We know that Terms of Service updates can be scary, but this one’s not! We worked hard to ensure that our new terms are simple and straightforward, so we’re happy to reveal that it’s 70% shorter.

The important details

• The new Terms of Service apply immediately for anyone who signs up for a Cloudup account on or after May 15, 2015.
• Existing Cloudup users have 30 days to review the new Terms of Service and decide whether or not to accept them. If you agree to the new terms, it’s simple — continue to use Cloudup! If you don’t agree to the new terms, you must stop using Cloudup.

Please give it a read, and feel free compare it to the previous terms. You won’t find any significant changes, and as always, your content remains yours!

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!