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iDropper PersonalNormally: $49.00 ZOT Price: $19.95 |
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If you need to receive files from customers, clients and colleagues… If you make frequent and repetitive FTP uploads yourself… You need iDropper, the electronic self-addressed, stamped envelope. What is iDropper? iDropper™ is an FTP file transfer system in two parts: The iDropper application, and the uploader client "droplets" which it creates. You can distribute the droplets (Mac or Windows) to anyone you wish, or use them on your own desktop. What’s a Droplet? A droplet is a mini-application that sits on the computer desktop as an icon. Once a droplet is configured, FTP file transfer is accomplished simply by dragging files and folders onto the desktop icon. End users require no knowledge of FTP protocols, do not need to install and configure an FTP client, and NEVER need to know your FTP login and password information. It’s like giving users an electronic self-addressed stamped envelope! iDropper™ provides simple, secure, and reliable FTP file uploading. Who Uses iDropper? iDropper is designed for individuals and companies that need to receive large amounts of files from outside sources, be they customers, clients or colleagues. Printers, publishers and service bureaus love it! Software developers use it to deliver builds. Distributed workgroups use it to share project files. iDropper Personal is great for developers, independent professionals, and smaller companies that do not require the advanced workflow and business integration features of our iDropper Professional and iDropper Enterprise editions. With iDropper Personal, you will still be able to create and distribute unlimited droplets for Mac or Windows. Features:
Requirements:
For more information, visit www.iDropper.com, or read the manual at www.help.iDropper.com |
December 27th, 2006 at 12:27 am
Wow this looks quite interesting and promising!
December 27th, 2006 at 12:39 am
I work in the screenprinting business and this would be create for clients that need to sent me artwork. I just wish the personal edition would notify you via e-mail when your client uploads a file, unfortunately it seems as if only the $125 version or higher will do that :-(
December 27th, 2006 at 12:40 am
I have to admit, this is a good idea. Assuming it works as I assume it works, it’d make uploads way easier than other methods, and (obviously) allows others to do the same.
Cool app, no need for it here though.
December 27th, 2006 at 4:00 am
It would be nice if the personal edition would email notify. Maybe the app developer would consider carrying that feature over to the personal edition.
December 27th, 2006 at 5:03 am
This comes in PERFECT time. I need to give specific people FTP access to my site,my hosting service doesn’t allow multiple FTP users. That little client app distribution is EXACTLY what I need till I get things setup within’ the site.
Awesome!
December 27th, 2006 at 5:05 am
This looks like a brilliant application. I find myself trying to come up with ways to use it just so I can purchase it at a discount. Unfortunately, I’ve failed, I just don’t appear to have a use for this at the moment. I *should* be happy to be saving some money after going nuts over Xmas, but I’m oddly deflated. I want to need iDropper. Hmph.
In any case, thanks for making me aware of a really cool application I likely wouldn’t have otherwise found, macZOT! =)
December 27th, 2006 at 5:21 am
So… do you need a website to use this, or can you just do computer to computer transfer of files across the web? Sorry, I don’t know much about http://ftp...
Considering buying though…
December 27th, 2006 at 7:40 am
This looks great for the user-based website I’m working on, I’m going to ZOT!
December 27th, 2006 at 8:57 am
another vote for the email notifications – I don’t need the branding, etc, but would love the email notification. Guess I could write a cron job to notify me when file lands in the directory but that’s more work :)
December 27th, 2006 at 9:41 am
Also, is the droplet you send to clients that use Windows an executable (.exe)? If so, don’t most e-mail programs filter these messages out or not let you open them without warning messages? I know at my last job we had to rename .exe to .eex and then have the recipient rename it b/c our e-mail filters wouldn’t deliver those as attachments. Plus won’t software firewalls block these on the client side or ask the recipient to allow/disallow this message?
Can I create one generic droplet for all my customers, post this on my website and then tell them to download it, or must I make one for each customer?
If I decide that I want each customer’s files to download into their own personal folders on my ftp server, must I create the folders and then the droplets, or can I just create the path on the droplet, which will then create the necessary folders on the ftp server. For example, if I’m recieving artwork from Joe Shmoe and Jane Shmoe, I want these to go to Files/Joe and Files/Jane folders respectively.
December 27th, 2006 at 9:59 am
Great program that i amazingly have NEVER heard of before!
ZOTTED :)
December 27th, 2006 at 10:36 am
Hi Joe,
Thank you for your interest in iDropper.
