For those of us who don’t have an iDisk up in the MobileMe cloud, it can be very useful to have a way of easily moving files to an FTP server without opening up your FTP client and moving the file manually. Maybe you want to share a photo folder, send a colleague a set of documents or pass an MP3 file along — something which could surpass the attachment limit of your email server.
If you are using Transmit, there is a simple way to automatically upload a file to a given folder on your server, just by dragging and dropping. Known as a ‘Droplet’, it can reside on your desktop, in your dock, or even on Dashboard. While this idea seems a very simple concept, once you have set up and started using Droplets on a regular basis they can become an invaluable time-saver.
How is it done?
Open up Transmit and connect to the server you’d like to use. Navigate to the folder you’ll be wanting to upload your files to, then right-click and select ‘Save Droplet For Folder':

You then proceed to tell Transmit where to save the Droplet, and decide whether you want the password saving. If it’s somewhere you don’t want anyone else uploading to, it may be wise to refrain from having the Droplet save your password. I find that the process is much easier if you elect to have your password saved:

Once the Droplet is saved to your desktop, it is simply a case of dragging and dropping your file(s) to the icon to upload them immediately to your server. It may be more convenient to drag the icon to your dock to allow you to easily upload files regardless of whether your desktop is visible.
Droplets on your Dashboard
Transmit also provides a Dashboard widget which achieves a very similar outcome:

Once you input the server information, uploading is as simple as dragging your files, pressing the dashboard shortcut key on your keyboard, then releasing the files over the Transmit widget.
Droplets in action
Just to get your creative juices flowing, here are a few ideas of how this feature could be put to use.
- Zipping up a large set of photos to share with your family
- Regularly uploading photos to your website or blog, directly to the required folder
- Uploading documents or large graphics to a shared FTP space in your workplace
- Sharing video clips or audio files – often too large to be sent via email
If you can think of any other creative ways to use a Droplet, let me know in the comments — I’m always intrigued to hear new ideas!
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