The original way to share files online is to FTP them to your server and share a direct link. That has fallen by the wayside in recent years, replaced by far simpler tools like CloudApp and Droplr. But if you have your own VPS or shared hosting powered site, you likely have to use FTP semi-frequently to upload files, and you can’t just use existing sharing tools to hook into your own server.
But you can pick up a copy of the brand-new FTP Dropper, a simple menu-bar FTP uploader tool that costs just $0.99. It makes FTP simple enough that you might just start sharing files directly from your own server again, too.
Menubar Simplicity, Meet FTP.
FTP Dropper brings the simplicity of drag-and-drop menubar uploading to sharing files via FTP. After quickly entering your FTP server credentials, you can drag-and-drop individual files to the app window itself or just to the menubar icon. There’s no upload progress indicator on the menubar icon, but as soon as the file’s on your server you’ll here a familiar ding letting you know that the file’s uploaded and its path has been copied to your clipboard, Droplr-style.
It just about couldn’t get much simpler than that, and it worked great every time we tested it. You can’t drag a folder of files to FTP Dropper — something I’d happen to have liked to have for a simple way to publish to my Kirby powered site — but individual files large and small all worked great. And, you can set the upload folder of your choice in FTP Dropper’s basic settings, making it a great way to quickly upload images to your CMS’ upload folder or random files for sharing to a dedicated sharing folder.
Copying the link to your clipboard directly is nice, too, but you’ll likely need to edit the URL before sharing since it will be an ftp:// link by default — and, depending on your server settings, may show your server’s IP address instead of your domain name as well as an extra folder or two that’ll need shaved from the address. So, remove any folders from the address that aren’t publicly viewable — say, the public_html folder name, which is likely your site’s top folder — and swap in http:// and your domain name, and you’ve got a direct link to your file to share. Sure, it’s not as pretty a way to share files as using Droplr or CloudApp, but if you’ve already got space on your server, this gives you a simple and cheap way to share files.
Or hey: just use it for uploading files to your site. At its low price of just $0.99, it’s worth it for just that. And you can always change the folder path on demand to upload files to other folders when you need to do so. It’s easily the simplest way to upload files for a simple site, and also the easiest way to share files via FTP — and just happens to be something I’ve wanted for quite some time.
     |