Learn how to allow a non-Dropbox user to upload to Dropbox without an account. Dropbox makes syncing and sharing files simple. It also allows you to share files and folders with other Dropbox users. Now with the use of JotForm you can also enable people to upload to Dropbox without having an account. JotForm allows someone to upload to Dropbox through a simple web page without installing software. It’s safe, secure, and simple.
What is DropBox?
Dropbox is a free service that lets you bring all your photos, docs, and videos anywhere. This means that any file you save to your Dropbox will automatically save to all your computers, phones and even the Dropbox website. Dropbox makes sharing so easy that you’ll be amazed at the things you can do. Invite your friends, family and teammates to any folder in your Dropbox, and it’ll be as if you saved that folder straight to their computers. You can send people links to specific files in your Dropbox too.
How do I allow someone who doesn’t have an account to upload to Dropbox?
Your first step is to create an a free Dropbox account. Then download and install the Dropbox software. It’s all very simple and explained in detail on the Dropbox website if you need help. Once installed and configured you have the ability to share links to friends who don’t have a Dropbox account, and share files and folders with existing Dropbox users. But what if you want a friend to be able to upload to Dropbox without having an account? This is where JotForm comes in handy. Let’s face it, my mom is NOT tech savvy. If I wanted her to send me all the pictures she took from out last family trip walking her through Dropbox would be a pain. By using JotForm and following the simple setup steps below it’s possible to enable your account so that others can upload to Dropbox without having to go through any software installation at all!
What is JotForm?
JotForm is a ridiculously simply drag and drop web form builder. It doesn’t require a sign up to create a form if you have simply form needs (though they do offer a pay plans if you use a lot of forms).
JotForm + Dropbox = Upload to Dropbox without an account
Dropbox Forms is built into web form creation tool, JotForm and it allows you to create a form to allow anyone to upload to Dropbox and send files directly to your Dropbox folder – without an account. A lot of tech folks, and probably a lot of regular users love Dropbox; it’s easy online storage and makes sharing files dead simple.
One problem that always comes up is how to get someone (namely, non-techies and those without a Dropbox of their own) to share their files with YOU. JotForm has changed that; it enables a simple way for others to upload to Dropbox without an account through a simple web interface.
Set Up JotForms to allow others to upload to Dropbox
So let’s jump right to it and get a form setup that will allow people to upload to Dropbox without an account. Head over to http://www.jotform.com/dropbox/ and click the big orange button that says, “Create a Dropbox Form.” You’ll get an overlay popup telling you they need API access to your Dropbox account.
No worries here, JotForm isn’t gaining access to your account but leveraging oAuth and the Dropbox API’s (Application Program Interface) to allow a user to upload to Dropbox. If you’re the cautious type you can read about Dropbox and oAuth on the Dropbox Web API Documentation.
Once you’ve logged into Dropbox and allowed JotForm access to the API they will setup integration and create a sample form for you. The process is snappy and in a short time you’re good to go. At this point you can use the simple form they’ve created or start customizing the form to your liking. If you want to be able to customize the form again sometime in the future that’s not a problem but you’ll need to create a Jotform account (again, this is free).
When you’re done you’ll get a link to share or some code to embed the form into your website. Pretty simply huh?
The sample form is clean and simple, including the information most necessary; name, email address, description and file(s) to upload to Dropbox. Once submitted, the user will be directed to a basic “Thank You” page letting them know their submission has been received.
Note that files are uploaded with progress indicators for each file and that JotForm allows for adding more files before sending.
The files will appear in a JotForm directory inside your Dropbox directory. A PDF is created which contains the information submitted with the form along with a list of the files. And don’t worry, each submission is contained in it’s own session directory rather than thrown into one big pile of unorganized files!
Submissions to Dropbox accounts are limited to 300 MB due to Dropbox’s API. If you need to handle large file sizes for your submissions, a paid JotForm account allows up to 1 GB per submission.
There you have it! Download and install the Dropbox software, and then visit JotForm and you can easily create a simple way for non-Dropbox users to upload to Dropbox!
i needed to find a way to make a wordpress site work with dropbox and all the plugins don’t work properly. this was what i needed
So you are limited to 300Megs per *DROP BOXES* api, yet if we pay JotForm, suddenly their API allows bigger??
there’s another tool which hosts upload forms for dropbox for you: entouragebox (www.entouragebox). maybe a review comparing both tools would be interesting. jotform seems to support more complex forms and entouragebox is more specific to cloud storage.