Not too long after releasing the first Jungle Disk 3.1 beta, we realized that the public file sharing functionality really needed a few changes to make it the powerful tool customers ultimately wanted. We went back to the drawing board in some respects and we’re happy to announce that we’re releasing another beta that dramatically improves the public file sharing functionality.
The beta can be downloaded from the software downloads page under the specific product and OS areas. Please submit any feedback via our support forum here: http://support.jungledisk.com/forums/192792-jungle-disk-3-1-beta-forum
Here are the major changes to the first 3.1 beta:
Initially, customers indicated that they wanted to store ‘shared’ files separately from their ‘private’ files, however, we received a lot of feedback after the beta launched that it was critical to have the ability to share files on existing online disks. So, to minimize confusion and simplify things, we’re dropping the concept of public vs. private online disks. Customers can still create unique online disks for the purpose of isolating shared data from private data if they choose, it’s just not a requirement for file sharing any longer.
Now that customers can share files on existing online disks, we’re able to support three simple and convenient ways to share files. First, a share can be created via web access by right-clicking on any file and choosing the ‘Share’ option. Second, a file can also be shared by right-clicking on any file within a Jungle Disk Network Drive, eliminating the need to log in to web access.
Lastly, the feature we are REALLY excited about…sharing files that are not stored on Jungle Disk! After choosing a default ‘target’ online disk in the configuration, local files can be shared by right-clicking on ANY file on the computer and selecting the ‘Share with Jungle Disk’ option. Behind the scenes, Jungle Disk will first upload the file to a default location on the selected online disk and then generate a sharing URL. Way cool!
We wanted to support a lot of flexibility and control over how customers share their files so we created a ‘Share Management’ page to manage share URL expiration dates, maximum number of downloads, and a few other parameters. For the beta, only a few of these features are exposed but we will be sure to have all of the options available for the final release.
(1) For the Workgroup Edition product, master account holders will determine if an assigned online disk will permit public file sharing. Therefore, any sub-account that has access to an online disk with file sharing enabled will be able to share files on and via that disk.
(2) A system restart may be required for some customers in order to share via right-clicking within the OS.
(3) If you have a Personal Amazon S3 account you will need to enable web access to use file sharing by providing your Amazon S3 account credentials here: https://www.jungledisk.com/secure/account/awsaccounts.aspx
(4) Public file sharing is not intended to be a CDN service, so all individual file shares are limited to a maximum of 50 downloads. We will review and evaluate this limit at the end of beta 2.
(5) As with the all of the other features of the Jungle Disk products, customers are responsible for any applicable bandwidth fees for downloaded files. Since customers have a choice of two locations when creating an online disk, Rackspace Cloud Files or Amazon S3, please consider using Cloud Files as there are no charges for bandwidth with that storage option!
11 Comments
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Paul said,
August 18, 2010 @ 5:02 pm
I am not seeing the beta 2 for the mac, just the current 3091 release.
Scott Gibson said,
August 18, 2010 @ 5:59 pm
We will get that fixed ASAP. Here is the correct link:
http://downloads.jungledisk.com/31beta/JungleDiskWorkgroup3092.dmg
Martijn said,
August 18, 2010 @ 5:59 pm
Looks like a very useful and userfriendly feature. Good job!
Nic said,
August 19, 2010 @ 12:39 pm
Public sharing seems to be a nice feature (although I’d wish to see an Android app first)… But am I supposed to give my secret encrypted password to anyone on the internet I want to share files with?
Nic
Bill said,
August 19, 2010 @ 12:54 pm
I still don’t see a link to download the beta for Mac Desktop from your Downloads area. And the direct link you provided above seems to be for the Workgroup edition. Is there a Mac Desktop beta available? This will be a great feature.
And a question: any thought of providing a simple way for sharing in the reverse direction? That is, so people can be given the means to upload large files into a JungleDisk online disk. There would have to be some type of security so that only authorized people could upload, and also a notification system for newly received files. But it would be highly useful for those of us who need to receive large files regularly.
Scott Gibson said,
August 19, 2010 @ 1:45 pm
@Bill – Please ensure you are navigating all the way to the specific product and OS download area. The Desktop Edition for Mac would be here: https://www.jungledisk.com/downloads/personal/desktop/mac/
We might consider sharing options in the other direction, but we have a lot of other items on the roadmap that have a higher priority right now.
Scott Gibson said,
August 19, 2010 @ 1:48 pm
@Nic – In order to share files that exist on an encrypted online disk, yes. Those files are encrypted with your personal key/password and without it, there is absolutely no way to decrypt the file for the person receiving the file. Having a password that only you know is optimal for security, but is obviously not ideal in this specific scenario.
Sharif George said,
August 21, 2010 @ 4:42 pm
will the reseller beta be out soon?
John said,
August 24, 2010 @ 9:51 am
You say that Cloudfiles has no bandwidth charges but Rackspace’s pages mention $0.22/GB an $0.08/GB.
Scott Gibson said,
August 24, 2010 @ 9:54 am
@John Using Cloud Files with Jungle Disk gets you better pricing.
Rafael said,
August 28, 2010 @ 1:29 am
Have you corrected the accent issues on MacOS?