Controlling the "Download" files button..

Greetings Community:   Is there a way to control the "Download" button that appears by default for uploaded files? For the project I'm working on, inviting download is not always desirable.  Sometimes photographers do not want their work downloaded, only reviewed and/or commented on...  It can potentially become a copyright issue for them and other media producers.  Of course someone can still take the image by other means, but this level of control would be a great feature enhancement.

If toggling the "Download" button On/Off is possible with 1.5, at what granular level can it be accomplished?  All users, specific users, single, or all groups, etc?   I know there is file access control built into Elgg, but controlling this level of access should be an option for certain types of projects; no matter what the access level is for the file.  Image theft is a huge problem on the web..

Looking forward to all feedback on this... Thanks in advance!

  • @bosssumon - Great info my friend.. Thanks so much for the tips on these modifications.. No worries, "Backup" is my middle name...  Gonna try it out tonight.

    Hopefully, toggles for these options might find their way into the Core some time soon to bring file access management more into line with common social networking paltforms.  Everything just isn't meant to be downloaded, no matter what access level.. 

     

  • This is one of the reasons why we should be able to toggle On/Off the "Download" button at any access level in Elgg.  Watch this entire video: http://tinyurl.com/pvvrbj 

    It should actually be Off by default for any file type, the content owner should have this option when uploading. Hope the Elgg Core Team takes note of this serious need. . .

  • hmmm... I see this at the bottom of that page pointed to by http://tinyurl.com/pvvrbj 

    LOL ;-O

  • Anyone out there have any constructive input towards the Topic of this discussion?

  • well I know this is an old discussion but I have to point out that all this stuff is fun. it seems like a waste of ones time just to post a comment that is mean.  aren't we having fun.

    as far as the hack it didn't seem to work for me.  has anyone come up with another answer for this problem?

    the reason why we need this is because we are building websites for people who don't build websites.  people need to feel confident in areas that we are not facilitating the theft of their files... even though the files of course (like most files on the web) can be gotton to.  on certian types of sites these download links can make us (the developers) look loike we are setting them up and breed an attitude of distrust. my goal is to make a site for people who don't make sites themselves and I want them to feel taken care of.

    so if anyone can help me with removing the download capabilities I sure would appreciate it.

  • You might wait for the next Elgg release, which should have a separate photo gallery plugin.

    It is of course always possible to download an image by simply right clicking on top of it (I think any idiot knows that). But at least the photos will not have explicit download links and if you like you can always add a message to your site lecturing people about copyright.

  • @harcha24 - bosssumon's (non-destructive) hack (above) worked for me as a temporary solution.  Anyone making this kind of edit should Backup before doing this... 

    Be sure to clear your site's Cache in your Admin area after making any modifications, or you will not see them take effect... 

    Turn it off >> Save it >> refresh your pages >> review your changes >> then you can turn your cache back on again afterwards..  You may need to clear your browser cache also.

    Special Note:  When you upgrade to future versions of Elgg these changes will be over written and you will have to repeat, unless the dev team incorporates this much needed control feature.

  • It's actually sort of impossible to prevent image downloads.

    Reason: in order to display, they must be downloaded.

    Even if you prevent right-clicking and you disable the download button, your images will still be cached locally in order to be displayed in-browser. It's just a simple case of finding the image in the cache dir of their browser.

    If they want it, they'll get it, no matter what you do - and it's not the users who don't know this stuff who will have an interest in getting images they have no right to copy/reuse/whatever: it's the ones who do know.

    Thorny issue. :)

    Addendum: what might be a useful plugin for you is something like an auto-watermarker. IE, users can upload a watermark, and then whenever they upload a photo (IE a jpeg, jpg, gif, png, etc etc), they are given the option to automatically watermark it with their chosen watermark.

    At least then if an image is stolen, it's watermarked and the origin is clear.

  • @Dago

    "..it's the ones who do know" -- so true. Also there's website copying programs around which will crawl the entire site and copy / steal *every piece of data down to the local PC ;-(