With all the companies chasing Dropbox, and the cost of online storage going steadily down, you have to wonder why this stone has gone unturned. There's a killer service lurking out there. I wish it existed.
Please read before saying you can almost do it using with some combination of complex software. Yes we've been through this before.
Coming close is not good enough. I already know how to configure a server to host my files. This feature isn't for me, it's for users.
It's not a "third party opportunity" -- it has to be part of the whole system.
"assign a domain name to any branch of that folder." yes, i would pay for this feature alone!
Like https://blot.im but not 3rd party? Nice.
I kind of do this using Github and Jekyll. The files live on my system. Or any system I clone the repo to. When I check in files, they are instantly deployed to the public website that github hosts them on. It is clumsy no doubt to setup and it needs practice to repeat. But the fact that it works and isn't all that bad for a developer to setup means it could be automated/simplified/expanded on. I mean how are we going to get regular users in the habit of using source control? Or email encryption? Or eat vegetables instead of junk food? There comes a time when they're going to have to step up a bit, maybe less in the future but they've got to give a damn. I put my chicken scratch notes on a couple of ways you can setup pages like this in Github when I created two sites. The latter uses a custom domain and yes you can have different domains per repo or subdomains per branch, that type of thing - I've got links to different resources in my notes. The former uses a https://blabllaba.github.io domain. Here's the link to my notes https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1iSTHNIS2FxeUFLd2lJalNSS2c/view?usp=sharing
Is there any reason Dropbox couldn't do it? I really like the idea. They could expose an API for setting up domains, so that third-party apps could initiate the process to create a new blog, and then access and edit it through the normal file system API.
Yes of course Dropbox could do it. But I don't believe in doing this through an API. It's a product feature, not a "third party opportunity" as I said in the piece. I wouldn't trust an API with my website. Too easy to break. A commitment from a vendor such as Dropbox. I know how tech companies view products built on APIs.
The API is for setting up the domain. On desktop, it could just be like the existing Dropbox system extension, with a right click and "assign domain." I'm trying to imagine how it would work on a locked down mobile system, to allow third-party developers to make "setup a new blog" wizards for their particular blogging app. Or maybe they would have to do like third party keyboards have to do now: just give instructions for using the Dropbox-chasers interface. However, if they have to leave the app, that increases the complexity past many people's abilities.
I've been using BitTorrent Sync recently and I wonder if 4-5 can be easily added. Questions about 3-5: When you say "accessed over the web" do you mean the file must be HTTP GET-able (by a browser client)? Sync files can be accessed over the web, but likely are torrent get-able (by a torrent client). Do you want domain names because you want human readability for web-based browser access, or are torrent URL's OK since you'd be using a torrent client to get the file?
Off-topic: I think there's a small bug on this page: If you come to this page before logging in, then after you log in, you still need to refresh the page otherwise logged-in features won't get enabled, e.g., Reply.