How is this working for everyone? Is File Factory treating you ok, or is it super slow? Do you hate that you can’t get any information about the show until you download it? I can’t promise to change anything, but I do like your feedback.
I’m getting into a grove of uploading a few shows every day. I think I’ll continue posting the links once a week. I’ve got a pretty good chunk of shows to share today. You can see them here.
themidnightcafe.org 
I still have PTSD from File Factory downloads over the years, so Im just waiting for the Google Drive era tbh 🙂
I’m sorry about that. I know FF isn’t ideal. I started writing a post today posing the question on whether I should just throw everything to Google Drive, but that would mean a lot of begging, and I’m not quite ready to do that.
Please do what you do!
I am very thankful for your blog – my earlier reply was very much tongue in cheek. I’m here for the long haul in any case.
I didn’t take your comment as mean or anything. But I do want feedback. I’ve gotten almost no negative feedback on FF which surprised me. I know some people don’t like it, but I think everybody is being too nice.
I’m enjoying the links, stories, music and such
Filefactory works like magic for me, because I have an annual subscription to it. So I love it!
One thing – would there be a way to put a permanent link to the Filefactory location somewhere on the page, like a button or something? Not wanting to add any work, just curious because I have this link but am not sure if it’s the right one:
https://www.filefactory.com/share/fi:3u616efrb7hu,fi:2c7tgkw8tzne,fi:2d4zznl0pnem,fi:56l13tdwefmg,fi:6qj3piutmww0,fi:5haosb11w5v2,fi:4hyfp37ao8vo,fi:3o9udt8o4cdi,fi:4gq213qou1li,fi:7li1gp9vi08s,fi:3o60vuf1t828,fi:1tslslrzkcle,fi:5bpk5sikymrw,fi:7j15271oe7xc,fi:12njy32e7340,fi:6vwo7uy8vx1k,fi:5yq7rqq7ownu,fi:2b7bqclzrvek,fi:fd802tm1xj0,fi:3ybxcgkqanf4,fi:dz0odi5yajq,fi:51ksg6l7ei9c,fi:82254evyom6,fi:41t0yvqkv6pa
I need to figure something out, but it’s weird. I have a folder in FF named Bootlegs. Inside that folder I have artist folders and inside those folders are the individual shows. But if I share the Bootleg folder the link has nothing inside it. But if I click inside the bootleg folder and then click on all of the artists folders I can share them.
This what the link does when I share the bootleg folder:
https://www.filefactory.com/folder/b368e14d48b5a553
And here is how it comes out when I click on all the artists and share that.
https://www.filefactory.com/share/fo:eb4d7275b165d827,fo:2b1af2eed9658372,fo:de756001924d26e1,fo:a0865db76e1313f5,fo:61fa8f2ac2d69bf8,fo:c6f06196a8c8a51f,fo:ac9193c0541fa91e,fo:d68857d0f5376003,fo:8d4f3bf3f8bcdacf,fo:eb1c62afb7af19ea,fo:3f50375cb8d7c17b,fo:d4a992ec5684037e,fo:9a935ae747848277,fo:e3475112caec7b7a,fo:54787c90d5eb91cc,fo:45d9bcfb3241ef60,fo:d69aab2a94071dd0,fo:4cabf43cd6a803e0,fo:34d86eea7b64e014,fo:8cf5be5801c6d371,fo:97e767536cb902a9,fo:c2dec17dd3b84852,fo:3242d9181d8024b2,fo:c3cdb9efba94bb14,fo:45baa9717c945d77,fo:a8192cc4aefda494,fo:5f5ac38c26c18a3e,fo:1d839eb6a08e6eb1,fo:30e240ba2091d17c,fo:7bac4da06d670bfe,fo:48575293d65bf153
The trouble is that I will continue to add new artist folders and so that link will be no good once I do. I’d have to constantly update it when I added new artists.
The other idea would be to move everything out of the Artist Folders and then maybe I could share one folder with all of the shows in it, if that makes sense. But then that would quickly become huge.
So I’m working on it.
Thanks as always Mat! That explains why I hadn’t seen all the new Filefactory links you’ve been posting.
Maybe just a new (shorter style) Filefactory link each time you add a bunch of new files?
Whatever’s easiest – and THANK YOU!
Why haven’t you been seeing the links? Whenever I do a new post, like this one, I post a link to all the most recent shows that I’ve uploaded to File Factory. In this post, way up at the top if you click on “Here” does it not take you to a bunch FF links? There should be a bunch of 10,000 Maniacs shows and several other artists in that link.
Or were you just clicking on the very first FF link that I posted? I think that is the one you shared in a comment.
FF is totally okay withz me
Hi Matt I hope you’re well Is using mega an option or have you discussed that?
Mega is an option but I’d run into the same problem with Google Drive. Mega gets expensive once you start storing large quantities of files.
Oh and one more thing. I file every boot by the city name first, then date. Would there be any way to mention the city name in the Filefactory listings?
If not, no worries and I do not want to add any work!
