File overwriting revisited

Still no love…haven’t as yet seen any action. As I had prior mentioned, I really need the file overwrite functionality.

I have since experimented with a number of other plugins, some OK and some not so great. For the time being I have settled on the WordPress File Upload plugin, because it allows me to decide whether or not I want to allow file overwriting. In some instances I don’t want overwriting, but in others I do.

So, here’s where I am: I still really like and prefer File Away, because of its very rich feature set. However, because it does not allow for file overwrites, I am setting it aside for now, and using WordPress File Upload, which isn’t at all bad, but lacks some of the nice features of File Away.

If/when File Away implements some kind of file overwriting protocol, I’ll gladly send some money their way and switch back.

Richard Raymond

This is coming in the next release. It’s a fixed settings though, in the shortcode. No user interaction option.

please update to version 3.9

Well, Thom, you did it. THANK YOU! And, I kept up my part of the ‘bargain’…I sent some $ your way.

Actually, I very much like how you implemented the file overwrite functionality–kind of similar to the WFU plugin I mentioned in an earlier post. Nice.

I do have one further comment. It’s a minor annoyance, and definitely not a big deal. I’m speaking specifically to the instance where one is doing file uploads. When defining (and thus, by default ‘allowing’ subdirectories) for the file upload feature, one has to first click on the Destination Directory input box, from which you then select the (base+sub) directory. Then, you must click again on the Destination Directory input box, where you can then select from the subdirectories. This is redundant.

I’d like to suggest that when someone specifies to display subdirectories, the (base+sub) path that has already been specified as part of building the shortcode should be automatically displayed under the Destination Directory input box. That way, the redundant step is eliminated, resulting in what I believe would be a more straightforward and intuitive user experience.

That’s it. Thanks again for your very excellent work on this plugin.

Richard Raymond

Thanks, Richard.

To link uploads to the current directory on the table, do this:

1. In your File Away shortcode, add

drawerid=1

2. In your File Up shortcode, add

matchdrawer=1

Thanks very much, Thom. I did as you suggested. This solution does, in fact work, but I’d like to share some observations:

1. I placed the [fileaway] shortcode beneath my [fileup] shortcode, because my focus is to upload files, and not display a file list.
2. The [fileaway] shortcode does, in fact present a list of the (base+sub) subdirectories, from which I can then select one of my three desired upload subdirectories
3. After selecting my desired subdirectory, the list then populates with all the file names in that directory, together with file modify dates and sizes–information that in my case I neither need nor desire to know.
4. I believe this extra information will probably prove to be a distraction for my users, who are not particularly ‘file or web-savvy’
5. Additionally, in my case the list is quite long, which takes time to populate–yet another distraction

To me this solution, while clearly workable, seems a bit convoluted, compared to the I/O suggestion of my prior post. So, I’ll stick with just using the bare [fileup] method, requiring first clicking the Destination Directory to display the (base+sub) path, and then clicking again to select my desired subdirectory.

Thanks again for such a great plugin. I’m definitely a fan.

Richard Raymond

File size and date modified are distractions? Are your users adhd? ??

[fileup matchdrawer=1]
[fileaway directories=”true” drawerid=1 size=”no” mod=”no”]

Let’s just say they’re not us!

Thanks for the shortcode parameter mods for not displaying the size and modify dates. As I’ve poked around more, I see where they came from. I look forward to exploring and learning more of the subtleties of FileAway!

Now, I thought you might be interested in how I’ve been able to “persuade” FileAway to provide the exact functionality I desired.

Here’s the shortcode I’m using:

[fileaway sub=”maintenance/minutes” directories=”true” size=”no” mod=”no” nolinks=”yes” only=”000″ showto=”administrator” drawerid=”1″]

[fileup base=”1″ sub=”maintenance/minutes” uploadlabel=”Upload file(s)” filetypes=”pdf” showto=”administrator” matchdrawer=”1″]

In my case, this displays the three subordinate subdirectories to my minutes (base+sub) path: board, general, and special. Recall that my desire was to be able to click on one of the directory choices and then NOT have to suffer through the process of displaying all the file information in that directory. I’ve accomplished that, and it looks and works great. What I did was create an empty text file and in the case of the ‘General’ directory, named and loaded the file ,GENERAL-MINUTES-FOLDER.000. Then, I told [fileaway] to display only files with the “000” extension. That way, when I click on “General”, the resulting file display shows only “GENERAL MINUTES DIRECTORY” (with prettify=”on”), and takes virtually no time to populate. This has the added benefit of reminding the user just what directory he is in.

So, I’m there!

Thanks,
Richard

Well that’s some fancy footwork! Well done.

Hello ??

I was also wondering about file overwriting and tried that out. However, instead of overwriting the file, it’s just uploads a file with (1) appended to the name of the file.

Do I need to specify something in the shortcode or settings?

Thanks!

Nevermind, I found it! overwrite=true in fileup shortcode

Thanks for the plugin!