Dropic Upload
Site Review
If you’ve ever used Gmail on the Chrome Browser, you would’ve noticed that the attachment section allows you to quite conveniently drag and drop files in order to get them attached to the email. It’s one of those features that I love in Chrome. With the advent of HTML5, a technology that aims at structuring and presenting content in a better way on the world wide web; the possibilities of innovative sites has increased.
Dropic.net is a simple image uploading service whose ultimate selling point is its simplicity.
When you land on the opening page, you’re greeted with an empty package box waiting to be filled with your files. This box is in fact programmed with HTML5 to support the drag and drop operation. Navigation links are on the top right. Other than that, the page only features the Dropic Logo and a simple one line footer. In short, Dropic is free from the clutter and confusion that prevails on other image upload sites.
Functionality is as simple as the design. Just drag the file over the box and drop it in. Dropic will detect the file and proceed with the uploading. Once uploaded, the file will be a part of your uploaded files. These files can be easily viewed by navigating to the ‘My Uploads’ section. All your files are displayed in a grid view with two types of links provided. The first one being a Forum/BB link in case you want to share the link over a forum. The second one is a direct link that can be given to anyone who wants to see the file. The site does not allow you to create a user account at the moment. You uploads are tracked by your IP address. Sharing is incomplete without social networks and Dropic provides you with a link to easily share your file over Facebook or Twitter.
If you drag and drop multiple files, they start uploading simultaneously. The images are displayed in a grid fashion and they are greyed out on completion of their upload. Once all the images are completely uploaded the server, you are automatically taken over to the files section which is a compendium of all your uploaded files. Dropic only allows certain kinds of files. For example, try dragging over a word document and drop it on the homepage. You’ll be alerted with a message saying unsupported type. The developers are working on including support for more file types.
Dropic is a good initiative. However, one can’t help but notice the scope for improvements. The current implementation allows users to view only the files uploaded from the same IP in the ‘My Uploads’ section. The next step for the developers of Dropic would be to include user management and login control. This would make it more convenient for the end user to upload and view files later on. We look forward to a more feature-rich Dropic!