Why is drag-and-drop image upload not implemented more often on websites?
Asked by
Tintels (
123
)
August 18th, 2011
I am not a developer, but I know that it is possible to implement drag and drop for image uploads using a dropzone on a webpage. There even seems to be a choice of code available to implement.
It has been around for a while, but still I have not seen it implemented very often. I am considering it for our own website for improved ease of use, but am a little cautious. Are there good reasons not to implement this? Perhaps it will not work on common browsers/OS/Java combinations? IE?? If that is the case, I would perhaps still want to implement it for our in-house custom CMS system. Any experiences?
Observing members:
0
Composing members:
0
2 Answers
When you let people upload to your server there are always security risks, but as far as I know there are no extra security problems with the system you mention.
At a guess, I’d say it is just harder to implement. I used to be a developer, and while I did it for a few years professionally and knew enough to make all kinds of sites, I would have no idea where to start if I wanted to create a drag and drop uploader. It would no doubt take me a few days to figure it out.
As for IE, no doubt it has problems with them, but IE also has problems some times understanding even the most basic of HTML code, so no surprises there.
I guess my own questions about it would center around whether or not it was really the best way to go.
It’s got a lot of “wow” to it, but then you start thinking about people on laptops or mobile devices. Small screens wouldn’t allow you to drag and drop as easily and people on laptops generally have most of their screen utilized with the browser window and toggle off for other activities. The traditional upload form takes this in to account whereas the drag and drop solution really wouldn’t.
It might be great in a niche setting like your local intranet, but for public use, unless it’s a key feature, I’d probably steer clear.
Answer this question 
This question is in the General Section. Responses must be helpful and on-topic.
Composing members:
0
