UploadThingy
General
How did you come up with the idea?
After looking at a whole bunch of web sites, we realized that receiving large files is a pain in the neck. We've seen pages and pages of instructions on how to login to FTP servers. Or long-winded instructions on how to use other off-site services to transfer large files. We thought - woah - that's got to be pretty frustrating. That's when we came up with UploadThingy - a simple solution to a pretty big problem. Just copy and paste some html code on a web page and presto - you've made everyone's life a lot easier. Try it out! It's easy for you - and most of all - it's easy for your customers and partners.
Why is it called UploadThingy?
Hm. Because it's a thingy that uploads. What would you have called it?
How do I learn more about how this thing works?
Watch the short video here.
Installing UploadThingy
I don't see a form on my site, it just says Loading... with a twirly thing.
This happens when the UploadThingy code somehow gets messed up by something. That 'something' can be a whole slew of things. Like when you're using an online site builder tool. They sometimes translate stuff into other stuff that in turn breaks things. See if your sitebuilder software has a raw html edit mode and try pasting the UploadThingy code that way: If that doesn't work, contact us at hello@uploadthingy.com. It would be great if you could publish the page to your site and send us a link - that way we can take a look and figure it out a lot quicker.
I'm getting HTTPS security errors/warnings after adding the UploadThingy HTML code to my page.
This is probably happening because the page you've put your UploadThingy code on is loaded through HTTPS. You can fix this by change the following in your UploadThingy code:
change http://49video.resources.s3.amazonaws.com/uploadthingy.js to https://s3.amazonaws.com/49video.resources/uploadthingy.js
change http://49video.resources.s3.amazonaws.com/loading.gif to https://s3.amazonaws.com/49video.resources/loading.gif
When you subscribe to UploadThingy, make sure you select the SSL option.
I know I entered the correct domain when I grabbed my code, but it's telling me the domain is wrong.
This usually happens when you're using an online site builder tool. The domain or url of the tool that you use to build your site isn't necessarily the same domain as your actual site. The best thing to do is to publish the page to your site and take a look there - it'll probably work. If not, or if you have questions on this, please contact us at hello@uploadthingy.com.
Where can I get the html code for my UploadThingy after I've already signed up?
If you lose or somehow mess up your UploadThingy html code, you can always grab it again using the form on the left. Just use the same domain name and password you used when you originally grabbed your code.
How do I customize my UploadThingy after I've already grabbed the code?
Just use the form on the left. Fill in the same domain name and password you used when you originally grabbed your code and then click the customize it link.
Can I put my UploadThingy on multiple domains?
Yes. But we'll have to set it up for you. Please contact us on this.
Where's my download/admin page?
Can't find the download/admin page for your UploadThingy? No problem. Just enter the domain * your UploadThingy lives on and click Find it!.
* Enter the domain that you used when you grabbed the code for your UploadThingy. Example: mysite.com.
You can also just click the Download login link above. The only difference is that you'll have to enter your domain name along with your password.
Can I allow UploadThingy form submissions without file uploads?
Yes. When you grab your code, click the Customize it link and deselect the Require at least one file to submit option. Contact us if you already have an UploadThingy and would like to enable this feature.
What's that code?
The code that you get when you fill out the form on the left writes your UploadThingy download form to the page you put it on. The reason there's so much code is because we've exposed most of what creates your form so it's easily customizable. See below for details on how you can customize your UploadThingy.
To get your UploadThingy code, just fill out the form on the left and click Get it!. Click the code, copy it to your clipboard and then paste it into a web page on your site.
Where do I put the code?
Paste your UploadThingy code anywhere between the <body> and </body> tags on a web page. Pages can be formatted in all sorts of ways, with tables or divs or just text with <br>s. Just find the spot on the page you'd like to place the form, find the corresponding spot in the page code and paste the code there.
Please contact us if you have any questions!
All of a sudden it stopped working on my Homestead site!
