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Digital Library
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The first component of the digital delivery system is the digital library. The digital library allows merchants to upload and manage all of the digital content to be made available to their customers. The digital library allows digital content to be associated with multiple products that are for sale. For example, a track to a CD may be available on both a normal album and a greatest hits collection. By using a digital library, merchants are able to upload the file once, link it to more than one item and thereby conserve space and reduce cost.
There are three ways to upload files into your digital library.
- Use the "Upload a new file" form below.
- Transfer the file via the Virtual FTP interface with your favorite FTP client.
- Use the Digital Library Uploader application for Windows (recommend for files larger than 100MB).
Upload Options (Section)
1 - Upload form
Your choice of upload will be determined in part by the types of digital download file you have. If your files are relatively small in size, the the two upload options on this page will be sufficient:
"Upload New File" vs "Upload a New File Collection (Zip Archive)"
You can upload zip files via either option, with the difference being that "Upload New File" maintains the uploaded files as the .zip file, whereas the "Upload a New File Collection (Zip Archive)" option will unzip the uploaded file into the underlying internal files. This makes it useful for getting lots of files uploaded at once.
Both upload options are going to be the easiest methods for placing files into your digital library. However, if you have really large files (100+ megabytes) then you will likely benefit from using option 2 or 3, because they are more robust than the "http upload" protocol, which can at times hang up on large uploads.
2 - FTP Client
Option two, FTP, allows you to upload the files using your favorite FTP client. Those familiar with FTP that have larger digital files will find this the best method to get their files into the digital library, because the FTP protocol is more robust then the "http upload" with far better handling of bandwidth interruptions that occur when dealing with large files. (See "FTP Server Access - Catalog" for more details.)
3 - Digital Library Uploader
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→ Items → Item Management → Edit Item → Digital Delivery → Manage Available Files |
The digital library is where you store all the files that will be available for download by your customers when they purchase digital items. UltraCart uses the concept of a digital library so that you can upload a file one time and then have it associated with many different items. For instance you may have a song available as a single track item or as an album item.
Files (section)
The files section of the digital library contains all your uploaded digital files for configuration to your items for sale. Items listed here will appear within the "Available files" field in the "Digital Delivery" tab of the Item Editor.
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The files section will display the file name of each uploaded file, the description of the file (optional) and the size of the file. There will also be a "edit" button and "delete" button.
Upload Options (Section)
Upload form
Your choice of upload will be determined in part by the types of digital download file you have. If your files are relatively small in size, the the two upload options on this page will be sufficient:
The upload tool will display a progress bar to indicate the files is being uploaded, followed by a short processing period before the file is displayed in the File Section.
Edit Digital Item
Clicking the edit button will display the "Edit Digital Item" page:
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