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This is a major downgrade in the Dropbox user experience. It makes it more confusing to know what is shared WITH THE ENTIRE WORLD and what is not, which is a t

This is a major downgrade in the Dropbox user experience. It makes it more confusing to know what is shared WITH THE ENTIRE WORLD and what is not, which is a tremendously important thing to know. Simultaneously, it makes it more difficult to share files. Dropbox "gains" by adding their splash screen into the file download process, but every user of the product loses. This is a decision made by the marketing department. A major step backwards for Dropbox.

_delirium 14y ago
I do like the Public folder, but you can still easily get a list of exactly what's shared; the "Links" sidebar (https://www.dropbox.com/links https://www.dropbox.com/links) lists all links you've created, and lets you deactivate any that you don't want to be available anymore.
- nl 14y ago
  Dropbox has a website? (Yes I knew Dropbox had a website. I'm speaking for all those users who downloaded it once and now use it to synchronize their computers, never realizing there is a website too. And yes, these people do use the public folders: they right click & send the link to someone, but don't connect that to the idea they can see their own files on the web)
  - antidoh 14y ago
    I have helped a computerphobe (hates computers and Internet, clueless, but must use them) with Dropbox. She gets that her folders on various computers around town are synchronized. I had a very difficult time explaining to her that her same folders and files are available via the web interface. Those people are out there.
    - tammer 14y ago
      Most people (as in the majority of the population with access to digital media) have a very difficult time understanding that the filesystem is a hierarchy. I'm always espousing the necessity of backups to my friends/family, which means I've usually got the role of setting up a Dropbox account for someone without a technical background. When I say that their "My Documents" folder is a level above their Dropbox folder, I get a blank stare. While many users can create folders and somewhat organize their data, to most non-experienced users I've encountered, the mental image of a hierarchy of data segmented into directories is not represented clearly enough by the GUI's of modern operating systems. When people hear the word "folder" and see the folder icon, they don't think of it (the way we do) as a metaphysical representation of the overall directory tree. They simply think of a folder on a desk. A folder on a desk is not usually inside another folder. It's usually just sitting there. So a user without knowledge of the tree/hierarchy model just sees various sets of folders, not a set of folders within other folders. Therefore getting things into their Dropbox is an exercise of mental visualization that takes time and explanation. Further, once I've somewhat explained this concept, I usually leave it there and tell them that "the green checkmark means you're backed up." The web interface is a whole new exercise in visualization that is quite a bit more difficult to pick up. Even after I tell people that "your data is synced to the web interface," they don't initially understand what that entails, and believe the web interface is separate from the files they've "backed up" on "their Dropbox" (the local Dropbox folder.) My girlfriend (A/B test subject #1) is used to using the "upload" button on the Dropbox web interface because for a good while she didn't realize things on her local folder would sync to the web interface. She's also not entirely comfortable with the hierarchy model, and the "upload" model is in fact easier for her to understand. Reminds me of the SJ quote from an AllthingsD conference where he says every usability test hits a wall when the user encounters the filesystem. I've seen this evidenced again and again.
      - barik 14y ago
