Ending support of public folder

[ae2rigc]

Just heard from dropbox that support for the public folder is ending.

---------

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.

--------

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?

[Mark]

Most stuff happens later on in the UK Terry due to Dropbox being based in San Francisco.

Also, you may find you get a day or two grace anyway as when XP was discontinued it took a few hours for all devices to disconnect - almost like it was taking time for the updated code to replicate around all Dropbox's servers.

[Matthew T.27]

Well, that's it. My Pro subscription expired right on time. By far the most pathetic, ill-conceived decision Dropbox has ever made, to invalidate public folder links and replace it with an inferior feature. I will not be renewing.

Respectfully request so called "super users" do not to reply to this post. I don't want to hear your "justifications" and "workarounds" just you can appease Dropbox management for e-cookies. Every shared link I have on the internet no longer works, and all for what? All for nothing. 

[Terry P.]

Thanks Mark. They duly expired yesterday afternoon, presumably soon after 00:00 SF time.

(BTW, I replied yesterday but I don't see it here.)

[BradJohnson]

Matthew, I can feel your frustration man!

Just let you know, ironicaly Dropbox competitors (pCloud) started to offer same functionality (Public Folder), if you are interested, just check for yourself.

Take care,

Image already added

[bHogan]

So far I'm liking the Public Folder on pCloud. Direct links, images, and I can even run HTML from it like the good old days. You get a 7 day free trial with the free 10Gb version. Worth a paid sunscription I think.

Here is a company that has capitalized on the mistake made by Dropbox. A good lesson perhaps.

[wegan]

  As a professional software developer of 30 years experience, I can't believe that Dropbox has axed a simple elegant soution that did what users wanted and replaced it with a clumsy, confusing system that doesn't do what the user wanted (and does some things they positively don't want) .  I am  a Plus user, unfortunately just renewed.

I liked the fact that with the old Public folder I could send a bare naked file for a friend to save to their computer in it's native form.

Now the user gets a file downloaded in a browser with Microsoft Word Online, invitations to share and comment and a whole lot of stuff I don't want happening, including them being able to see messages sent to me by other people who are nothing to do with the recipient.   Yes, I know I can block comments but why should I have to.  And does anyone know how to block Word Online from injecting itself into the process - none of the web based suggestions work for me.

All in all, this is a major disaster.  I will try to work around it and see if I can somehow come to terms with it but I have already checked out the comparison chart shown earlier and will switch soon if I can't get a useful result.  here endeth the rant 

[Server_Align]

I want you people who dont like what happened to stop complaqining about it.

AND BLOODY WELL LEAVE!

Dont get me wrong your all good guys, I saw the writing on the wall for dropbox long ago, they are an inept bunch of gaslighters.

They have commited error upon error since near after starting.

I took our companys DfB account and crushed it out to a Pro when they started being idiots to comercial customers.

I saw it then, that they didnt really have a long term goal, I expected it was to sell it off to Microsoft, but didnt make it.

What will eventually kill dropbox? Someone will toss them under the bus...... THEMSELFS!  

[Pie]

---

@Matthew T.27 wrote:

Well, that's it. My Pro subscription expired right on time. By far the most pathetic, ill-conceived decision Dropbox has ever made, to invalidate public folder links and replace it with an inferior feature. I will not be renewing.

Respectfully request so called "super users" do not to reply to this post. I don't want to hear your "justifications" and "workarounds" just you can appease Dropbox management for e-cookies. Every shared link I have on the internet no longer works, and all for what? All for nothing. 

---

Couldn't agree more - this has basically sabotaged my website. Every single link is now broken. I really can't be bothered to change them all to a shared link that doesn't seem to have the same functionality.

[Pablo f.6]

I just canceled my premium account.

 I suggest you do the same and put in the reasons for canceling the deletion of the Public Folder.

you need to know pcloud is backing up the dropbox entire account and just opened the function PUBLIC FOLDER.

[Jean-Philippe E]

I'm moving my > 400Go to GoogleDrive it is VERY slow (few weeks) because there is lot's of files but it's Google ... Then I will stop my Dropbox paid account.

With the end of the public folder it breaks a free opensource marketeplace on a little project I setup and people using it are not happy because part of the service is down ...