right.. this is so they can be bought by Amazon or Apple to infiltrate PC computers that don't use OneDrive yet. They don't care about the communities they are about to screw over, just the money.
- For the photographers in this thread, one place to go is flickr. Photos can be embedded into forum posts with little trouble. Assuming it survives, flickr works.
Another is Zenfolio. I have a paid account on Zenfolio, and have had few complaints with them. Photos from Zenfolio can also be embedded into forum posts with little trouble.
This doesn't solve the issue of all of the broken links that will happen, and doesn't help any of the other folks who share files for education, business, et al, but it's a way to accept the inevitable and move on to something better.
As suggested in a previous comment, I did submit a support ticket pleading with DB to leave existing links active. Below is the response which leads me to join the crowd in search of an alternative. I have a pro account that expires in February and I need a replacement. Any suggestions?
Hi,
Thank you for contacting the Dropbox Support Team.
The Public folder was the first sharing method that Dropbox introduced and laid the groundwork for us to develop the sharing experience we have today.
We’ve come a long way since then to make the process of sharing your files as easy and secure as possible. Shared folders, shared links, read-only shared links, file requests, albums, and other features have been developed and introduced since that initial sharing experience.
These new sharing methods became core to the Dropbox experience, because they gave users and recipients more options for control and collaboration. As a result, we decided to end support for the Public folder, so we can better focus on building and maintaining our core sharing experience. We understand that this may cause both inconvenience and frustration, and we are committed to making this transition as seamless as possible.
The files in your Public folder will become private on March 15, 2017 for Basic accounts, and on September 1, 2017 for Pro and Business accounts. The files will still be safe in Dropbox, and no action is needed on your part. If you’d like to share them again, we’d be more than happy to help you use any of our available methods to continue sharing and collaborating.
For example, one of the ways to share securely and easily is to create a shared link. To read more about this sharing feature, please follow the instruction in the link below to ‘Create a shared link’:
https://www.dropbox.com/help/
167 This was not an easy decision and we want to assist in any way we can while this transition occurs. Please let us know if you have any further questions or concerns and we’d be more than happy to help.
Regards,
thats so annoying. I don't know why i would need dropbox anymore. I will definately quit my account if this happens.
- Just dropping by to comment that this bull**bleep** is the final nail to Dropbox's coffin. This garbage isn't even worth the $0 it costs.
River wrote:
River,
So you truly haven't read any of the posts in this thread, clearly ..
If this is the attitude towards the customers ...
Again, give me one reason how removing the way /public/ works right now for us pro users has a NEGATIVE impact or a POSITIVE impact for the dropbox company.
What has caused this uproar to be worth it all that dropbox as a company ends up being so much better if those who helped you grow get cut off by the knees when this direct linking or 'pure' use of our content on our online-harddisk gets replaced by some 'wrapper' feature of dropbox?
Convince us, because some 'we put your content in a wrapper because of eeeh eeeh eehh consistency reasons' is bollox excuses that nobody believes.
I am looking for DropBox, not for 'alternatives' to linking what has worked on my 60,000+ files for years just fine.- I'm afraid. Dont waste three years my work, i had include direct link in my android app product, all features will don't work. Please..............
Just thinking about all the bad links that will start to occur after March 15th. Each time one of those is reported, we should make it our business to publicise the cause and why Dropbox cannot be trusted. This could happen many thousands of times. Imagine how much negative advertising Dropbox will get. It won't of course do us any good. But perhaps if Dropbox just considers this, perhaps they might re-think their stupid policy. If not, in the long run, when the company falters, heads will roll. So Dropbox Management - dust off those resumes before it's too late!
Here is the entire transcript of my email conversation with Dropbox (I don't give a sh*t if this breaks confidentiality, but as you will see, the Dropbox droid assigned to my ticket said nothing meaningful anyway):
..................................................
Jay, Jan 9, 3:32 AM PST:
Hi Chris,The Public folder was the first sharing method that Dropbox introduced and laid the groundwork for us to develop the sharing experience we have today.
We’ve come a long way since then to make the process of sharing your files as easy and secure as possible. Shared folders, shared links, read-only shared links, file requests, albums, and other features have been developed and introduced since that initial sharing experience.
These new sharing methods became core to the Dropbox experience, because they gave users and recipients more options for control and collaboration. As a result, we decided to end support for the Public folder, so we can better focus on building and maintaining our core sharing experience. We understand that this may cause both inconvenience and frustration, and we are committed to making this transition as seamless as possible.
