[RFC] Multiple file uploads

[callumacrae]

Suggestion!

This is beautiful: http://valums.com/ajax-upload/

[Oleg]

Is there a standards-compliant (html5?) solution that works in all modern browsers?

[_hsr]

Is there a standards-compliant (html5?) solution that works in all modern browsers?

Yes, there are many other methods for multipart uploads, but plupload seems to be the best at it as of now.

Update :

The server end of plupload is to be written in upload.php containing a class with functions for file upload and attaching it to the post, which would preserve the current mechanism and also follow the security guidelines.

[Oleg]

So then we don't need any of flash/silverlight/whatever bits at all, and can just go with html5 exclusively?

[callumacrae]

Is there a standards-compliant (html5?) solution that works in all modern browsers?

No, except for input type="file"

[brunoais]

So then we don't need any of flash/silverlight/whatever bits at all, and can just go with html5 exclusively?

Yes. There's that option in it's code. I checked it.

[_hsr]

Update:

todo:
Check permissions before uploading files
Use existing functions to update attachment_table
Use phpbb defined fileExt blacklist

[harderthanfire]

I am also hoping to do this idea for Google Summer of Code but I have a slightly different proposal.

Instead of using any kind of external code like Plupload we could get the same functionality using some XMLHttpRequest2 magic, a dash of css for the progress bar (html5 has a nice new progress tag just for this) and adding multiple="multiple" to the upload form. This has the benefit like Plupload of degrading gracefully in IE8 and older browsers and working fine in all modern browsers without the need for the extra external code. It would mean writing the javascript from scratch but it will not take much and will simply augment the existing attachment uploads process for people using modern browsers.

[AliasM2K]

Is there a standards-compliant (html5?) solution that works in all modern browsers?

Well, HTML 5 Boilerplate http://html5boilerplate.com/ boasts about being able to support HTML5 tags on all modern browsers. Maybe we should first implement it on phpBB, and then workout the upload problem.

Personally, I like HTML 5 Boilerplate. It is a good template with support for mobile devices as well.

[_hsr]

This is just a work in progress, I've managed to embed plupload into the upload attachments tab, however it currently lacks styling.
The current setup is not checking of user permissions, which I am currently working on. In the file list, when we click on a file, a new field for comments/pace inline. However, I am thinking of making a slide down animation, once the file is uploaded, to resemble the old "POSTED ATTACHMENTS" section. The 100% can be modified into progress bars, which I need comments on how to imply. My suggestion would be using html5 canvas, however it might not reflect well in IE8, if then the usual table-fill or div-fill should suffice.

The number of attachments per post can also be set via both JavaScript and PHP end, which would be fetched from the phpbb config. Currently, it checks for permitted fileExts and file size at both ends. Please add any other features you'd like to see. Regarding file deletion, an ajax post request should do the job.

I've attached some images representing the process, though it is pretty basic.