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IdeatEd Integrates Filepicker to easily upload and modify images

Recently, Filepicker graciously donated a free account to IdeatEd, a social impact project building & impact tracking platform for students.

Using the Filepicker API allows our students to easily drag and drop their photos into projects, and to pull from photos uploaded to social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

The experience that students have in our project building wizard is a big priority for us, and the Filepicker API has gone a long way in making that experience great - integrating everything from image cropping and resizing to image blur.

We were really impressed by how fast we were able to integrate the API and get up and running.

The Filepicker team has been great to work with and we would highly recommend them and their product if you are looking for an amazing way to connect user content with your application.

Our warmest thanks, Filepicker!

Erin Beitel

IdeatEd Team

beta.ideated.io

Amazon Cloud Drive and Filepicker

Customers have their files in many different places, but they are most valuable when they are accessible from no matter what device they are on. This is what makes cloud storage so powerful, and useful. The problem occurs when a user has a file hosted in the cloud, and they need to get it somewhere. Filepicker was built to solve this problem. We pipe the internet, to connect files stored in the cloud to any website or app. Today, we are thrilled to announce that we’ve teamed up with Amazon to add another piece to the puzzle. We are adding Amazon Cloud Drive as a default source to the 32,000+ websites and apps that integrate Filepicker to power their file uploads.

7 Productivity Tips for Startups

Need some inspiration? Here are 7 tips for staying productive while working for a startup:

1. Practice Zero Inbox

Try to practice zero inbox. Even though emails may keep piling on, it's not productive to keep them lingering around. Process emails as quickly as you can. Reply to the ones that need replies. Delegate the ones that need to be delegated. Delete the irrelevant ones.

Not working for you? Try a simple tool, like FollowUp.cc. It lets you push emails out until you need to handle them, and reminds you of people who haven’t replied yet.

2. Avoid Distractions

Take control of all distractions. Distractions are any kind of communication tool from email to IM to Skype. It's challenging to do, so try to keep a block of time where you concentrate on your most important tasks at hand.

Close all apps that aren’t your primary focus, put on some good tunes, and GSD.

3. Take On Items You Want To Accomplish For The Day

Make a list of the top items you want to accomplish each day. It's best to get this done the night before, but doing it first thing in the morning works too. This list of top items that you want to accomplish is your basic schedule for the day.

4. Make Continuous Improvements

Strive to make continuous improvements to your processes. A culture and practice of improving your efficiency with your team members is like agile development. Try to improve the process of anything that seems inefficient at both a personal and company level.

An example of this is noticing that you're spending too much time on email. If that's the case, reduce the amount of time that you're checking and replying to emails. Schedule time slots when you check email.

If you're sending random emails to members of your team, try queuing up all your requests in one large email and sending it towards the end of the day. That saves time and ensures that you get responses to all your requests.

5. Work When You're In Transit

Try working in transit, especially when you're flying. When there's no Internet, it forces you to focus. The next time you take a long flight, use that time to get your larger tasks done, or projects that require a large amount of thinking and planning. So, if you know you have a flight coming up, use it to work on those big items, like forecasting.

Travel is also a good time to catch up inspiration - like those books you’ve been putting off. It keeps your eyes away from the screen, and gets you to think different.

6. Schedule Time Off

Typically, people who work in startups are all about work. Relaxing is something that we all need to get better at. Try to do a lot more of that. Rest on weekends, and do a little exercise every day. Too much work isn't good for the brain.

It’s not work if you’re having fun ;)

7. Stay Positive

It's easy to get overwhelmed by all the things on your to-do list. Try not to let it bother you. Keep a positive attitude. Engineer that like you do your projects.

This Should Make You Happy: Filepicker Announces Webhooks Beta

When we created Filepicker, we made it simpler for apps, services and devices to work together. Instead of implementing APIs from every possible cloud storage environment, the Filepicker API grabbed content updates from almost anywhere. Still, getting all of those user updates was resource-intensive. Because apps had to poll for changes, many companies had to set aside dedicated servers to keep apps updated in real time.

This year, a couple of industry leading companies have started doing some great things using webhooks:

Last spring, Dropbox made webhooks for file changes available to developers. Instead of polling Dropbox for changes, apps could receive a notification every time users made a Dropbox file or datastore change.

Amazon SNS also facilitated webhooks so that apps could respond to different notifications.

In keeping with our mission to keep app development simple, Filepicker is beta testing webhooks not only for Dropbox and AWS but also for every type of file uploaded by Filepicker. Let's take a look at how webhooks work and how they're going to make your life a whole lot easier.

