We all use the file manager nearly every day to view, move and sort files/folders. Admittedly, the file manager is limited in its functionality, and doesn’t allow much for batch processing of files, or matching of patterns in file or folder names. So what if we turbocharged our standard file manager? We would have DropIt!
DropIt is a small Windows app that floats on your desktop, allowing you to drag and drop files and folders for batch processing. From their site:
This software boasts a host of other features, such as logging, multi-language and Unicode support, password protection, and much more. I was able to speak with Andrea Luparia, one of the lead devs on this project.
The idea for the project came from a user requst from the PortableFreeware.com website (another project of Andrea’s). From there, other users jumped in to help with improving it. Andrea has learned a lot from working on DropIt, mostly with regard to writing clean code, using Autoit, and keeping the code portable.
While his newest release included some major improvements, Andrea is now working on implementing other features, such as a “list” action (to create lists of dropped files) and support for multiple actions.
When I asked Andrea why he personally contributes to open source he said, “I think it’s possible to do free good software of any kind, for all users that desire to use them.. and I think the best way is to offer also the source code, to improve it also with the collaboration of other users.”
Andrea is always looking for help with coding new features, testing releases, translation, creating clones for other operating systems, and coming up with ideas for new features.
If you are a Windows user, or if you’re looking for a great open source project to contribute to, you should definitely give DropIt a look!
Thanks Andrea!