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
Please don't block me from generating a link for a file that hasn't finished uploading
A new "feature" has been implemented where if I drop a new file in a DB folder, and then go to click on "Copy Dropbox Link", it simply won't perform the task until the file has finished uploading.
Apparently this is to "prevent 404 errors". The "error" page that comes up when you clicked on a link before it had finished uploading was actually a "Uh Oh! File hasn't finished uploading yet". This to me isn't an "error" page and shouldn't be treated as such. It's clear and communicates exactly what it needs to and doesn't warrant a restriction in functionality for the rest of the users.
The solution you've silently implemented has caused a monstrous delay in my daily workflow.
I work in a fast paced environment, generating new content every hour and sharing it with dozens of people in my team. The fact that I can simply drop files and right-click and "copy link" and THEN carry on with the rest of my tasks while keeping an eye out for the spinning icon in the tray and THEN send the copied link to my recipients, means that I am FLOWING.
When I have to do that dozens of times per hour, if you block me from generating a link as soon as I drop it in the DB folder, you're forcing me to having to RETURN back to DB a second time in the process. You've added a whole extra step, and it's absolutely killed my flow.
Hi everyone. We recently discovered a bug that caused this to break. It is now fixed. If you continue to have trouble copying a link to a file that is uploading/syncing please let us know.
It will be especially helpful if you can also tell us:
* What version of Dropbox you're using: Dropbox Windows, Mac, or Web
* The steps you're using to copy the link (e.g. right click, then choose "Copy Dropbox Link" )
I just want to add another voice to this issue - PLEASE revert to the previous behaviour of being able to copy a link to a file before it's completely uploaded. This is an absolute productivity killer on my side and the current behaviour feels broken and a step backwards. Please fix this Thank you!
This is a workflow killer for me as well and I will not be using dropbox unless this is reverted.
I'm not even exaggerating when I say, Dropbox changed my (work) live.
It was such a release to leave the mess behind that was FTP transfer. Anyone remember this sh..t ..?And this little thing was a core part of the Dropbox flow.Drag & drop & forget-about-it.But not, forgetting about it ... cause it was already done.It's bad for our customers and bad for us.What a mess. I'm mad as hell. ; )- Jay
Dropbox Staff
Hi everyone, I've just reached out to your emails associated with the forum, please could you reply to my message in order to look into this matter in more detail. Thanks! Seems coders these days just change things when they want, the way they want, slash and burn, without asking the people it will affect the most -- their clients!!
Oh, nobody cares about this or that, you know why? Because we wrote the code and it's all trash, so we can just *assuuume nobody else uses it either.
We think we're all that until we suddenly, well, not this here. But everything else is gold.
I thought this feature worked before and recently I expected it to but failed. So, with a slow web connection at grandma's house, I had to wait over 15 minutes then I forgot the next task.
Makes one wanna consider jumping ship. Aren't there enough alternatives out there at least as good or better? Or, there must be folks out there to code something that works and is a little more sensitive to the end user's POV.
Don't change stuff unless you've consulted with the users.
Thanks.
Please bring this feature back - one of the most useful tools when sending multiple large files to different clients - thank you!
So it looks like they "fixed" this, but now it takes forever to generate a link instead if it being instantaneous. Please make it so I can copy the link immediately upon placing it in the folder again, thanks!
To be really honest and with all due respect.
Why has good things always seem to have a expiration date.
Everything works great until someone comes around to screw it all up.
Normally, when you contact support about it. They respond.
The ether fix it. Or they explain why it need to be this way in order to move forward.
So we all can try to understand, digest our loss and stop nagging about the obvious.
I really scratch my head about, why i wasn't able to create a link from one day to another until it's sync - while it perfectly worked before - then all these people including me complaining about it. It is seriously annoying / clutters my workflow yes indeed. Why is this not rolled back yet? Like it's been rolled out. You know, roll it back in. and if it's not that easy, an explanation why not, instead of keeping us in the dark.
I'm totally missing the comments 'Hey what a great idea. this really helps me work so many times, that i lost count 'faster' than ever before! wooweewow' after the roll out. otherwise, please share the link.. yeah wait for it to sync first, sorry about that.
It looks like no one from dropbox is even reading this...This was working again, but with a 15 sec delay like isotropy mentioned, in Beta Build 128.3.2849. It seems to be broken again in the latest Beta Build 130.3.4940. Is it working for anyone else? I'm on macOS Catalina 10.15.7.
Just following up here since it's been a while.
After a few back and forths with dropbox's technical support (I provided them with video screengrabs of the issue). Simon @ Dropbox had emailed me with instructions to re-install dropbox, which included some Terminal commands.
He wrote "At the moment, We are just checking if this may be an issue with the application. If the issue persists after the reinstall, we will escalate to the engineers as a bug."
I've only just now found the time to do this re-install and follow the instructions... but the issue is still there.
I had to send a 25gb file to my client which I left uploading overnight. Instead of emailing the link immediately so they could pick it up the next day, I had to wake up at 4am the next morning SPECIFICALLY to send the email.
I have emailed their support to follow up, but wanted to chime in here also.