Yes, Windows droplets are Windows executables (.EXE). If you want to send via e-mail, you’re probably safest zipping them into an archive first. You can also provide a download link to the file so it can be downloaded through a browser. If you’re dealing with customers with highly restrictive networks, you will probably want to talk to the IT department to figure out the best way to make iDropper work on the client side. We can not guarantee it will work in all situations.
You can make one generic droplet with a common destination directory for all your customer uploads, or create droplets for each individual user with individual destinations, the choice is yours. If you want to create individual folders for each customer, you can use the Pathfinder in iDropper to create the folders as you create the droplet. Pathfinder will allow you to navigate the FTP server and create new folders prior to creating the droplet. Once you create a new folder, set it as the destination and you’re good to go.
Let me know if you have more questions.
Cheers,
- Dave
December 27th, 2006 at 10:36 am
This is an awesome idea for an app… too bad it doesn’t work!… at least not for me.
Every time I try to create a Windows ‘Droplet’, iDropper just crashes. It was able to create a Mac droplet, but unfortunately it won’t actually upload anything. I’ve tried with 2 different servers.
Also, if you’re hoping to use this with Windows clients (and you get it to work), you should read this (from the release notes):
December 27th, 2006 at 10:37 am
It sounds great and I would have use for it… but… it doesnt work….
December 27th, 2006 at 10:45 am
I wonder how useful it would be for our hosting company… hmm.. When we send our customer their login info it would be nice to send them this droplet so that they can easily upload files to their account. But then if we’ve put some custom shop in their directory and they upload something with the same name.. it would overwrite it wouldn’t it? and then it would break the site? Or can they actually view the files and folders like they normally would in an ftp program? Hmm…..
December 27th, 2006 at 11:37 am
Bucca,
Can you be…more…specific…?
- Dave
December 27th, 2006 at 11:48 am
Same problem here, the app sounds ideal but a) it crashes when I try to create a Windows app and b) the OS X upload app didn’t do anything.
Preflight check confirmed everything was ok and I double-checked my paths and settings in Yummy FTP.
Nice idea, too bad it doesn’t work. 8-(
Regards.
December 27th, 2006 at 12:05 pm
Dean (and Paul and Bucca),
Do me a favor, if you could be so kind. Download the Pro or Enterprise trial:
http://www.idropper.com/downloads/iDropperInstall-1.0.dmg (Enterprise)
http://www.idropper.com/downloads/iDropperProInstall-1.0.dmg (Professional)
Take the other version for a spin and let me know if you have the same problem. I’m not trying to upsell you; just trying to get to the bottom of this. Each has a 30-day trial and is fully-functional and full-featured.
We will make this right with any purchasers. The software worked fine during our pre-release testing.
Thanks again for your patience and interest.
Cheers,
- Dave
December 27th, 2006 at 1:12 pm
Add me to the list of did not work in OS X.
Pathfinder gives spinning beach ball, entered path manually.
Preflight is all green lights but no upload.
Confirmed settings in Transmit no problem.
Gary
December 27th, 2006 at 1:29 pm
Hi Gary,
Thanks for your input. What OS are you running?
Would it be possible for you to send me the droplet you created? We can take it apart here and see what’s happening. We are unable to duplicate OSX problems.
On the bright side, we found the Win droplet crash problem and have it solved. Will post it as soon as we figure out what’s wrong with your OSX droplets.
Send droplet to: dscribner@idropper.com
Thanks!
- Dave
December 27th, 2006 at 1:33 pm
Tried it on 2 sites I have neither works!
Tried Dragster on both, worked fine both times, with next to no configuration… something must be wrong :(
It’s a real shame as this is a really nice solution to a common problem I have – “how to get files from a low end user to me without any fuss…
Will try the demo of the Pro version & see if that helps.
December 27th, 2006 at 1:37 pm
It didn’t work for me either. My guess is that it might be related to the fact that there is no passive FTP option. I tend to have FTP problems unless I use passive.
I always choose SFTP over FTP when I have the chance, and some of my providers only allow SFTP, which makes this useless for them (TextDrive, Strongspace).
I’m trying the Pro version to see if it works any better.
December 27th, 2006 at 1:44 pm
Tried it using Pro – same problem, hangs when trying to connect to my server using Pathfinder…
I try the same settings in any other FTP client & bingo works first time…
Hey here’s a thought, when the problem gets fixed – how about having an import filter for Transmit & Fetch shortcuts?
