Need ideas for a better bulk file uploader for multiple files

Question

So here is the situation. I am designing a content management system that handles content for Publishers (Books, Journals, Magazines etc.).

Here are the steps the user will take in my CMS:

1. User clicks on "Create New Book" option
2. The user fills out basic information with regard to the book - Name, Author/s, Category, Fonts, InDesign Master files etc
3. Next, the user is required to create chapters. Now according to my CMS, each chapter is just another file/ folder structure. But in the UI, the files are categorized into tabs - Art, Manuscript, Specs, Misc.

Here is the problem, if the user is only uploading one chapter, then he can just choose the different tabs he wants to upload the files to like so:

But this is going to become tedious for larger books with hundreds of chapters. Is there a better way to tackle this problem?

Answer 1

You can checkout Udemy's bulk upload feature for videos. There's not a lot of overlap specific to your use case, however you can take some ideas from it.

Some ideas -

• Try to allow the user dump all folders at one go. If your chapters are in folders, you can programmatically categorize them into chapters of the same order.
• If a font file is inside a folder, see if you can automatically identify it and categorize as a font for that chapter. Similarly you can try this with your master Indesign files. You can discard upload of unsupported files so users don't end up uploading junk.
• Try and pull out the common elements. For example, if a font is common across all the chapters then you might not want a dedicated tab for fonts in each chapter. Instead you still want to support it, you can have it as an additional overflow option that says "Add a different font for this chapter" or something on those lines
• I would highly highly recommend supporting Google Drive or Dropbox or both for file sync alternatively. This is because the upload speeds offered by these parties are way way better and its less likely you can match up to it.
• Avoid navigating levels to make any edits to the content. For example if you can change the names of the chapters at the first window itself that would be handy.

But these are just ideas. What would inform you of the best way to go would be your research. I would recommend doing step by step journey map first so you can iterate and optimize on your ideas and take informed decisions. Taking a look at your competitors might help.

Answer 2

Your app shouldn't make users do all this work to upload files. It should just give users a simple familiar file uploader and then help users do all that work IN the app.

To put it lightly, this UI is making users do a lot. If any users don't fully understand what this tool does, what all the buttons do, etc., this uploader ui will stop users in their tracks. The UI is forcing users to figure out how to make their files fit in your system so they have to figure out your system.

A better solution for both you and your users is to give users a simple bulk file uploader that requires nothing of the users other than the right file types. Then show the users their files in your system using an editable data table and help them arrange their file in your system.