Community Suggestion: Enable Export World to download directly to a PC
Enable Export World to download directly to a PC
New Feature Addition · World management · Created by Alonicus
closed
The current Export World functionality sends a Zip folder to Google Drive. This is less than ideal for a number of reasons;
1. It means you have to have (or create) a Google Drive. 2. It is hard to move the content to an alternative medium (e.g. OneDrive, Dropbox or a personal server), especially if you are not a regular Google Drive user familiar with their interface. 3. Google copyright protection tools are inadequate unless you are a business which can afford a US-based lawyer, and their Privacy Policy gives them all kinds of loopholes. 4. Overall, it is just cumbersome to use !Having a straightforward "Export to PC as a Zip File" button would be much simpler to use. The file would get put in your PC's "Downloads" folder, just like any other download and it's down to you from there what you do with it. It would be useful to show the file size prior to download, just so you can make sure there's enough space on the drive or PC.
This feature is primarily designed to create a simpler, more intuitive user experience (especially for users without an IT background). But it can also be a very useful way to regularly create your own backups held outside World Anvil which could be re-imported in the event of some kind of catastrophic event at World Anvil (e.g. ransomware attack, data loss or similar).
The Team's Response
Thanks for the suggestion! While we understand the reasoning, this would require a much higher support, as it's a massive dev undertaking to change how the export system currently works.
Current score
37/300 Votes · +10101 points
Votes Cast
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+300
by Mooseman_
on 2024-05-21 01:22 -
+300
by twirlingfox
on 2024-05-19 20:25 -
+300
by A Uncontrollable Elf
on 2024-05-19 12:49Yes please.
-
+300
by LoopyZebra
on 2024-05-18 15:33 -
+300
by Delagard
on 2024-05-18 11:36 -
+300
by cerdicthewolf
on 2024-05-15 18:47 -
+300
by Dalf32
on 2024-05-13 23:51 -
+300
by jrcsalter
on 2024-05-13 21:02I found it quite confusing to export the entire world first time I did it. I expected it to be a simple matter of downloading a zip file, and when it didn't, I was confused. Maybe I didn't read the instructions properly, but the internet has certain common standards that people expect (underlined text is a link, three stacked lines is a menu, external links open a new window, etc.), and so instructions on how to export shouldn't really be required except for complete internet noobs. Most other sites give you a button that says 'export', and it starts a download. Yes, it can be resource intensive to compile and zip a large world, and if loads of people are doing it at the same time, then it can cause problems. In such a case, you could implement a queuing feature, as another user suggested.
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+300
by MichaelsMind
on 2024-05-13 16:55 -
+300
by lolmatter
on 2024-05-13 02:01 -
+300
by Writing Bishop
on 2024-05-12 19:22 -
+300
by Valetaren
on 2024-05-11 18:31 -
+300
by Cammykins
on 2024-05-09 18:39I to have had a lot of difficulty trying to download things from here.
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+100
by scholarmage
on 2024-05-08 16:23 -
+300
by Everwild
on 2024-05-07 15:59 -
+300
by deleyna
on 2024-05-06 20:19 -
+100
by MKirk17
on 2024-05-06 11:17 -
+300
by Drosgon
on 2024-05-05 13:20 -
+300
by grinningsatyr
on 2024-05-04 16:46 -
+300
by JackLink916
on 2024-05-04 10:00 -
+300
by atrippuk
on 2024-05-04 08:20 -
+300
by chronogazer1
on 2024-05-03 11:20 -
+300
by Evil Atlas
on 2024-05-03 07:55 -
+300
by ss2020
on 2024-05-03 04:31 -
+300
by prestonthedm
on 2024-05-02 23:28 -
+300
by World Smithy
on 2024-05-02 17:00Being able to directly download to my PC would be an amazing feature. As it stands now, I haven't used the available options to backup my world. That would change if I had something like this, though!
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+100
by Amancham
on 2024-05-02 14:41 -
+300
by A Wild Skeleton
on 2024-05-01 01:28 -
+100
by Pilonius
on 2024-04-30 20:14 -
+300
by Gaëlle S.
on 2024-04-30 12:31 -
+1
by Duel Master 60
on 2024-04-29 20:21 -
+300
by BCGR_Wurth
on 2024-04-29 15:25A single button "Download User Worlds" button on the user settings page would be great for my peace of mind. I work on multiple worlds simultaneously, so doing it per world could prove tedious. At the same time, I'm sympathetic to concerns about server load from everyone downloading their stuff all at once. Maybe such an option could come with a 'cool down' period where the button doesn't work, or a queue system once a download has been requested?
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+300
by A Filthy Bananafolk
on 2024-04-29 14:36When it comes to copyright I don't trust Google as far as I can throw them. So far I've used the Google Drive functionality only once and deleted everything immediately after that. Since then I've been sticking to exporting each article individually which is a chore if you have a large number of articles to export. A direct download would be an absolute life saver.
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+300
by DepressedDM466
on 2024-04-29 09:32 -
+100
by DesNordlund
on 2024-04-29 05:22I disagree with the Google-drive-issues, but I would prefer to get it downloaded to my computer automaticly. I read my emails on my phone and have to remember to download the zip while on a computer. I understand that it can take time to zip and all that, but a direct download would be wonderful. While we are at it, would it be possible to have scheduled backups?
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+300
by SorraTheOrc
on 2024-04-28 20:51 -
+300
by tjtrewin
on 2024-04-28 17:15 -
+300
by Alonicus
on 2024-04-28 12:16
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