So, I experimented with Mediafire for doing an open beta for my newest iteration of Skies, and being able to upload files and make changes to what I was working on on the fly, and share it with everyone was really great, and I'd love to do again.

I had already started uploading the files for my next project I'm gonna be doing an open beta for on Mediafire, when I thought why not look into potential alternatives that would be better for something like this?

What I'm looking for is basically, a place where I can upload a number of individual files, and make changes on the fly. Being able to download every file at once would be a huge plus, you can't do that with mediafire as a user unless you have a pro account, and myself and I'm pretty sure everyone else, won't be able to do that.

One website that seems a likely alternative is https://github.com/. The https://github.com/Soartex-Modded/Modded-1.7.x texture project for Minecraft is a good guide for how I'd want a distribution platform of a beta mod to be set up. What I'm wondering, is would users be able to download every file at once if I only had a free account? If so, I might go with Github, but if not, I'm open for suggestions of alternatives.

Github is mostly oriented towards software, so I'm not sure how well it'd work for projects like mine, although it does have a number of useful features that I'd welcome. Just wanted to post this in case anyone has other ideas, or feedback. Tell me what you think!

EDIT: It seems free Github users can't have private projects, this shouldn't be a problem for projects like my skies, but being able to have private repos would be useful for things like The Nerevarine Chronicles and MaDW. I'll still go with Github if it's the best option, but another site where I could make private repos would be great too, if anyone knows of one.

If you place the files in a folder in Dropbox, you can download the whole folder as a zip like https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3wzjt8wna2wyym1/AAAwVsNN1HXxb2jsvPh0HRcVa?dl=0. Also you can sync the contents automatically from your desktop, so changes made on your PC automatically refect in the Dropbox folder.

EDIT: But free account has only 2GB of space available.

I actually have a dropbox account with some huge amount of space or something, but I use it as a shared folder, and I don't like cluttering it with stuff since it syncs onto my computer, I'd prefer a web-based solution for this.

Why not just use GHF?
You can have a WIP thread there and have full control over your file updates/versions/etc all linked directly to your thread. And also use GHF as a host for your mod when it's done.
I don't believe there is any size restriction (within reason.)

Maybe I missed what you're looking for, but GHF is very user friendly.

Can't you only have files uploaded as attachments on GHF? Websites like Mediafire and Github allow me to have folder structures and are more oriented towards uploading things.

I'm happy with using dropbox for this... but I don't use this shared folder thing you have. But it is possible to exclude folders from synchronizing - So why not create a new folder "Beta Mods" or something, exclude it from sync, and then use subfolders inside that for your different projects? That way you also don't have to create a new account somewhere.

Hmm, I didn't know you could create a folder and exclude it from syncing. I'll have to look into that. Would be a good way to make use of all the space I have.

I can see about getting you a FTP account over on Wolflore if you want, SWG. You would need to post download links, but with FTP, there is no file size limit. I can also set you up a private modding group accessible only by those you wish and staff. Just let me know.

Maybe, I think I'll probably be able to use dropbox though. I have 18.5 Gigabytes there because a great friend of mine gave me a bunch of space via referrals. I should probably make use of that space.

EDIT: I seem to have figured out the selective syncing deal. Should be excellent and well suited to any future projects of mine. Thank you http://www.gamesas.com/user/778160-hollaajith/ and Pherim for the suggestion!

Glad I could help you! Looking forward to what you come up with!

Glad I could help.

Thanks again! All the files for my next beta are up! Now I just gotta finish up my Skies, and I'll share it with everyone.

In contrast to GitHub http://www.theassimilationlab.com/ site does exactly that plus it has a few features e.g separate project forum/download area if needed.

@Leonardo, ooh, I didn't know that! The Modding Wiki had brought The Assimilation Lab to my attention but I'll be sure to keep it in mind for group projects in the future.

You're more than welcome to use the server space on TAL anytime SWG. If interested just send AndalayBay a PM on BSF or signup on TAL and contact her there.

I would not recommend GitHub for this kind of project. As you already found out, there is no way to hide any files/projects. It is possible to make changes to uploaded files nicely, but you need external application for this. Others might use it too to download it, but it would require the app on their end too, plus they would need GitHub account and in addition to download the whole archive, they could overwrite it. And lastly, I believe there is no way to actually erase stuff from the repository.