The files in your Public folder will become private on March 15, 2017 for Basic accounts, and on September 1, 2017 for Pro and Business accounts. The files will still be safe in Dropbox, and no action is needed on your part. If you’d like to share them again, we’d be more than happy to help you use any of our available methods to continue sharing and collaborating.
For example, one of the ways to share securely and easily is to create a shared link. To read more about this sharing feature, please follow the instruction in the link below to ‘Create a shared link’:
https://www.dropbox.com/help/167
This was not an easy decision and we want to assist in any way we can while this transition occurs. Please let us know if you have any further questions or concerns and we’d be more than happy to help.
Regards,
JayWe 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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Chris xxxxx, Jan 10, 3:49 AM PST:I am getting quite angry. You don't reply, you simply repeat the same thing over and over again, without saying anything meaningful. This is my question, and PLEASE respond to it SPECIFICALLY:
“We, your users, now understand that you are ending support for the Public Folder and most of us have accepted that. But WHY are you not prepared to ‘grandfather' (i.e. protect, preserve) the links that are already ‘out there’ which originally came from our Public Folders? You can do this quite easily. If you are not prepared to answer, I will begin to investigate legal torts compelling you to answer this question directly.”
Sincerely
Chris xxxxx
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Jay, Jan 13, 9:20 AM PST:Hi Chris,
We are not just ending the support for public folder the service also is not going to be available. There was a decision to not carry on with this feature and not to keep the existing one.
I hope this clarifies now.
Regards,
JayWe 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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Chris xxxxx, Jan 13, 11:08 AM PST:NO - YOU STILL HAVEN'T ANSWERED MY QUESTION.
I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT PUBLIC FOLDERS PAST PRESENT OR FUTURE, AS I THINK YOU KNOW PERFECTLY WELL.
I'M TALKING ABOUT THE L-I-N-K-S (millions of them?) WHICH HAVE BEEN GENERATED FROM USERS’ PUBLIC FOLDERS IN THE PAST. WHY ARE YOU
A) NOT PRESERVING THESE
B) EXPLAINING WHY YOU ARE NOT PRESERVING THEM?
AND ALSO NOTE - THE NEW CLAUSE TO NEW USERS ABOUT NOT TAKING OUT ‘CLASS ACTION’ LAWSUITS AGAINST DROPBOX CANNOT APPLY RETROSPECTIVELY TO EXISTING USERS. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
NOW FOR CxxxxT’S SAKE, BEFORE WE LOSE IT COMPLETELY, EXPLAIN YOURSELVES.
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Jay, Jan 24, 8:14 AM PST:Hi Chris,
As we are not following with the service of Public folder any more we cannot keep the links avaialble. That is also why we let the user early enough know that the option won't be available after a specific time so the can adjust.
Thanks,
JayWe 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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Chris xxxxx, Jan 24, 2:45 PM PST:
> As we are not following with the service of Public folder any more we cannot keep the links avaialble
>That is a non-sequitur. What you need to do - and you know this perfectly well as you MUST have discussed it (if not, then you are an
incompetent IT company) - is to
MAKE THE PUBLIC FOLDER READ ONLY.
DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?
READ ONLY.
THAT WILL...
1) PREVENT FUTURE LINKS BEING ADDED FROM IT
2) PRESERVE EXISTING LINKS.
Now. For the very last time, EXPLAIN WHY YOU WILL NOT TAKE THIS SIMPLE STEP. Do not simply regurgitate company policy as if you have no mind of your own. EXPLAIN - in detail if necessary - WHY you cannot take the simple step of making existing Public folders “read only”.If you are incompetent to answer this question, please pass the email on to your programming team and have a SYSTEMS ANALYST reply to me and explain WHY it cannot be done (it can, of course..).
Sincerely
Chris xxxxx
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Jay, Feb 2, 9:14 AM PST:Hi Chris,
Thank you for writing again and really appreciate your feedback!
I will pass your feedback to our responsible team so they can consider this and eventually allow this function, but as mentioned previously currently there is not such a plan to keep public folder.
Thank you for your understanding.
Regards,
JayWe have just launched a brand new Dropbox community! You can find immediate answers 24/7. Check it out http://dropboxforum.com
Dropbox are about to kill off part of the internet.