The Lowdown on Webhooks

Webhooks are HTTP POST messages that send data from one app to another. They can be passed either as POST keys and values or, if you use Javascript, in a format like JSON. You can write responses to webhooks in Ruby or Ruby on Rails for almost any imaginable third-party update. To create a webhook, you need at least the following parameters:

The name of the service being called

The config for the webhook, which (among other things) specifies the URI where payloads are delivered

The events for which the webhook is triggered

For Filepicker's beta webhook, the name would be any service from which Filepicker collects data for your app. The config is a dedicated URI receives a message every time the webhook is triggered. The event that triggers the webhook would be a change to an existing file, the addition of a new file or the deletion of a file.

Here's the beautiful thing about webhooks: There's no more constant polling for updates. Filepicker receives a notification, calls back to get the payload and updates almost as soon as the user changes, adds or deletes content. Your users see updates in real-time, and you get to user your dedicated polling servers for something else. You look like a hero, and you use fewer resources in the process.

Be a Part of Our Beta Test

We'll be versioning Filepicker's webhooks as we go along using input from our beta testers. Join Filepicker's webhooks beta test today: email us at [email protected]

4 Netcasts For The Tech Commute

For those of you who don’t work virtually, or from home, most of us have a commute. What better way to use that time than to keep your mind off work, but keep you inspired for the day? Listen to these four netcasts to stay informed, brainstorm ideas, and expand your horizons.

Rocketship Podcast

The Rocketship podcast is a great mix of interviews in the tech space. Listening to people who have failed and succeeded is one of the best ways to learn and get inspired.

One of my favourite episodes is from Tawheed Kader of Tout App, who quit a 6 figure job to bootstrap a startup. He says that “It takes three years to get to an overnight success.”

http://rocketship.fm/

This Week in Tech

A classic! Leo brings years of experience in tech, and guests who are qualified, interesting and emerging onto his weekly show to discuss the week’s tech news.

Not only does it keep you on top of what’s going on, but it provides great opinions, often strong opposing opinions. This can give you a leg up in conversations when discussing the future of your products.

http://twit.tv/show/this-week-in-tech

The Big Web Show

From one of the best known web guys out there, Jeffrey Zeldman, author of A List Apart, and connoisseur of web standards.

He discusses all things web with various guests, usually twice a month, so it’s easy to keep up with.

http://5by5.tv/bigwebshow

WTF with Marc Maron

Find a little bit of a break in your daily routine and go sideways. Inspiration doesn’t come from going to the same coffee shop, sitting on the same bench in the same park. Marc interviews people from all walks of life.

Their stories can spark something different and lead to a great idea. Or simply provide your thoughts some space to get back to that function you got stuck on before lunch.

http://www.wtfpod.com/

Common Questions part 1: S3 URL after uploading

In this series we will be exploring the many questions our customers send us frequently. Let us know if there is anything you want us to cover - email us at [email protected] with the subject of “Common Questions”.

Once a file is uploaded through Filepicker there are several options for it. The most common case is to store it outside of Filepicker’s servers - typically on an Amazon S3 account.

By default, the widget uses the pick() function. To store in S3 it has to be configured to use pickAndStore().

Once storing the file we’ll return a Blob which is a JSON object with the following properties:

key: The s3 key where we have stored the file

container: which is name of bucket where the file is stored

Then with the Filepicker url you can get its S3 path by filepicker.stat function or REST metadata request.

Example:

/*InkBlob from a previous pick, etc.*/ var inkblob = { url: 'https://www.filepicker.io/api/file/H7KYuWy1S3e1qvG2M66i' }; console.log("Loading metadata..."); filepicker.stat(inkblob, {path: true,container: true, location: true}, function(metadata){ console.log(JSON.stringify(metadata)); });

Rest example : https://www.filepicker.io/api/file/hFHUCB3iTxyMzseuWOgG/metadata?container=true&path=true

The fastest way to get Filepicker configured. Boom.

Getting started in Filepicker is pretty easy, and with the launch of our new documentation, there’s lots of code examples to look at. But what if we could make it even easier? Yeah, we did that. Enter Quickstart. Quickstart is like a WYSIWYG. Fill out the form to get the Filepicker you’re looking for. Then on the right, you’ll have the code you need to copy and paste, and click “Pick File” to see exactly how it will perform. Now, go outside and play!

Filepicker not susceptible to POODLE SSL 3.0 bug

Filepicker is not susceptible to the SSL 3.0 bug known as POODLE. Here's why:

Earlier this week the Google Security Team published details of a vulnerability in a specific version of SSL 3.0 (RFC6101) which they have deemed obsolete and insecure.

This bug can be exploited by a man in the middle attack, where an attacker can force a web browser to fall back to the older version of SSL and intercept any traffic exchanged over the connection.

