OT: Dropbox to discontinue rendering HTML files

I’ve just seen this message from Dropbox which says they’ll be stopping HTML rendering of stored files from October 3rd;

We’re writing to let you know that we’ll be discontinuing the ability to render HTML content in-browser via shared links or Public Folder. If you’re using Dropbox shared links to host HTML files for a website, the content will no longer display in-browser.

Please note that this change will take effect for your account on October 3, 2016, and only impacts how shared files are displayed on the web. Your files will remain safe in Dropbox.

Thanks for being a loyal Dropbox user.

This is a big drawback for the system as I’ve always encouraged users to set up test sites in Dropbox for client feedback. There are also quite a few services that turn your Dropbox account into a true hosting account and map domains to your shared directories. All of those will, I suspect, stop working on the 3rd October as well.

I suspect Dropbox are clamping down on accounts that host sites and are abusing their bandwidth in the process. I’d also imagine that you could see HTML rendering (or domain mapping) come back as a paid option in the future.
Regards,
Tim.


freewaytalk mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
https://freewaytalk.softpress.com/person/options

I’ve always been surprised they’re allow it thus far.

David Owen
Printline Advertising

On 1 Sep 2016, at 09:23, Tim Plumb email@hidden wrote:

’ve just seen this message from Dropbox which says they’ll be stopping HTML rendering of stored files from October 3rd;


freewaytalk mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
https://freewaytalk.softpress.com/person/options

This is a big drawback for the system as I’ve always encouraged users to set up test sites in Dropbox for client feedback. There are also quite a few services that turn your Dropbox account into a true hosting account and map domains to your shared directories. All of those will, I suspect, stop working on the 3rd October as well.

Gosh - me too. So what would be the alternative?

Cheers

Thomas


freewaytalk mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
https://freewaytalk.softpress.com/person/options

I’ve always used a series of client named sub domains for my demo and dev sites on hosting on a dedicated demo domain from http://ineedwebhosting.co.uk. With the option of password protecting especially on the dev sites.

Such as…

client.mydemodomain.co.uk
client-dev.mydemodomain.co.uk

But then I do need scripting available for most sites

David Owen

On 1 Sep 2016, at 13:15, Thomas Kimmich email@hidden wrote:

Gosh - me too. So what would be the alternative?


freewaytalk mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
https://freewaytalk.softpress.com/person/options

Right. And if you’re already working on that client’s site, adding it to THEIR server is another option. Many/most cPanel servers allow you to create subdomains by clicking a few controls. Unlike real domains, subdomains don’t usually require any additional configuration at the DNS level, because the server is set to accept any hostname.domain.tld combination for a given domain.

So your client ExampleCorp could see their private preview at preview.example.com, and all you need to do is create a preview subfolder in their web root, add the subdomain through the cPanel, and SFTP the files into place (or let Freeway do it by tacking /preview/ on to the end of the directory path in the Site Preferences dialog. Password-protect that folder, so nobody gets to it by accident or craft by going to example.com/preview, and you are all set.

Once you have sign-off from the client, you can simply update the directory setting in Freeway and upload, or use another SFTP tool to move the contents of that preview folder up one level into the main Web root.

Walter

On Sep 1, 2016, at 10:05 AM, David Owen email@hidden wrote:

I’ve always used a series of client named sub domains for my demo and dev sites on hosting on a dedicated demo domain from http://ineedwebhosting.co.uk. With the option of password protecting especially on the dev sites.

Such as…

client.mydemodomain.co.uk
client-dev.mydemodomain.co.uk

But then I do need scripting available for most sites

David Owen

http://www.printlineadvertising.co.uk
http://www.davidowendesign.com

On 1 Sep 2016, at 13:15, Thomas Kimmich email@hidden wrote:

Gosh - me too. So what would be the alternative?


freewaytalk mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
Information for existing FreewayTalk / Groups.io users - Site Feedback - Softpress Talk


freewaytalk mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
https://freewaytalk.softpress.com/person/options

News that Dropbox won’t render my html files is sad but not a deal breaker for me as I’ve been moving away from Dropbox for client development sites for a while now mainly because, like David, most are PHP driven. I’ve also had issues with Dropbox being hosted over a secure connection (https) and trying to load insecure (http) scripts and other resources.

I now pay mu web host slightly more each year for more storage space and, like others, create a subdomain for each client site. When it comes to moving the site and making it live there is very little in the way of paths or config settings that need to be changed.
Regards,
Tim.

On 1 Sep 2016, at 15:05, David Owen email@hidden wrote:

I’ve always used a series of client named sub domains for my demo and dev sites on hosting on a dedicated demo domain from http://ineedwebhosting.co.uk http://ineedwebhosting.co.uk/. With the option of password protecting especially on the dev sites.

Such as…

client.mydemodomain.co.uk http://client.mydemodomain.co.uk/
client-dev.mydemodomain.co.uk http://client-dev.mydemodomain.co.uk/

But then I do need scripting available for most sites


freewaytalk mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
https://freewaytalk.softpress.com/person/options

All good guys - and reasonable.

But it was simply convenient because:

  1. Site Folder of Freeway as the project folder on dropbox (CMD-P → done)
  2. CodeKit (turning the above project folder into a Compass framework) for compiling stuff

… work both locally only.

Which will mean time swallowing upload process whatever you wherever do.

And I need lots of “loads” during development.

Cheers

Thomas


freewaytalk mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at: