Introduction

Thanks for installing Simple File Upload! As a freelance developer, I know firsthand how difficult it can be to add a file uploader to your website. That’s why I created Simple File Upload, a customizable upload widget with free cloud storage. No infrastructure or maintenance required. It solved my problem as a developer, and I hope it solves yours too!
Follow the steps below to get started. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at colleen@simplefileupload.com. Thanks again, and happy file uploading!

What is Simple File Upload?

Simple File Upload is the easiest way to allow users to add files to your site. Simple File Upload handles all of the tooling surrounding file uploading for you. You do not need a cloud storage account.

How Does Simple File Upload Work?

Simple File Upload replaces a hidden input tag you create with a file upload widget. When the user drops a file, it is uploaded to the cloud and a URL that links to that file is returned.

Simple File Upload uses direct uploads. In a direct upload, a file is uploaded to S3 from a user's browser, without passing through your app.
Adding direct uploads to an application allows you to offload the storage of static files from your app. This is crucial on Heroku, because your app’s dynos have an ephemeral filesystem. This means that all files that aren’t part of your application’s slug are lost whenever a dyno restarts or is replaced (this happens at least once daily).
Simple File Upload also provides a responsive UI that looks good by default and is highly customizable.

The uploaded files are served to your application behind a CDN for blazing fast performance. You can optionally use our resize API to dynamically serve the files at any size at any time.

In less than five minutes, you can improve the performance and functionality of your website. It's that simple. Keep reading for information on developer control and product customization options