HTML Export to share library

[reinklang]

I used to be able to share my library with friends using HTML Export and Dropbox. For some reason it's no longer working and I forgot how I set it up. Is there any other way to send a HTML link to friends and allow them to browse the library in their web browsers?

[Waldbaer]

What is not working, the use of Dropbox as a web server (direct linking via e.g. public folder to .html-file and opening it with a browser)? Since Dropbox is not meant to be used this way, they might prevent this technically (e.g. links in the .html might not work), but I did not try it out myself.

An easy solution could be just sending your friends links to your doghouse library (doghouse.bruji.com/library/reinklang/, as soon as you make it public). There are some caveats though, since only the public database-entries are linked to your account, so there is no personal information like rating, comment or even custom fields.

What you could do though, is to export your library as html as before, zip the result and put it in your dropbox. You can send a link to this file to your friends. They'll have to download and extract the .zip first before they can view it in their browser, but you have all options that export with HTML-templates offers and can adjust the template to your needs.
From time to time, you might export your library again for the current version. Then just export it temporarily to another location, give the .zip of the result the same name as before and move it to your Dropbox folder, replacing the old file. The link should continue working then, and you don't have to send it to them again - if they download it again, they will always get the current version.

Hope this helps, otherwise just ask again.

[reinklang]

These are good suggestions. I need to get my head around Doghouse. Never used it before. I pull my movie info from IMDB and I add other custom data from several sources manually.

Would iCloud work as a "public web server" solution?

[Waldbaer]

I suppose iCloud won't be any better in this case than Dropbox, because both of them are designed to keep personal data synced or from time to time share something with some friends and not to host webpages with theoretically unlimited viewers. To run it as a webpage, you'll need a web server/webspace, but you'll have to set this up and maybe even pay for it, so this won't be worth the effort, I think.

Using Doghouse is easy: Just use the menu and login using your forum login data, and don't forget to check the box to sync your library. Then upload your library. Finally go to doghouse.bruji.com, login and make your library public in the settings of your account, so that everybody who has the link, can see your library without needing to know your login data. The result is as described not including your personal data (personal fields or collections), but is sufficient to let friends know which DVDs/CDs/books/games you have. You can check out my library if you want an example how the result will be (note: "Rating" is NOT personal rating).

If you want to include your personal data and make sure that your friends see everything the way it is in your library, you'll have to export and send it to them manually, e.g. like described above.

[reinklang]

Got it. First upload to Doghouse takes some time but it's working. Thanks for the recommendations. I'll still look for some clues on what happened with the Dropbox sharing trick. I know for sure it used to work but it's possible they changed something in their architecture to prevent people from using it to host websites. I'll post here what I can find if it's helpful.

[Waldbaer]

It will be helpful for sure, please post your experiences! I thought about things like that, too, but did not yet have the time to try it out myself.