Better File Uploader Feature Requests?

By Aziz , written on July 27, 2006 at 4:25 PM.

As movable type matures, I think it is more needed to have a more complex and mature file manager, which currently lacks a lot.
it seems that the people at SA are not that much interested to spend their energy to develop a better file manager for MT since it is not directly related to the purpose of blogging. Anyhow, personally I believe that having a file manager (something like what Word Press added in its new version) is a must in order to enable users not only upload file but also see the previous ones and even select or drag and drop some of them to their entries.
to sum up, I would recommend to start a bigger project of developing a file manager as a plugin which sounds to be the best solution.

By Tim Challies , written on July 28, 2006 at 4:24 PM.

I wholeheartedly agree with Aziz. Someone has to make a plugin that manages previously-added media. That is a huge oversight in MT.

As for BFU, I love the plugin and think it does what it does very well.

By George , written on July 28, 2006 at 4:54 PM.

I agree to Tim. BFU always did what I wanted it to do, and it did it very well.

By Dan Wolfgang , written on July 29, 2006 at 12:39 PM.

While I certainly agree that MT could do with a basic file manager, I’m certain that BFU will not become that.

When (if?) a file manager does come to MT, I hope it’s not integrated with the basic upload file tool. For me, uploading photos/files is an important tool and necessity, and I want it to be kept as clean and simple as possible. I’m afraid turning the uploader into a file manager would complicate this use too much.

By demonsurfer , written on July 29, 2006 at 5:25 PM.

What I’d like to see is an option to change how the syntax itself looks as well - such as style=”width:100px;height:100px; and so on, instead of the standard width=”100px” height=”100px” border=”1” blah blah.. can change this at source, but prefer not to mess with source where possible.

To respond to questions I saw on Planet MT:

Do you mostly upload photos, or other files?
- photos (FTP for anything else).
If photos, do you use them to build a gallery of some sort, or just the occasional photo to add to an entry?
- usually add to an entry.
Do you upload to a specific directory?
- yes, specific directory.
Do you upload with the year/month/ structure appended?
- nope.
Do you prefer to be shown the HTML, or have a new entry created?
- shown the code.
Do you create a thumbnail for your image upload?
- rarely unless original image size wont fit into layout ..I avoid popups when at all possible.
What size thumbnail do you make, and which sizing option do you use? Or would you prefer not to have the sizing automated?
- if used, it would be based on a % value of original image.
Do you use the For Photo Gallery button?
- never.
Do you normally use the Popup or Embedded buttons?
- embedded.
On the Show HTML screen, do you like having the HTML selected with one click? Or would you prefer this to be an option?
- one click is good :)

By Skye , written on August 1, 2006 at 8:33 PM.

I use BFU for photos, and I would love it if the interface provided a place to add the “alt” text.

By smartpill , written on August 2, 2006 at 10:53 AM.

I hacked BFU to resize images during upload instead of linking a thumbnail. The users are uploading unedited images, so this is a resizing utility in addition to producing the code. I also hacked the html so that it adds captions using this code. There may be a better solution to captions. It would be great if there was a preview, an option to rotate and a button to insert the code instead of manually copying and pasting. The photos are often added after the text, so starting a new entry with the photo really isn’t practical for us.

By smartpill , written on August 2, 2006 at 10:58 AM.

One more thing, I have also manually hidden the constrain proportions button, since it didn’t make sense to distort the photo or give the user more opportunity to mess something up. Could hiding this button be an option also?

By Toni , written on August 22, 2006 at 7:20 AM.

I’m looking forward to your new version of Better File Uploader. I’m missing it with the new MT. It’s frustrating to continually add the images folder, and change the option to show html. I use a mixture of embed and create thumbnail depending on the size of the image. I have never used the photo gallery button.

By Shaun , written on August 22, 2006 at 11:26 PM.

Great suggestions so far. I understand the need/desire to keep BFU streamlined so I do hope that SixApart integrates a file manager into future MT releases.

In terms of usefulness for me:
1) Bulk uploads (just 3-4 at a time would be great)

2) Captioning would be great. Since html/php pages are already being generated for the pop-up photos, it would be nice if you could provide a caption for each photo through BFU that would be included in the pop-up page. I guess it’s just a matter of getting the dimensions of the pop-up page right since it will need to be larger than the image dimensions itself.

3) The ability to resize the actual image would be great as it would save the time to resize them externally. However this starts to make BFU a little less streamlined so I understand if you don’t want to get into this.

By Max Watson , written on August 24, 2006 at 11:14 PM.

I’d love to see an option to specify the compression QUALITY of the thumbnails generated. I maintain a photoblog, and Better File Uploader has made it possible with MT. However, I find that I have to generate all my own thumbnails and upload them afterwards because those generated by Better File Uploader are riddled with artifacts. I like my thumbnails to look perfect, as they’re typically large (700 pixels wide).

By Tony , written on August 30, 2006 at 1:17 PM.

I’ve used another piece of blogging software called Serendipity that handles both new and previously uploaded media very, very well. That might be worth looking into for comparison.