        "When I say that their "My Documents" folder is a level above their Dropbox folder, I get a blank stare." You might get a blank stare, because Windows itself has been trying (somewhat unsuccessfully) to move away from this hierarchical model, blurring this metaphor. Consider the Libraries feature, which can essentially collect many folders (My Documents, Dropbox\Documents) and can represent them as a single virtual library. Similarly, "Favorites" further serve to flatten this hierarchical model (Desktop, Downloads). And finally, consider things that look like folders but aren't physical folders at all (Recent Places). I actually didn't understand your "level above" analogy either. On Windows 7, the My Documents is: C:\Users\barik\Documents (appears as My Documents but the folder is actually called Documents, hah!) and C:\Users\barik\Dropbox which is at the same level?
        nightpool 14y ago
        The dropbox folder can be chosen at installation time, so apparently he chose to put it inside the Documents folder.
        deleted 14y ago
        [deleted]
        UnFleshedOne 14y ago
        I think some earlier versions of dropbox client had the folder be in Documents by default and then they changed it.
        kbolino 14y ago
        On Windows XP, the Dropbox folder appears underneath "My Documents" by default. This is probably because prior to Vista, Microsoft treated %UserProfile% like a system folder, and so the only link most users would know is "My Documents". Even more confusing, pressing the "Up" button in "My Documents" would take you to the Desktop unless you navigated to the folder by specifying its actual path. Perhaps also worth noting, in a clean Win7 install, the folder is initially labelled "Documents". It's not until you install a program that tries to access it by the "My Documents" link (there's actually a hidden link with that name) that the folder appears to rename itself to "My Documents".
    - ThomPete 14y ago
      My GF who is pretty computer savy have a hard time understanding it too. She basically don't trust it even though I have told her that it has multiple safety measures and the fact that it's on more than one machine (we have 8) is actually making it better. There are of course issues with regards to syncing but besides that.
  - bierko 14y ago
    This is a good point. I went to a Dropbox talk, and one of the employees mentioned, in a similar vein, that a lot of users first use the app on a mobile device and never realize that there's also a desktop client.
- jellicle 14y ago
  What I hear you saying is that there's no way to know from the Dropbox app that a particular private file containing your SSN and porn collection is shared with the entire world. Also, it's broken. When I click "Get Link" to get a shareable link for the file, I get this: > "Error Creating Link There was an error creating your link. Please try again."
sidcool1234 14y ago
Any reason why the marketing department would do it?
- bonaldi 14y ago
  It drives recipients to the Dropbox website. Eg, right now I can put an image file in my /public, get the link and embed it in an img src tag without the anyone else ever having to know it's on Dropbox. This way, I can't do that. I can make a clickable link and paste that. Then people have to click to see the picture on the Dropbox website. Where Dropbox can constructively engage them in a dynamic exciting conversation.
  - czottmann 14y ago
    That last sentence made me snicker.
  - simonbrown 14y ago
    They could just change the "copy public link" to no longer give a direct link, similar to the "get link" button.
  - TeMPOraL 14y ago
    > Eg, right now I can put an image file in my /public, get the link and embed it in an img src tag without the anyone else ever having to know it's on Dropbox. > This way, I can't do that. And it sucks. Embedding public/ images on university discussion group was one of my primary uses of Dropbox and I would have never ever suspected that of all the features, they would phase this one.

