Thursday, 15 January, 2009
Effective Wuala Usage: Copying files vs. linking them
In this blog post I'll explain the main differences between linking a public file and copying it. I'll also provide two common examples in which you have to choose if you want to link to or make a new copy of a file.
Links
Inside Wuala, links are displayed differently from files. They have a small black arrow in the lower left corner. In this screenshot you see two links (Rashomon and 3007.avi).
To create a link to a file or folder you need to right-click on it and select "Copy Link". Then you open the folder where you want to place the link and press "CTRL + V" on your keyboard. Et voilà: a link to the original file will appear.
Copy & Paste
"Copy & Paste" creates a copy of a file or folder. To do this, you must right click on the file and select "Copy File". Then you open the folder where you want to place the new file and press "CTRL + V" on your keyboard. Et voilà: the copy of the file or folder will appear.
How to use links and copied files
You can use these functions to do a lot of different things. I'll give you two examples.
Share your files in public groups
When you have a public file that you want to add to a public group you have two options: link to it or copy it.
Keep a file that you found in Wuala
If you found a cool public file that you want to keep to yourself, you have to choose how to save it in your profile. There are two ways to accomplish this:
Conclusion
Both options have advantages and disadvantages, it really depends on what you want. Personally, I use links to share my public files but when I want to keep someone else's I use the traditional "copy & paste".
The following table contains a feature comparison of links and copied files.
About the author
My name is Nuno Teixeira (username nmat in Wuala) and I live in Lisbon, Portugal. I've been using Wuala for over a year and I'm one of the "Wuala Masterminds", who support the community in the forum and the Wuala Community Group. I hope that you liked the article. If you have any questions just post them in the comments.
Links
Inside Wuala, links are displayed differently from files. They have a small black arrow in the lower left corner. In this screenshot you see two links (Rashomon and 3007.avi).
To create a link to a file or folder you need to right-click on it and select "Copy Link". Then you open the folder where you want to place the link and press "CTRL + V" on your keyboard. Et voilà: a link to the original file will appear.
Copy & Paste
"Copy & Paste" creates a copy of a file or folder. To do this, you must right click on the file and select "Copy File". Then you open the folder where you want to place the new file and press "CTRL + V" on your keyboard. Et voilà: the copy of the file or folder will appear.
How to use links and copied files
You can use these functions to do a lot of different things. I'll give you two examples.
Share your files in public groups
When you have a public file that you want to add to a public group you have two options: link to it or copy it.
- If you use a link to the file you will have all its comments in one place and if you want to change the tags or the description you only need to edit them in one place. Additionally, you can see in which groups the file is linked when you click on it. For example, Nosferatu is linked in the Creative Commons group and in the public domain group.
- By using "copy & paste" to share your file, you'll have one file in each group but you don't pay extra space for that. Since they are different files, each one has its own tags, description and comments. You can track which files you've posted in which groups in the Group Postings folder in your My Files tab.
However, if you use links, you must be careful with the original file: it must remain public on your profile, if you remove it all the links will be removed too.
Keep a file that you found in Wuala
If you found a cool public file that you want to keep to yourself, you have to choose how to save it in your profile. There are two ways to accomplish this:
- You can link it. Therewith you don't really have the file because if the owner decides to delete it, your link will also be deleted. The advantage is that links don't cost you any space.
- You can use "copy & paste". Therewith you'll have a new copy of the file and it'll be under your control how long you want to keep it. The trade-off for this file ownership is that the file will use some of your storage.
Conclusion
Both options have advantages and disadvantages, it really depends on what you want. Personally, I use links to share my public files but when I want to keep someone else's I use the traditional "copy & paste".
The following table contains a feature comparison of links and copied files.
About the author
My name is Nuno Teixeira (username nmat in Wuala) and I live in Lisbon, Portugal. I've been using Wuala for over a year and I'm one of the "Wuala Masterminds", who support the community in the forum and the Wuala Community Group. I hope that you liked the article. If you have any questions just post them in the comments.
Post Comments
Great posting, Nuno!
Thanks Oona.
I would also like to thank Andreas for his suggestions and corrections.
Great posting nmat! :D
Maybe I should do something like that too? What would be an often requested or confusing problem in Wuala?
"Save as..."? What all those files and folders do that get created (Local/Fragments2/Meta, folders in %Temp%)? How to initially setup Wuala and/or your router?
That would be very cool! I think Oona got in touch with you during the mastermind chat. If not, please get in touch with her and she'll coordinate the blog posting with you.
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