Just a thought – because with only the artist name and the date, I won’t easily know if I already have it.
Thanks so much!
(And take this comment/suggestion just in the spirit of sharing feedback while it’s still early)
That’s possible I suppose. I know others include the city name in the file name. That’s always seemed so strange to me. I’m curious now, why do you file by city name? That seems very counter-intuitive to me, but I know everyone has their own filing system.
Good question – and a nerdy topic but important when you’re trying to find things. I organize it by city name first because I like that context of where they’re playing.
So here’s how my files are listed – here’s the one I’m listening to now:
Joni Mitchell – West Hollywood 11.16.72 California The Troubadour Early Show (goody remaster) FLAC
(I always put at the end if it’s FLAC or MP3; or SBD, or FM, etc)
But I see your point – listing everything by the date first makes sense too.
I’ll tell you what DOESN’T make sense to me: listing by the name of the boot (if it was an official booted show on silvers originally, etc.)
So for instance, the next show I’m listening to after Joni is this one:
Simon & Garfunkel – LA 8.23.68 Hollywood Bowl California (Remixed & Remastered by chi166) ‘Voices Of Intelligent Dissent’ SBD FLAC
instead of the way I think a lot of folks list this famous show, which would be:
Simon & Garfunkel – Voices Of Intelligent Dissent
I don’t get that – I mean, I like the names of boots, but makes your memory have to work too hard to find shows that way, lol 🙂
Thanks for posting those 10000 Maniacs shows. I really appreciate it.
You are very welcome.
Fascinating. Lots of Deadheads use the venue in their organization. If you remember the art I used to post with the Grateful Dead shows, they always had the venue on them, but not the actual city which I think is weird.
For me, it is all about the date and the source. Organizationally that’s the easiest way to know if you already have a source and I’m all about organization. Location is interesting to plot if you are following a long with tour, and I do like seeing how often a band plays certain cities and venues, but I’ve never felt the need to include that info in a file name.
I often wish us collectors would devise a naming system for our files that everyone would use, but it is easy to see why we don’t. We’d never agree on what’s important 🙂
Except for the music, of course!!!
Amen! All great points. And I will continue checking in to the updated Filefactory links as they appear and enjoying it – thanks again for all you do!
You are welcome. Is there a reason your “name” changed? I don’t care in the least, I just wanted to make sure there wasn’t some problem with your log in or anything. Not that I’d be much help if there was a problem, but it is nice to know these things 🙂
Ha ha – no! I think I’ve just entered it differently at different times for no reason, and the options appear from a drop down menu. No reason, and it’s the same me! lol
Oh, ok. Like I said I don’t care, just wanted to make sure there wasn’t a problem.
For old folk like me. I now the artist, year and the city but not the exact date…..you get all 3 that way. Never understood the venue thing. very few artist play different locations in the same city….. J
Mat, let me know if you need another year on the account…..
Also, with FF you can have files layers inside files, but the link will only show for that particular layer. You need to the share another like to get to that folder….. J
I was thinking it was something like that. Eventually, I’ll share the folders for each artist, probably. But for now since I’m just getting started that seems like a pain.
I’m good on my pro account for several more months, but I’ll definitely hit you up when I need it again. Thanks!
Hi Matt…sorry mate but i really don’t like FF.
As i do not have a subscription, it is very slow and drops out a few times during download causing that the download has to start all over again. So for me…i’m out…sorry.
I’m very sorry to hear that. But please do stick around. As I’ve mentioned in various posts I do plan to upload shows to Google Drive. That’s really what I plan to do my official sharing on. File Factory is just a site I’m using as an online backup for my files and since I was already backing them up I thought I’d share the link with everyone. But I will share lots of stuff on Google.
That will still be a few weeks away since I’m still organizing my files, but once everything is in order I’ll do some real sharing on Google.
I hate file factory. I have a slow internet connection and do not like wasting time downloading something with no description to find out it is terrible.
I’m sorry about that. As I’ve mentioned I know FF isn’t great for downloaders, especially ones with a slow connection and who do not have a pro account.
I’m not a fan of how I have to zip the folders up as you aren’t able to glean any information from them. I do try to provide some information in the zip file name.
A lot of the stuff I’ve been sharing on File Factory was previously shared on my blog so I would recommend searching on The Midnight Cafe for them and you may be able to find all the pertinent information. Even when they aren’t on my blog a quick Google search will probably lead you to other sites with the information. Most of the stuff I share has been shared in other places.
I know that’s more work than maybe you want to do. And I am sorry about that, but I just don’t have the time or the energy right now to post all the info.
The thing about File Factory is that I’m really using it as my personal online backup. They give me a lot of storage for a very small price. But they should not be considered my primary sharing site. In reality I’m backing up my files for me, but because they allow me to share the files I thought I’d go ahead and share the links. So those that don’t mind the slower speeds or not knowing all the details can download them.
But that isn’t my official sharing site. My official sharing site will be Google Drive. Here in a few weeks or a couple of months I will regularly share shows via Google Drive and that should be much easier for you to download from.