December 27th, 2006 at 1:51 pm
I think your right Matthew – that’s the only option that I can’t find & that’s the very same option that sometimes causes fails on other FTP clients :(
Hope you fix it guys, I’m loathe to spend anything on something that doesn’t work for me…
December 27th, 2006 at 1:52 pm
I keep getting rejected as a spammer, so I’m trying a different user id…
Hi Gary, Glenroo & Matthew,
Thanks for your input. What OS are you running?
Would it be possible for you to send me the droplet you created? We can take it apart here and see what’s happening. We are unable to duplicate OSX problems.
Matthew, it actually does do passive. If passive fails it tries an active connection. If the server rejects the passive connection it’s fine. There could be a case where a firewall eats the passive connection and we just sit and spin.
On the bright side, we found the Win droplet crash problem and have it solved. Will post it as soon as we figure out what’s wrong with your OSX droplets.
Send droplet to: dscribner@idropper.com
Thanks!
- Dave
December 27th, 2006 at 1:56 pm
Pro version failed for me, too. I also noticed the uploader is running emulated. It’s not a universal binary app. I don’t know if that would cause a problem or not.
It connects. I know it connects because it leaves a zero KB file behind with the correct name. It just refuses to upload any data. Again, I have the feeling this could be related to firewall problems, since FTP is such a quirky technology when it comes to ports.
When it fails it fails connecting, I get an error message about not being able to connect to port 34222 (I don’t think it’s the same port number every time, but it’s in the same range).
There also aren’t enough configuration options for the mail (in the Pro version). Many ISPs block port 25, and there’s no way to set it for 587 which many SMTP servers allow. I, therefore, can only set it for my ISPs mail server to get it to work here, but that would most likely fail on other networks. If I could choose 587, it would work fine.
I tried checking the box to use firewall port 21, but that didn’t make any difference.
If SFTP or passive FTP was available, I think that would fix the problem. SFTP being the preferred method.
December 27th, 2006 at 1:58 pm
I’m getting really frustrated…I’m trying to respond to your posts, but I’m getting blocked as a spammer. My MacZot hosts have disappeared from AIM, so I’m dead in the water if this doesn’t go through.
-Dave
December 27th, 2006 at 2:00 pm
I’d buy iDropper if the developer commits to fixing it, how about extending the time for this Zot? One guaranteed purchase here.
December 27th, 2006 at 2:05 pm
I agree :)
I like to know something works before I click buy!
December 27th, 2006 at 2:07 pm
Dave – if you can confirm that there will be a fix – I’ll buy tonight on trust alone!
December 27th, 2006 at 2:08 pm
Dave
If you can confirm that there will be a fix
I’ll maczot tonight on trust alone!
December 27th, 2006 at 2:10 pm
Dave, I’ve sent you an email with the droplet I exported from the Pro version.
Also, if we buy this this discounted MacZot deal, does that then make us eligible for discounted pricing to upgrade to the Pro version?
December 27th, 2006 at 2:10 pm
Sorry Dave, I missed your post by two minutes! Hope you get the Zot boys and girls to extend this one!
December 27th, 2006 at 2:22 pm
Doh – that darn spambot – see if this one gets posted twice?
December 27th, 2006 at 2:44 pm
Some of this has been covered, but I thought these things worth mentioning.
Per Dave’s request, I uninstalled the Personal Edition, and downloaded the trial of the Pro version. Here’s what I have learned…
1. Personal Edition would NOT make a Windows Droplet, but the Pro version would. However, it would not upload anything, and I received this error:
it was followed by the standard Windows dialog that says the app has encountered a problem and needs to close.
2. Both Personal and Pro versions would make a Mac Droplet, but they would not upload anything (no error given). I was able to correct this by turning off the built in firewall (OS 10.4.8). Once off, everything worked normally.
3. Clicking the “Pathfinder” button in either Personal or Pro versions would make iDropper unresponsive (spinning beachball of death). I would eventually have to force-quit. Turning off the firewall fixed this problem as well.
December 27th, 2006 at 2:49 pm
Hello Exerybody,
We have fixed the problem with Win Droplets crashing and will post a new installer shortly. I will let oyu know when it is available. I apologize for any inconvenience this has caused.
We are still looking into the problem some folks are having with OSX droplets. We have not been able to duplicate the problem and are looking at a couple droplets sent to us by kind posters. We hope to have an answer on that issue soon.
Please stay posted. We are committed to customer satisfaction and don’t want to leave anybody unhappy with their purchase.