Homestead recently changed something in their code which in turn is breaking the UploadThingy code. Here's a work around:
Look for this line in your UploadThingy code:
h+="<p><input class='widget_button' id='49widget_submitbutton' type='submit' name='suploadvideo' value='Upload'></p>";and replace it with this line:
h+="<p><input class='widget_button' id='49widget_submitbutton' onclick=\"if (checkform()) { upload('start'); document.getElementById('uploadform').submit();}\" name='suploadvideo' value='Upload'></p>";And, you also have to replace all $() function calls with document.getElementById() - the best way to do this is to use a text editor and search for '$(' and replace with 'document.getElementById('.
Make sure that it's all on one line. Please don't hestitate to contact us if you have any questions!
Will it work on my Wordpress site?
Yes. You'll need the Raw HTML Plugin here and do not apply the raw tags and then edit in Visual mode.
Using UploadThingy
What are those little envelopes for?
Click the little envelope next to a file download link to get a link that you can copy and paste into an email to give someone else access to a file that has been uploaded through your UploadThingy.
What are those little brown stickies in the Info column for?
These are status indicators. Click a sticky to change the status. The status you select does not do anything but inform you (and your team) of the status of each upload.
Which browsers will UploadThingy work on?
UploadThingy will work on all major browsers: Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, Chrome and Safari.
Will my UploadThingy work only on my site?
Your UploadThingy will only work on your site, ie the domain you enter when you get your code. So if somebody copies your code and puts it on another site, it just won't work there.
Do I have my own upload file storage area?
Each widget has its own file storage area. So when you put a widget on your site, you'll only see files uploaded from your upload widget.
What kind of limits are there?
- Up to 20 files can be uploaded per job - you can select the number of file upload fields when you grab the code for your UploadThingy.
- Maximum total size of all files per upload: 1GB (=1000MB)
How long are uploaded files available for download?
Uploaded files and metadata will be available for one month after upload. You can delete uploads from your download page.
Where are the files actually being stored?
We're using Amazon's EC2 to stream and S3 to store the uploaded files. We recently heard that Amazon's web services are serving up more data than all of Amazon's other sites combined (like amazon.com). Wow - cool stuff.
What counts towards my monthly transfers limit?
Transfers include all uploads and downloads. That means that the amount of data that is uploaded through your UploadThingy and the send files feature and the amount of data downloaded from the alert emails and download page count towards your monthly transfers limit.
We keep logs of all transfers back to the beginning of the previous month. Please contact us if you'd like a printout of your transfers.
Secure SSL encryption
I purchased SSL encryption. Now what?
Your upload form will automatically begin using SSL encryption for uploads, although the form itself won't change in any way. While files are being uploaded, it'll say Your files are uploading via a secure SSL encrypted connection.
Go here to access your SSL encrypted download page: https://www.uploadthingy.com/ssl_download. There's also a link to the encrypted page on the regular download page (before you sign in).
Where's the SSL encrypted download page?
Go here to access your SSL encrypted download page: https://www.uploadthingy.com/ssl_download. There's also a link to the encrypted page on the regular download page (before you sign in).
I put my upload form on a secure page and it's giving me warning messages.
Even though communication with the server is encrypted when you purchase that option, some files that UploadThingy uses are not coming from a secure server - and they have nothing to do with the actualy secure transfer of files or metadata. This is not a problem if your upload form is on a non-encrypted page. Again, even though your page may not be encrypted, the upload form is communicating with the server through a secure connection.
To make those warning messages go away, you'll have to change two things in your code:
Change this line (at the top):
<script src="http://49video.resources.s3.amazonaws.com/uploadthingy.js" type="text/javascript" language="Javascript"></script>
to this:
<script src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/49video.resources/uploadthingy_ssl.js" type="text/javascript" language="Javascript"></script>
and this (a few lines down):
<img src=http://49video.resources.s3.amazonaws.com/loading.gif1 width=16 height=16>
to this:
<img src=https://s3.amazonaws.com/49video.resources/loading.gif width=16 height=16>
You have to upgrade to secure SSL encryption for this to work. Please contact us if you have any questions!
Subscriptions
How do I purchase a subscription?
Login to your download/admin area and click the my subscription link. Select an option and click the Paypal Subscribe button. You can subscribe with your Paypal account or a credit card.