The vulnerability is described as a POODLE attack, or Padding Oracle On Downgraded Legacy Encryption. This is enabled by TLS clients attempting it’s first handshake request with the highest protocol version, and then falling back on older versions for subsequent requests if it fails.

Once we were aware of the bug, we modified our configurations to deny any attempts to connect with this version of SSL.

And here's further preventative measures to make sure you don't inadvertently raise the issue with an unpatched client:

Users who are using PhantomJS may have seen this issue as it uses the older version of SSL by default, so if you are using PhantomJS with Filepicker, it will break. You can change this in the config:

Command Line: --ssl-protocol=tlsv1 JSON: "sslProtocol": "tlsv1"

Some browsers like Google Chrome have started testing changes to disable fallback to SSL 3.0.

For more information on this, see the official Security Advisory (PDF)

And now a poodle because it's a poodle:

Apps we use to run our Startup

We were inspired by the share as image blog that noted Filepicker as one of the apps they use to run their startup. So, just as they said, we aren’t getting anything for sharing. This is just what apps we love!

Stripe

If you’re running a SaaS, Stripe is pretty much a must have. It handles all our payments - one time and recurring. This is obviously a critical part of our business, and it has to work - no exceptions. They have great documentation and API, which enable us to easily integrate safe and secure payments in our app. What were we using before?!

Trello

Everyone has their personal preferences. But holy smokes do people have strong opinions about task management software! We tried plenty of options, but Trello had the best real world feel of a scrum board. After some lengthy and sometimes heated discussion (no Filepickers were hurt) we finally decided on Trello. And we love it.

Customer.io

There are many things going on in our app at any given time, and it’s hard to stay on top of them all the time. We’ve setup custom emails that go to our customers based on a certain trigger. This lets us be more understanding, and give our customers information when they need it. Also, with the new version, we can A/B test! Big fan of that.

Mixpanel

There’s something very comforting about making a data driven decision. Mixpanel does a lot more than just provide the data. It helps us generate understanding around our customers, as it tracks more than just page views, but actions our users are doing. Mixpanel is critical for watching the health of our business. We are able to customize what data to report on, build custom segments and funnels.

Segment.io

There are so many great tools out there to help you run your new business - even if it’s not a SaaS. There’s one common denominator though - your website. Segment.io is a must have for any new site, or if you’re just learning about it. It’s a no brainer. With the flick of a button we can turn on a new tool. The best part? You don’t have to wait for data to appear. Segment.io can replay your historical data into the new service!

Optimizely

What did I just say about data driven decisions? Optimizely gets you A/B testing painlessly, and effortlessly. I wonder what more words I can use with “ly” at the end? It helps us improve interactions, conversions and engagement. Just by turning it on in segment.io, we can test anything on our site, with no developers involved. We love testing - ly.

Xero

There are always pros and cons to running a startup. Accounting doesn’t have to be a negative. Xero does more than keeping us up to date with the tax man. It has intelligent reporting, easy invoicing and …

One of the biggest deciding factors for us is the portability of the data. We had to have the complexity of a great accounting tool, but it had to be available when – and where – we needed it. With a busy team on the go, having it in the cloud was a must.

Baremetrics

SaaS (or Software as a Service for the laymen) lives and dies on its metrics. Specifically, Monthly Recurring Revenue, Average Revenue per Customer, Lifetime Value, and Churn. Baremetrics does a better job than anyone else in taking Stripe data and showing valuable metrics that provide insights.

Announcing additional language support

Further to our previous blog post, we have added more language support with help from our wonderful community! We now support the following languages: - Dutch - French - German - Norwegian - Polish - Russian - Spanish - Turkish There is new 'language' attribute in pickOptions. It specifies filepicker UI language version. By default it runs with browser language. Available values: - Dutch: 'nl' - French: 'fr', - German: 'de', - Norwegian 'no', - Polish: 'pl', - Russian: 'ru', - Spanish: 'es', - Turkish: 'tr' We are still looking for users to help with translation. If you would like to have a language supported send a message to [email protected] and you can help translate our app!

We've launched new documentation!

We are excited to announce we’ve launched our new developer documentation! Browse through all our API calls and quickly get your new project running--or explore our advanced capabilities.

Column One

Choose from our Javascript API, REST API and more. Once you’ve made a selection it will show you all the options, just as our old docs used to work.

Column Two

This is the guts of the operation. Everything you came to look for. We’ve made it easy to parse by using a legend. Syntax is in red, function attributes are in a grey arrow box, and accepted options are in blue.