Cheers,
- Dave
December 27th, 2006 at 2:58 pm
In my comment above, I forgot to mention that my Windows testing was on Windows XP SP2. I’m uncertain if .NET 1.1 is installed. For me, that’s kind of a deal breaker anyway. :(
December 27th, 2006 at 3:26 pm
Turning the firewall off does solve the upload problem. This means that passive FTP must be failing, and it’s trying to use normal FTP instead. I’m not going to turn the firewall off, though, so passive FTP needs to be fixed.
Or better yet, SFTP needs to be an option. This would serve several purposes:
1. More secure
2. Less trouble with firewalls
3. Works with web hosts that only allow SFTP
I’m not saying remove the FTP option, just add SFTP.
December 27th, 2006 at 5:23 pm
Thanks everybody for participating in today ZOT!
iDropper is a brand new product and it’s exciting to see such an obvious need (for some) filled.
I can definitely see this being a Godsend in the creative world where large files can’t / won’t go over email well. Most creative types have a server of their own, so they could easily use this as a plan B when the corporate site’s admin is on vacation.
Anyway, here are some thoughts on how to use this application:
1. Install a gallery type script in a directory and let all your friends, family upload photos to it.
2. Give your grandparents a Droplet so they can send photos easily.
3. Create a backup droplet and backup files to an offsite server
4. Drop your pre-viewed episodes of The Office onto the droplet so you don’t waste the space on your local hard drive.
Anybody else have some good uses (actual or otherwise?)
December 27th, 2006 at 6:53 pm
Thank you everybody who participated in todays promotion, both those of you who thought well enough of our product to make a purchase, and those who simply gave our software a trial run.
I am especially grateful to those of you who alerted us to problems with the software and who requested additional features. Because of you, we will have a better product.
As I said earlier, we have fixed the problem with Windows droplets causing the app to crash for some users. We are also looking into the problem some folks are having with OSX droplets. So far it seems to be a firewall problem, but we want to spend the day tomorrow looking further into it.
I will have a new installer available tomorrow that will at the least solve the Win droplet crash problem. I will post an announcement here as well as on our website in the news section and the forum. I will also e-mail everybody who made a purchase. If you did not make a purchase, but would still like to be included in that e-mailing, send me e-mail at dscribner@idropper.com and I will make sure you are included.
Finally, I would like to thank Cheryl and Brian of MacZot for helping me through this promotion. It was quite an experience. I wish them much good fortune with future Zots.
Cheers,
- Dave
December 27th, 2006 at 8:38 pm
I went ahead and bought it. From the responsiveness of the developers, I don’t think I can lose.
December 27th, 2006 at 9:28 pm
I still gotta give MacZOT props in that this site has been the best for me in terms of exposing me to interesting shareware that could prove useful. Some of the other sites in the latest shareware promotion fads might give out some good or free deals on software but it’s been stuff many already knew about.
What’s even better is that some of the developers have jumped on here to support their products. That’s happened with a few on those other sites but here it seems to happen more or at least be more obvious.
December 27th, 2006 at 9:30 pm
I’ve also gone ahead and bought it. I just hope they they will update the personal edition to include e-mail alerts of new uploads. That would make it a really killer app.
December 27th, 2006 at 11:52 pm
I just zotted on the promise to get these problems fixed. So it’s a bit of a gamble whether Dave takes care of us zotters.
Maybe he’ll be nice and give us with “faith” an upgrade or somesuch. ;)
::crosses fingers::
December 27th, 2006 at 11:56 pm
Same here, I’ve bought it, Dave seems committed so it has to be worth a punt.
December 28th, 2006 at 2:26 am
Very impressed with the idea.
Wondering what the chances are of something like this being able to integrate into Amazon S3. Don’t know of anything similar that does this, and it would be a great help if there was.
Thanks in advance.
December 28th, 2006 at 6:31 am
I zotted too – like the product & especially like the responsiveness of the developers :)
December 28th, 2006 at 10:45 am
Same thing as the others. I want this to work because I can really use it. But it crashes when I try to create a Windows exe. It stalls out and doesn’t upload at all on the mac version. Preflight works. Pathfinder hangs till I have to force quit. Like I said I would really like this to work.
December 28th, 2006 at 1:30 pm
iDropper forums here:
https://idropper.com/index.php?option=com_simpleboard&Itemid=36
December 28th, 2006 at 1:35 pm
Ignore that, it’s not possible to post to the forums!
