Scenario

I host my images on a file sharing service, but I want direct links to the files so they can be imported into Linnworks. How can I do this?


Solution

Please Note! The methods given here for Dropbox and Google Drive are not guaranteed to work as they are workarounds to provide direct public links to files stored on a 3rd party service


Dropbox

Right clicking a file in a drop box folder will give the option to "Copy Dropbox Link". This will not link directly to the file, but it can be changed to link directly, which can then be used in the above import. In order to get a direct link, replace www.dropbox.com with dl.dropboxusercontent.com. For instance: https://www.dropbox.com/s/72vf8e2f0qx6vw8/Milan4.jpg?dl=0 would become: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/72vf8e2f0qx6vw8/Milan4.jpg?dl=0


Google Drive

A similar process can be done on google drive, but the sharing settings have to be set correctly for the process to work

  • Right click a file in a Google Drive folder and click Google Drive > Share...
  • A new window will open, click Get sharable link
  • Set the sharing settings to On - Anyone with the link
    • Depending on your organisation, this may not be the default setting. Click the current sharing option
    • If the correct option isn't in the drop down list, click More
    • Select On - Anyone with the link and click Save
  • Copy the Link and click Done


The link will look similar to: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxWiuidTcg6jcEhoUW0xVTRJMGs/view?usp=sharing. The highlighted text is the file id. Paste this ID at the end of the following URL: https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=. For instance: https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0BxWiuidTcg6jZjdYa3BfNEhHc1k


Linking to Files on a Private FTP Server

If your files are on a private FTP server, Linnworks can access them by supplying login credentials as part of the Image URL. Please supply your credentials and image location in the following format:


Please Note! If your username or password contains one of the following characters, please replace them with the following codes:


Character Replace With
: %3A
@ 40%
/ %2F
\ %5C


These need to be replaced to ensure that they are treated as characters in the username or password, rather than part of the URL associated with the file.


Outcome

Using one of the methods listed above, the URLs genrated can be used in data imports, particularly for image URLS.