Everybody knows how annoying the uploading process can be in the web. It’s nothing like downloading, where you can select as many files as you like for saving, where convenient progress bars tell you how far you are and where you don’t have to wait until one file has finished for beginning with the next one. When we first started to discuss the uploading feature, we asked ourselves: why shouldn’t uploading be like that? We are building a web editor, which should mimic the experience of web browsing – so uploading files blindly, one by one wouldn’t do it.

The problem is that browsers are born to be incredibly stupid uploaders. Blind’n’single is a common and agreed upon feature for them. The only way for selecting and uploading a bunch of files at the same time has been – until the latest times – too disgusting to even think about = through java applets. This would be a real monster, it’s not an option. We want to remain in the convenient web experience. A beautiful standard html solution.

After analyzing the odds, we decided to do it through seamless flash object – you won’t see anything except good old html page, spiced up with ajax. Flash is on the background and only opens the multi-select-dialogue for us. We like the result. We even show the thumbnails of the pics in real time.

So here comes the showcase:

1. This is what the normal state of the Media section looks like. Here you have all kind of files – documents, pictures, movies, music etc.

2. After pressing “Add new files”, a standard browsing dialogue appears. One can select multiple files and start uploading with a single click.

3. Progress is shown both cumulatively and file by file – the files you are currently uploading, are shown as thumbnail – progress bar symbiosis and the overall status is shown instead of the “Add new” button.

Of course, you can cancel the uploading of all or some of the files. Also, you can work with the previously uploaded files on the same screen without interrupting the upload, unless you leave the page.