I was going to give Dave some more detail about the problem I’m having with the Mac Droplet. A zero byte file gets created on my FTP site but no data is transferred. I see the following error in console:
/Applications/iDropper PE.app/Contents/MacOS/iDropper PE: CMSCreateDataProviderOrGetInfo : Invalid colorspace type
Could this simply be a bug in the progress bar display?
I’m running 10.4.8 on a MacBook Pro.
December 28th, 2006 at 2:26 pm
Hello All,
There is a new installer available. This patch fixes the problem with Windows droplets causing the app to crash. Download it at https://idroppercom/downloads/iDropperPersonalInstall-1.0.1.dmg.
I will be sending e-mail with this announcement to all purchasers and others who have requested it.
The problem with OSX droplets on systems running 10.4.8 is a known issue that we are looking into. This is not an issue for most users, but for some special firewall situations it is a problem. It appears to be a conflict with the built-in firewall in 10.4.8. We are working on a revision that will use SFTP to overcome this limitation. In the meantime, try disabling the firewall and see if that solves the problem. We realize this is not ideal, but as I said, we are working on it.
Dean, it is quite possible to post to the forums, but as with most forums, it is necessary to register and log in to do so. You can register from the iDropper.com home page.
Once again, sorry for the inconvenience. Thank you for your patience.
Cheers,
- Dave
December 28th, 2006 at 3:21 pm
Are the mails with the registration codes already sent out? i did not get any mail from idropper.
December 28th, 2006 at 3:55 pm
Dave, tiny typo in the link, it should be:
https://idropper.com/downloads/iDropperPersonalInstall-1.0.1.dmg
Regards.
December 28th, 2006 at 8:00 pm
God job Dave! Thanks for such a great support and this app.
December 29th, 2006 at 7:04 am
i got the mail with the registration code. thanks a lot!
December 29th, 2006 at 9:47 am
Hello All,
The registration e-mails have been sent out with your serial numbers. I see by the registrations coming in that many of you have gotten them already. Thanks again one and all for your purchases.
I will be sending out an e-mail shortly with the link to the patch. The patch fixes the Win droplet crash problem. As Dean pointed out, I did make a typo in the link earlier (thanks Dean!). It should be:
https://idropper.com/downloads/iDropperPersonalInstall-1.0.1.dmg
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT:
We had a meeting this morning and decided to create an enhanced version of iDropper Personal with e-mail notification. If you have been considering an upgrade to Pro just for e-mail notification, please hold off. We are going to push to have the enhanced PE ready by the end of next week. All registered users of iDropper Personal will get a free upgrade to the patch. We have also decided to eliminate the Pro edition from our lineup and offer only Personal (with e-mail notification), and Enterprise (with all the advanced business integration features). The prices for Personal and Enterprise will remain the same.
Cheers,
- Dave
December 29th, 2006 at 11:50 am
Well I downloaded the patched version. I can now create the .exe which is great. I turned off the firewall on the Mac and Patherfinder works as does the Mac version of the droplet. As for the newly created .exe droplet, I tried to run it on Windows XP SP2 and a transfer dialog box comes up and then hangs there. It doesn’t even leave a 0 byte file on the server like the Mac version did. I bought this for my Windows based clientele which is the majority of my business and it still doesn’t work in that regard.
December 29th, 2006 at 1:03 pm
Bill,
You must ensure that .NET framework 1.1 is installed on the Windows machine. Unfortunately this is a limitation that we have not been able to overcome. This is why we state it explicitly in the system requirements.
- Dave
December 30th, 2006 at 5:15 am
Yes .NET framework 1.1 is installed. I made sure it was before I posted because of your requirements.
December 30th, 2006 at 6:53 am
Bill,
I am sorry you are having problems. Please send your droplet to me at dscribner@idropper.com, or send me a download link to it. Remember to zip it first if sending e-mail. We will try to take a look at it in the next couple of days and figure out what’s going on.
- Dave
February 26th, 2007 at 5:18 pm
Just in case anybody comes trolling through this thread, I thought I would mention that iDropper v1.2 has been released. It now includes SFTP for Mac droplets and a new FTP engine which overcomes the OSX 10.4.8 issues.
Download at: http://www.idropper.com/downloads/iDropperPersonal.dmg
Happy ZOT-ing!
- Dave
December 31st, 2007 at 2:48 am
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thanks you very high work..
http://www.cesurturk.org
February 10th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
thanx
February 11th, 2008 at 10:46 am
thank you
February 11th, 2008 at 10:47 am
good job !