Column Three

This is our favourite part. This column has code examples of what you’re reading about. But don’t be shy, these are 100% modifiable. Go ahead and manipulate the code to adjust to your specific needs. Then hit “Run” and the Filepicker dialog will open with your changes. Our most common troubleshooting technique is to set an API key, which will then pull settings configured in the Filepicker developer portal. Quick Tip: If you are logged into the developer portal, and you’re browsing the documentation, we automatically insert your API key into these examples. When you hit Run, it’s as if you are testing it in your environment.

We are pretty stoked on the new docs, but we want to hear what you think. Send us your honest feedback or suggestions to [email protected].

Do you like the new docs?

Uploads from camera roll broken in iOS 8

Fix to be implemented in iOS 8.0.1

As some of you have already noticed, file uploads from the photo library in iOS 8 are broken.

Unfortunately this is not something that Filepicker can fix or create a workaround for, as it is an issue that was created by Apple. This bug affects not only HTML forms but Javascript as well.

The only current solution is for the end-user to use the Chrome browser. We have put up a small banner for Safari on iOS 8 devices to notify them, and use chrome. This will be removed as soon as it is fixed.

There have been many reports of this issue on the web, and with the release of iOS 8.0.1 it was announced as fixed.

Don’t get too excited though! As we were writing this, Apple pulled the release as it caused more problems with loss of service and TouchID issues.

Hopefully it’s an easy fix, and everything will return to normal quickly.

Update

Apple released iOS 8.0.2 last night and we can confirm that it fixes the issue. Uploads from the Photo Library are working again.

Support, now 24x7

Call us anytime 1-866-873-0249

Our customers are everywhere in the world, and we want each of you to feel taken care of. We have a new phone number that all paying accounts can reach us 24 hours a day, everyday!

Call us at 1-866-873-0249.

Not very talkative? Email our support team around the clock as well: [email protected]

Filepicker at API World

Last week was a busy one for Filepicker! We got the team together from Las Vegas, San Francisco, and Europe.

DataWeek + API World 2014 Conference & Expo is San Francisco’s largest Data + API conference of 2014 - with 100+ talks and interact with 200+ new data & API technologies. If you had a chance to come out to Hotel Kabuki last week, we had our first ever booth setup, spreading the word about Filepicker.

From left to right: Jason Toy, Mark Bakker, Slawek Zabkiewicz, Cormac McCarthy

Jason, our CEO, was asked to speak on a panel: “The Emergence of Storage API's & File App Ecosystems”. Jason started a great discussion around how storage is a commodity, and how cloud storage providers are being chosen on features provided - not amount of space.

Later that evening we had a meetup at Palmer’s, not too far away from API World. Thanks everyone who came out - there was good conversation and drinks!

Stay tuned for more meetups!

Filepicker San Francisco Meetup

What: A drink up with Filepickers @jtoy, @markbakker, the startup community, and other Filepickers. When: Tuesday, September 16 at 8pm Where: Palmer’s. 2298 Fillmore St. How: Look for the robot tshirts, and signup using the form below.

Filepicker at API World in San Francisco

Great news! FIlepicker is going to be in San Francisco for API World, the largest API conference and expo 100% focused on developers.

We’ve been invited to talk on the Emergence of Storage API’s and File App Ecosystems panel.

“Does the emergence of File Storage API's and file app ecosystems mean that a company is no longer "locked into" one cloud?”

Watch the Panel Tuesday, September 16th, 2-2:45pm

Also, catch us in the entrance hall where you can meet some of the team!

Meetup We will also be hosting a meetup, interested? Email us to request free tickets.

Customer Showcase: Videolean integrates Filepicker and saves time!

Here at Filepicker we are constantly impressed how our customers are using our app. This week we wanted to share how Videolean is using Filepicker to enhance their app for their users.

About Videolean

Videolean is helping small business owners to grow their business with the most powerful marketing tool nowadays: videos. Entrepreneurs want videos to promote their businesses. However, they normally can't afford a video production company, neither have the video editing knowledge.

Videolean offers a wide range of professional template videos easy to customize and affordable for everyone. Select a template, type texts, upload images, select a soundtrack and you already have an HD professional video.

Startups, restaurants, real state, universities, community managers, SEO agencies, marketers...you name it. Videolean is a solution for everyone who believes in the power video has to radically boost a business visibility.

Problem

Images are one of the most important features to let people customize their professional template videos in Videolean. Business owners have their images in several locations such as their desktop, Facebook, Dropbox and Instagram, just to name a few. In addition, we needed to make the uploading process as easy as possible, specially since we deal with non-tech people.

Solution

Filepicker turned out to be the best solution so far to let us offer the uploading images feature without barely coding anything. Users can customize their template videos in Videolean at the click of a button thanks to Filepicker. Creating something similar by ourselves would have taken us too much time, which we need to develop our core value.

Do you have an app that uses Filepicker that you want to share? Send us a note!

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