# Dropbox is dead, what next



## rfdesigner (Dec 17, 2016)

So for those of us who use Dropbox you will probably have had an email syaing they are going to make the "public" folder "private".

What this means is all our links on forums or in blogs or whatever will suddenly die.

So.. I can moan and complain about Dropbox, but that doesn't fix anything, and that's what I actually want to do.

I need alternatives, ones as great as Dropbox's "public folder".

For those not familair, I could just drop a file (often an image) from any folder on the PC into the public folder and it would automatically start synching, I could right click and it would give me the option to copy the URL to the clipboard which I could then paste into an email, blog, bb-message etc.

The imges would show up without anyone needing to sign into anything, they were simply published.

So, alternatives? 

(I thought about setting up my own server, but I've only got about 250kb uplink... on a good day, can be as low as 25kb.. I have no alternatives on my connection, I think fibre is comming but I'm out in the sticks)


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## LDS (Dec 17, 2016)

AFAIK you can still share a link to a Dropbox file or folder - just be aware you need to follow the instruction for creating and sharing a *link*, non a file or folder. Then you can paste the link wherever you like, and those clicking the link will be able to access the file or folder without any need to have a Dropbox account. It won't work with old links, I guess.

Other online storage (i.e. OneDrive) work more or less the same way. Of course to publish images only there are different options. Lately I'm trying Canon's Irista, I got a 50GB offer, and to because of its TOS looks good enough to publish some images without giving away all rights, and share them only to people with a valid link.

But with this kind of services your always at risk if they change TOS or close down.

You could also publish them on from a site of your own, you can use one of the hosting services, many of them not expensive at all, and with tools to help setting it up, or rent your own virtual server and do it on your own. Just, verify the costs for renting, disk space and used bandwidth.

If you register your own domain name (quite cheap today), you can move contents, and links will still be valid.


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## rfdesigner (Dec 17, 2016)

LDS said:


> AFAIK you can still share a link to a Dropbox file or folder - just be aware you need to follow the instruction for creating and sharing a *link*, non a file or folder. Then you can paste the link wherever you like, and those clicking the link will be able to access the file or folder without any need to have a Dropbox account. It won't work with old links, I guess.
> 
> Other online storage (i.e. OneDrive) work more or less the same way. Of course to publish images only there are different options. Lately I'm trying Canon's Irista, I got a 50GB offer, and to because of its TOS looks good enough to publish some images without giving away all rights, and share them only to people with a valid link.
> 
> ...



thanks, When I looked at Irista I couldn't find any way to share images the way I wanted i.e. URL I could insert into an email or BB post, so I gave up on it, maybe they've changed things, but again I'm still vulnerable to the rules changing.

I used to have my own domain name, when I had a business. might be worth looking at this with some rented space of some sort.


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## LordofTackle (Dec 17, 2016)

Well, the first and most obvious alternative that comes to mind is Google Drive, followed by iCloud (if you are apple user). Then there is a lot of other similar offerings on the internet.

If you want a more photo-centric offering, you could go with Canons Irista, als already suggested, or flickr, 500px, and so on. Then there''s also the paid offerings for photo publishing, such as smugmug (which I use), that you can highly configure for your personal needs.

It boils down whether you want it just for pictures or more as a general data dump.


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## rfdesigner (Dec 17, 2016)

LordofTackle said:


> Well, the first and most obvious alternative that comes to mind is Google Drive, followed by iCloud (if you are apple user). Then there is a lot of other similar offerings on the internet.
> 
> If you want a more photo-centric offering, you could go with Canons Irista, als already suggested, or flickr, 500px, and so on. Then there''s also the paid offerings for photo publishing, such as smugmug (which I use), that you can highly configure for your personal needs.
> 
> It boils down whether you want it just for pictures or more as a general data dump.



I tend to work on the principle of "do it once, do it right". Otherwise one ends up redoing work all the time... and with three kids (one disabled), a job, mortgage to pay and all the rest that life thows my way I can do without things that force me to spend days fixing someone else mess.

So having been caught by a change in terms that will impact all links I've ever given, I won't be caught again.. which means doing something where other people can't break it permanently for me... my own domain looks like a good move, even if it costs me a few quid each year.


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## LDS (Dec 17, 2016)

rfdesigner said:


> thanks, When I looked at Irista I couldn't find any way to share images the way I wanted i.e. URL I could insert into an email or BB post, so I gave up on it, maybe they've changed things, but again I'm still vulnerable to the rules changing.
> 
> I used to have my own domain name, when I had a business. might be worth looking at this with some rented space of some sort.



Irista now allows for creating links to galleries (but not single images). I'm going to use it probably as a way to publish images temporarily without using always my own site hosted on a "cloudy" virtual server, which I use for other stuff too. 

Just Irista free plan is limited to 15GB, for more you'd need one of the paid plans. I got another 50GB "bonus", don't know if it was because I beta-tested it for a while, but as happened with other services, allowance may be changed any time.

Domains are quite cheap (too cheap sometimes, spammers buy them by the sackful), and IMHO help to keep the same email address regardless of what mail service is used - just look at what happened to Yahoo!

They surely help to create "static" links, which can be more easily kept valid over time, if you need them.


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