The Media Library is a great repository and easy location to keep and refer to your media files, but there may be times where the media library does not suit your needs. For example:
* If you want to share specific content with only specific users, and only they SEE that content.
* If you want to upload files larger than 200 MB
* If you want storage space larger than 3 GB
These three criteria cannot be met by the Media Library in the Display Network, however there are other options you can use, most of which are free, or extremely cheap, to get you the security, size, and storage space that you need. Here are a couple of options that we recommend:
Google Docs & Box.net (http://www.google.com, http://www.box.net )
Online File Storage locations like Box.net and Google Docs are really useful since you can upload and download with ease, regardless of OS or browser. The two offer the benefit of being able to determine who has access to what files you choose to store there, and they do not need a box.net or Google Account login to access the file. This means you can put the file into your presentation without any login information. The only downside is most file types require you to click on a download button, therefore they are not going to work. The only content types you can store at at these locations to use in a presentation are Images (jpg, bmp, gif, png).
Box.net says they are working on the ability for PDF and SWF files to come up in the browser so they will not require you to click a download button, and that should be coming in 2010.
Google Docs allows you to show Google Docs in your presentation as well, which is fantastic if you need to show Spreadsheets, Presentations (similar to Powerpoint), and Documents. You can convert any existing spreadsheets, presentations or documents into the Google Doc format, and they show up no problem.
Both offer 1 gig of space for free with your account, and competitive plans for additional space.
You would simply upload a supported file to your Google Docs or Box.net account, and then get the "sharing" link from the file. Remember, your presentations will only show image files that you have stored at Google Docs or box.net. Put that link into your presentation as a webpage link, and voila, it will show in your presentation.
Webserver (http://www.godaddy.com, http://www.networksolutions.com)
This is my personal favorite, since you can put any file that can be stored in the Media Library onto a webserver and refer to it as an External Media Item. Getting a webserver requires a bit more effort and technical expertise than setting up a Google or Box.net account, however the price isn't much different. For example, for testing purposes I bought a domain name with ww.GoDaddy.com for 15 USD for the year, and got 10 gigs of space for free. FREE!! Now, I can upload any file I want using FTP or whatever preferred transfer method you use to get your files onto your webserver, and refer to them as an external media item. You can store images, flash, videos, mp3's, and best of all, they can be any size.
To show a file from your webserver, simply upload the file, add a Media File, and instead of choosing the location as the Media Library, choose "External Location", enter the link, length, height, width and any other settings you want for the file, click select, and then save and approve the play list, and you are good to go.
Let us know what you think, and if you have any recommendations for storing files outside of the Media Library. We look forward to hearing from you!