Explanation:
Newer users may not realise that Dropbox once included a “Public” folder for shared links. Everything in that folder got a unique url which could be copied and given to any other individual(s) as a direct link to that content, or which could be embedded into another forum post so that - for example - an image would appear.
Dropbox ended support for a Public folder for new users some years ago, but existing users were assured they could continue to use theirs. There are now millions of links on the internet which are from Dropbox users’ Public folders.
Now Dropbox are discontinuing the Public folder for ALL users. If this wasn't bad enough (after the promises which were made), Dropbox are refusing to ‘grandfather’ (i.e. preserve) the links that are already out there, even after they end support for all Public folders. All such links will, overnight, become ‘dead’, wherever they are on the internet.
Dropbox refuse to explain WHY they will not preserve existing links, refuse to enter into discussion about this, and refuse even to explain WHY they won't discuss it.
(If you share unease or even outrage about this, copy and paste this message all over these forums and wherever else you go; Share on Facebook, LinkedIn; post a link on Twitter.)
Dropbox are about to kill off part of the internet.
Explanation:
Newer users may not realise that Dropbox once included a “Public” folder for shared links. Everything in that folder got a unique url which could be copied and given to any other individual(s) as a direct link to that content, or which could be embedded into another forum post so that - for example - an image would appear.
Dropbox ended support for a Public folder for new users some years ago, but existing users were assured they could continue to use theirs. There are now millions of links on the internet which are from Dropbox users’ Public folders.
Now Dropbox are discontinuing the Public folder for ALL users. If this wasn't bad enough (after the promises which were made), Dropbox are refusing to ‘grandfather’ (i.e. preserve) the links that are already out there, even after they end support for all Public folders. All such links will, overnight, become ‘dead’, wherever they are on the internet.
Dropbox refuse to explain WHY they will not preserve existing links, refuse to enter into discussion about this, and refuse even to explain WHY they won't discuss it.
(If you share unease or even outrage about this, copy and paste this message all over these forums and wherever else you go; Share on Facebook, LinkedIn; post a link on Twitter.)
The best? Read this..:
- Dropbox are about to kill off part of the internet.
- Explanation:
- Newer users may not realise that Dropbox once included a “Public” folder for shared links. Everything in that folder got a unique url which could be copied and given to any other individual(s) as a direct link to that content, or which could be embedded into another forum post so that - for example - an image would appear.
- Dropbox ended support for a Public folder for new users some years ago, but existing users were assured they could continue to use theirs. There are now millions of links on the internet which are from Dropbox users’ Public folders.
- Now Dropbox are discontinuing the Public folder for ALL users. If this wasn't bad enough (after the promises which were made), Dropbox are refusing to ‘grandfather’ (i.e. preserve) the links that are already out there, even after they end support for all Public folders. All such links will, overnight, become ‘dead’, wherever they are on the internet.
- Dropbox refuse to explain WHY they will not preserve existing links, refuse to enter into discussion about this, and refuse even to explain WHY they won't discuss it.
- (If you share unease or even outrage about this, copy and paste this message all over these forums and wherever else you go; Share on Facebook, LinkedIn; post a link on Twitter.)
Dropbox are about to kill part of the internet.
How?
Newer users may not realise that Dropbox once included a Public folder for shared links. Everything in that folder got a unique URL which could be copied and given to any other individual(s) as a direct link to that content, or which could be embedded into another forum post so that - e.g. - an image would appear.
Dropbox stopped giving a Public folder to new users a few years ago, but existing users were told they could continue to use theirs. There are now millions of links on the internet which are from Dropbox users’ Public folders.
Now Dropbox are discontinuing the Public folder for ALL users. If this wasn't bad enough (after the promises which were made), Dropbox are refusing to ‘grandfather’ (i.e. preserve) the links that are already out there, even after they end support for all Public folders. All such links will, overnight, become ‘dead’, wherever they are on the internet.
Dropbox refuse to explain WHY they will not preserve existing links, refuse to enter into discussion about this, refuse even to explain WHY they won't discuss it.
(If you share unease / outrage about this, copy & paste this message all over these forums & wherever else you go; Share on Facebook, LinkedIn; post a link on Twitter.)
95% of my website will die because of this, thank you dropbox.
- Mark
Super User II
For issues relating to the Public links please see https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Sharing-and-collaboration/Ending-support-of-public-folder/m-p/197906#M11718
Please do NOT post it across these forums (they will be removed as they are unnecessary) - there is already a thread about this out there.
