Once upon a time, I elaborated on the magical world of Cloudup direct links. We’ve since introduced enhancements to direct links, which make sharing with Cloudup more secure and more robust than ever.
Cloudup direct links are now first-class citizens, with their very own top-level domain, cldup.com. With the implementation of this new domain, Cloudup lets you upload, hotlink, and serve any type of asset, including HTML, XML, and SVG securely and directly.
Let’s take a look
Cloudup links usually look something like this: https://cloudup.com/cI2ukH00HZ8. This sets the item in a good-lookin’ chrome and allows you to add more items into the same stream for a nifty sharing experience.
In some cases, however, you’ll want to grab the direct link to a file and share it or embed it without giving viewers access to the entire stream (take a look at our post on direct link usage for use cases & how to’s). When you head to the direct link to the item linked above, it will look like this: https://cldup.com/iikcNfbwc06.gif.
Added benefits
Hosting the asset on a different domain with a unique ID allows us to serve content that wouldn’t be as secure otherwise, like HTML, XML, and SVGs, which can run sneaky, potentially malicious scripts if not handled properly.
Now, sharing the direct link to hosted HTML, XML, or SVGs will display your content beautifully and safely. Here’s an HTML example for your viewing pleasure! https://cldup.com/EEW9mvpe1P.html
I dropped the HTML & inline CSS bouncy cube (crafted by the wonderful Bennett Feely on CodePen) into Cloudup and simply hit the direct link to share the fun animation in this example. Props to Bennett for sharing his work with the world.
Keep on sharing on, and enjoy the power of direct links!
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