_delirium 14y ago

I do like the Public folder, but you can still easily get a list of exactly what's shared; the "Links" sidebar (https://www.dropbox.com/links https://www.dropbox.com/links) lists all links you've created, and lets you deactivate any that you don't want to be available anymore.

nl 14y ago
Dropbox has a website? (Yes I knew Dropbox had a website. I'm speaking for all those users who downloaded it once and now use it to synchronize their computers, never realizing there is a website too. And yes, these people do use the public folders: they right click & send the link to someone, but don't connect that to the idea they can see their own files on the web)
- antidoh 14y ago
  I have helped a computerphobe (hates computers and Internet, clueless, but must use them) with Dropbox. She gets that her folders on various computers around town are synchronized. I had a very difficult time explaining to her that her same folders and files are available via the web interface. Those people are out there.
  - tammer 14y ago
    Most people (as in the majority of the population with access to digital media) have a very difficult time understanding that the filesystem is a hierarchy. I'm always espousing the necessity of backups to my friends/family, which means I've usually got the role of setting up a Dropbox account for someone without a technical background. When I say that their "My Documents" folder is a level above their Dropbox folder, I get a blank stare. While many users can create folders and somewhat organize their data, to most non-experienced users I've encountered, the mental image of a hierarchy of data segmented into directories is not represented clearly enough by the GUI's of modern operating systems. When people hear the word "folder" and see the folder icon, they don't think of it (the way we do) as a metaphysical representation of the overall directory tree. They simply think of a folder on a desk. A folder on a desk is not usually inside another folder. It's usually just sitting there. So a user without knowledge of the tree/hierarchy model just sees various sets of folders, not a set of folders within other folders. Therefore getting things into their Dropbox is an exercise of mental visualization that takes time and explanation. Further, once I've somewhat explained this concept, I usually leave it there and tell them that "the green checkmark means you're backed up." The web interface is a whole new exercise in visualization that is quite a bit more difficult to pick up. Even after I tell people that "your data is synced to the web interface," they don't initially understand what that entails, and believe the web interface is separate from the files they've "backed up" on "their Dropbox" (the local Dropbox folder.) My girlfriend (A/B test subject #1) is used to using the "upload" button on the Dropbox web interface because for a good while she didn't realize things on her local folder would sync to the web interface. She's also not entirely comfortable with the hierarchy model, and the "upload" model is in fact easier for her to understand. Reminds me of the SJ quote from an AllthingsD conference where he says every usability test hits a wall when the user encounters the filesystem. I've seen this evidenced again and again.
    - barik 14y ago
      "When I say that their "My Documents" folder is a level above their Dropbox folder, I get a blank stare." You might get a blank stare, because Windows itself has been trying (somewhat unsuccessfully) to move away from this hierarchical model, blurring this metaphor. Consider the Libraries feature, which can essentially collect many folders (My Documents, Dropbox\Documents) and can represent them as a single virtual library. Similarly, "Favorites" further serve to flatten this hierarchical model (Desktop, Downloads). And finally, consider things that look like folders but aren't physical folders at all (Recent Places). I actually didn't understand your "level above" analogy either. On Windows 7, the My Documents is: C:\Users\barik\Documents (appears as My Documents but the folder is actually called Documents, hah!) and C:\Users\barik\Dropbox which is at the same level?
      - nightpool 14y ago
        The dropbox folder can be chosen at installation time, so apparently he chose to put it inside the Documents folder.
        deleted 14y ago
        [deleted]
        UnFleshedOne 14y ago
        I think some earlier versions of dropbox client had the folder be in Documents by default and then they changed it.
      - kbolino 14y ago
        On Windows XP, the Dropbox folder appears underneath "My Documents" by default. This is probably because prior to Vista, Microsoft treated %UserProfile% like a system folder, and so the only link most users would know is "My Documents". Even more confusing, pressing the "Up" button in "My Documents" would take you to the Desktop unless you navigated to the folder by specifying its actual path. Perhaps also worth noting, in a clean Win7 install, the folder is initially labelled "Documents". It's not until you install a program that tries to access it by the "My Documents" link (there's actually a hidden link with that name) that the folder appears to rename itself to "My Documents".
  - ThomPete 14y ago
    My GF who is pretty computer savy have a hard time understanding it too. She basically don't trust it even though I have told her that it has multiple safety measures and the fact that it's on more than one machine (we have 8) is actually making it better. There are of course issues with regards to syncing but besides that.
- bierko 14y ago
  This is a good point. I went to a Dropbox talk, and one of the employees mentioned, in a similar vein, that a lot of users first use the app on a mobile device and never realize that there's also a desktop client.
jellicle 14y ago
What I hear you saying is that there's no way to know from the Dropbox app that a particular private file containing your SSN and porn collection is shared with the entire world. Also, it's broken. When I click "Get Link" to get a shareable link for the file, I get this: > "Error Creating Link There was an error creating your link. Please try again."

sidcool1234 14y ago

Any reason why the marketing department would do it?

bonaldi 14y ago
It drives recipients to the Dropbox website. Eg, right now I can put an image file in my /public, get the link and embed it in an img src tag without the anyone else ever having to know it's on Dropbox. This way, I can't do that. I can make a clickable link and paste that. Then people have to click to see the picture on the Dropbox website. Where Dropbox can constructively engage them in a dynamic exciting conversation.
- czottmann 14y ago
  That last sentence made me snicker.
- simonbrown 14y ago
  They could just change the "copy public link" to no longer give a direct link, similar to the "get link" button.
- TeMPOraL 14y ago
  > Eg, right now I can put an image file in my /public, get the link and embed it in an img src tag without the anyone else ever having to know it's on Dropbox. > This way, I can't do that. And it sucks. Embedding public/ images on university discussion group was one of my primary uses of Dropbox and I would have never ever suspected that of all the features, they would phase this one.