9 Comments

Summary:

You can now create a link to any file or directory in your Dropbox account. People following the link will be taken to a page that allows them to view your shared files in their browser, and the links are ready-shortened; perfect for sharing via Twitter.

File sharing and syncing service Dropbox has just released a great new feature: The ability to create a link to any file or folder in your Dropbox account. People following the link will be taken to a specially designed landing page that allows them to view or play your shared files right from their browser, and the links are ready-shortened; perfect for sharing via Twitter — here’s an example: http://db.tt/6LZQjh.

To create a sharable link:

  • From the web or desktop app, pull up the context menu of the file/folder you’d like to share, then click “Get shareable link”
  • This takes you to the page view of the file/folder you’re linking, and you can grab the link from the top of the page.

Note that to get his feature, you have to use the experimental beta build of version 0.8 of the desktop client (available to download here), not the current version. It doesn’t seem to be available via the web app until you download and install the beta build of the desktop client.

It’s perhaps a little surprising that it’s taken the Dropbox team until now to add this functionality, but now that they have, I expect we’ll start to see a lot of Dropbox’s db.tt links appearing in my Twitter feed.

Let us know what you think of the knew linking feature in the comments.
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  1. I used Dropbox for some time and was pretty satisfied with it. Then I ran across 4shared.com and discovered that it’s much better. They have the same features presented above and 15 GB of free space instead of 2 GB in Dropbox. That’s really great.

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    1. Rob Richardson Thursday, June 24 2010

      I just looked at the 4shared.com site, and you only get 10GB for free, and there’s a 200MB cap on any one file. The free version also doesn’t include direct linking to files. So I guess I will stick with Dropbox.

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      1. I also use 4shared and they really give 15 GB in the account. They have a feature, kind of verification or something like that which allows to get additional 5 GB of space. As for me it’s cool – free 15 GB to store my files. Of course every site tries to give something new and better, but those who need more free GB should try 4shared))

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  2. I have been using Dropbox for a couple of years on PC and sending links to my files since the beginning! Granted the files needed to be in the Public folder but we have always been able to right mouse click any file in this folder and from the Dropbox submenu select the “Copy Public Link” – this has been one of the main attractions for me from the outset – so this is not new for PC – it may be for MAC OS thought (I notice the screenshot is MAC)

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    1. I suppose the new features really evolve around sharing: the landing page (for non-dropbox users) and the fact the link is ready shortened for sharing on Twitter.

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  3. 서울비의 알림…

    Dropbox : a Shareable Link to Any File in Your Account — 이제 Dropbox 안의 모든 파일을 바로 일반에게 공유할 수 있음. 웹에서 public link를 바로 따거나, 데스크톱 어플을 베타 버전으로 새로 설치….

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  4. mmm… that was implemented by Fiabee in his iPhone app some weeks ago! -> you can share your files with a simple share-link with no need to download all the file to your iPhone.

    Just try it at http://www.fiabee.com !

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  5. [...] but it’s an awesome addition. My only question for Dropbox: what took you so long? [via Web Worker Daily] Got a tech dilemma? We're here to help. Send us your burning technology questions. var [...]

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  6. [...] the new version of Dropbox, you can share certain files by emailing a link to the recipient. You can do this either through the web-based version of Dropbox, or through the desktop version. [...]

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