Attachment Manager

[Tanax]

Yea, I know vB has this - but the idea behind it is actually really really good. It prevents the user from having to upload the same content several times. It gives you sort of "your space" on the server and whenever you create a topic, blogpost or anything else that currently supports attachments, you will be able to attach any of the previous uploaded attachments. This is great when creating blogposts and want an image from a post you created, or vice versa. Even when creating new post and want to attach something you attached in another post.

It also lets you create virtual folders so you can organize your attachments, perhaps you want one set of subfolders to your mainfolder based on what type. I.e. 1 subfolder for images, 1 for scripts, etc. Then inside your images subfolder you can create other subfolders like "Artwork created by me" and "Tutorial images", etc.

You can even have a md5_file() method(that PHP supports) to prevent users from uploading the same image several times and boom - huge server space saver(if you're running an attachment heavy board that is).

It's a very nice system and very organized. I'm sure that IPB can make it even nicer when you put your minds to it.
Personally I think it's a killer feature.

[Ali Majrashi]

good suggestion this been mention several times as central upload so you can easily share your content and make creating topic or post much faster
and space saver

[Tanax]

good suggestion this been mention several times as central upload so you can easily share your content and make creating topic or post much faster

and space saver

Exactly! This is basically just a killer feature that is a must-have. Not only does it save space but also time(no need to re-upload the same file twice, just select an already uploaded file and include it in a topic/blog/comment).

[Luke]

I do agree that being able to re-use attachments would be useful. It would take a lot of modification though. You'd have to have a "permission" record for every topic you posted it in, linking to a record of the uploaded file. If this is done, I'd prefer the "permission" table be universal so other apps could use it. If you post an attachment in a blog post, you should be able to use it on a forum post. Would also be nice to be able to link to an IP.Downloads file as well (not sure how that would work).

[Tanax]

I do agree that being able to re-use attachments would be useful. It would take a lot of modification though. You'd have to have a "permission" record for every topic you posted it in, linking to a record of the uploaded file. If this is done, I'd prefer the "permission" table be universal so other apps could use it. If you post an attachment in a blog post, you should be able to use it on a forum post. Would also be nice to be able to link to an IP.Downloads file as well (not sure how that would work).

Yes, I meant that the Attachment Manager would be "Universal" so that all installed applications could make use of it. Sorry if it was unclear in the first post! It should not be THAT difficult to include IP.Downloads files. Not sure how they are stored but I mean, the virtual folder can just fetch all IP.D files the user has uploaded and display them in a folder called "Downloads" or something.

Also, when posting this "link" to the download file, if the user trying to access it has permissions it will download like the regular attachments are working today. If they do not, they are taken to the IP.Download page for that specific file. Either it will say that the user doesn't have permissions to download files(because of an ACP setting) or it will say that the user haven't yet paid for the file(if it's a paid file).

Good idea Luke! :)
Overall, I think this kind of system has a LOT of potential and as you see here, it can be extended for some great functionality.