How do I change my subscription?
Login to your download/admin area and click the my subscription link. Select an option and click the Paypal Subscribe button.
What happens when I reach my monthly transfer limit?
When you reach your monthly transfer limit, you will not be able to download files from your download/admin area. Your UploadThingy will still work, people will still be able to upload files to you. Files will not be deleted unless they are more than 1 month old. See above to find out how you can change your subscription to increase your monthly transfer limit.
How do I cancel my subscription?
Please click over to this Paypal page.
How do I change the Paypal account or credit card for my subscription?
You'll have to cancel your subscription (see above) and then re-subscribe through your download/admin page. You won't lose any data or have to change anything in your UploadThingy html code. While your subscription is inactive, people will still be able to upload files to you through the UploadThingy on your site.
Customizing UploadThingy
How can I customize my widget?
Select the Customize it! link in the Get your UploadThingy form on the home page - you'll see quite a few options with which you can custimize your UploadThingy.
Much more is possible, you'll have to know a little about css and javascript though. If you do, then it should be pretty easy.
- You'll be embedding this code on an html page that you own. The page can look whichever way you like, you can add instructions for your clients and make it look exactly like the style of your web site.
- You can place the code anywhere on your page that you like. Just make sure it's between the <body></body> tags. You can place it into tables and into divs.
- There's a javascript function called getUploadForm() in the code that populates the upload form. Edit the function to change the form fields.
- Edit the javascript function checkform() to make sure your clients fill out the form correctly. You can access the form values with document.getElementById('id').value.
How can I add more fields to my form?
If you want to add more than the four fields available through the Customize it! link in the Get your uploadthingy form on the home page, do the following:
Look for function getUploadForm(json) in your code. That's the Javascript function that builds the code for your form. Let's say you want to add a Phone Number field to your form. Add the following line into function getUploadForm(json) according to where you want it to show in your form (make sure it's all on one line):
h+="<p style='color:gray'>Phone Number<br><input type=text style='width:400px;' id='phone_number'></p>";
Next, you'll have to change function checkform(). That's the function that gets called just before the form is submitted. What you have to do is add the value of the new field with a title (if you like) to the description field - like this (make sure it's all on one line):
document.getElementById('uploader_description').value="Phone Number: " + document.getElementById('phone_number').value + "\n"+document.getElementById('uploader_description').value;
You might also want to look at the source code of the Additional fields example on the examples page.
If you'd like to have us do this for you, please send us an email with a detailed description of the additional fields you would like. We'll get back to you with a preliminary estimate of development costs and timeframe.
Can I change the text that is shown after an upload completes?
You can change the text that appears after the upload completes. This is not only so you can personalize the message, but also to add additional functionality such as a Paypal payment form. Just add the following line to your UploadThingy code - right below the line that starts with var sitecode=:
uploadcompletehtml="This is the html that will show when the upload completes.";
Replace the text in quotes with the html that you want to appear.
Add <$refcode$> anywhere you want the upload reference code to appear in your text. You can use it multiple times. Example: uploadcompletehtml="This is the html that will show when the upload completes. Your upload reference code is: <$refcode$>.";
Add <$filelinks$> where you want to show links to the uploaded files. Example:
uploadcompletehtml="This is the html that will show when the upload completes. Here are links to the files you just uploaded: <$filelinks$>.";
Can I redirect the user to another page after an upload completes?
You can redirect to any url after the upload completes. Just add the following line to your UploadThingy code - right below the line that starts with var sitecode=:
uploadcompleteredirect="http://www.yoururl.com";
Replace the text in quotes with the url that you want to redirect your users to after their upload completes. Example:
uploadcompleteredirect="http://www.uploadthingy.com";
Add <$refcode$> anywhere you want the upload reference code to appear in your redirect url. You can use it multiple times. Example:
uploadcompleteredirect="http://www.uploadthingy.com/?r=<$refcode$>";
How can I redirect the user to a Paypal payment page after upload completes?
Fill out the form below to generate the code you'll need to redirect your users to your Paypal payment page after their upload completes (*=required):
Your Paypal account email (example: myemail@mydomain.com) *
The name of the item being purchased (example: 1 Birthday cake) *
The price of the item being purchased in dollars and cents (example: 19.95) *
The cost of shipping for the item being purchased in dollars and cents (example: 5.99)
URL of your site (example: http://mysite.com)
I want to limit the size of each upload
The default size limit for uploads is 1GB. To set the upload size limit to a value below 1GB, add the following line to your UploadThingy html code just above authupload();:
maxsize=max_upload_size;
where max_upload_size is the maximum size of an upload in bytes.
Example: maxsize=10000000; will not allow uploads greater than 10MB.
Notes: Maxsize values above 1GB will be ignored. Do not use commas when setting maxsize. Just the number of bytes.
I want to allow only certain file types
Change the code in function checkform() to also check for the file extension (in this example it'll only allow .jpg and .gif):
var found=false;
var cnt=0;
while (document.getElementById('uploadfile'+cnt)) {
if (document.getElementById('uploadfile'+cnt).value.length>0) {
if (document.getElementById('uploadfile'+cnt).value.indexOf(".jpg")==-1 && document.getElementById('uploadfile'+cnt).value.indexOf(".gif")==-1) {
alert("Ooops. Only .jpg or .gif allowed.");
return;
}
found=true;
break;
}
cnt++;
}
I want to download all the files from each upload at once (zip file)
Instead of downloading each file from an upload seperately, you can download all files from each upload to a zip file. To enable zip file downloads, add the following line to your UploadThingy html code just above authupload();:
savetozip=true;
so it looks like this:
...
<script type="text/javascript" language="Javascript">
var sitecode="...";
savetozip=true;
authupload();
function getUploadForm(json) {
...
I want different forms to send email alerts to different people.
Add a line to your UploadThingy html code (right under the line that starts with sitecode=...) that looks like this:
sendalertsto="x,y,z";and replace x, y and z with the number of the field on the email alerts page of your download page at http://uploadthingy.com/download. So if you want the form only to send alert emails to the first email in the email alerts list, you add this line:
sendalertsto="1";Or to the 1st and 3rd:
sendalertsto="1,3";
How can I use my own image for the upload button?
Look for the line in your UploadThingy code that starts with
h+='<input class='widget_button'....
change the type to 'image', add src='link to your image' and add a hidden input so it looks like this:
h+="<input type='hidden' name='suploadvideo' value='Upload'><p><input class='widget_button' id='49widget_submitbutton' type='image' src='http://path_to_your_button_image'><p>";
Replace http://path_to_your_button_image with the link to your image and make sure that is all on one line.
How can I change or translate all of the other messages and text that are not in the UploadThingy code?
Look for the line in your UploadThingy code that starts with var sitecode=..., insert the following directly below and translate everything on the ride of of the = signs.:
w_["Your files are uploading"]="Your files are uploading";w_["via a secure SSL encrypted connection"]="via a secure SSL encrypted connection";
w_["Please do not refresh or navigate away from this page until the upload is complete."]="Please do not refresh or navigate away from this page until the upload is complete.";
w_["Uploading... "]="Uploading... ";
w_["% complete"]="% complete";
w_["remaining time"]="remaining time";
w_[" minutes"]=" minutes";
w_[" seconds"]=" seconds";
w_["Ooops. The size of the file(s) you are uploading ("]="Ooops. The size of the file(s) you are uploading (";
w_[") is larger than the maximum file size allowed "]=") is larger than the maximum file size allowed ";
w_[". <a href=# onclick='authupload();'>Please click here to try again.</a>"]=". <a href=# onclick='authupload();'>Please click here to try again.</a>";
w_["Ooops. Your upload has failed."]="Ooops. Your upload has failed. There must have been a problem with the connection somewhere between your computer and the upload server. <a href=# onclick='authupload();'>Please click here to try again.</a> <br><br>Server error: ";
Can you help me customize my widget?
If you'd like to have us customize your form for you, please send us an email with a detailed description of the additional fields you would like. We'll get back to you with a preliminary estimate of development costs and timeframe.
Please contact us at hello@uploadthingy.com if you have any other questions.