Publishing ZIP Projects

For complex projects with multiple files (HTML, CSS, JS, images, fonts), you can publish a ZIP archive. This guide covers the expected structure and requirements.

Project Structure

Your ZIP should follow this structure:

12345678my-project.zip
├── index.html           ← Entry point (required)
├── styles/
│   └── main.css
├── scripts/
│   └── app.js
└── images/
    └── logo.png

Entry Point

The entry point is the HTML file that serves as the root when visiting https://preview.dropley.app/p/{shortId}. By default, Dropley uses index.html.

If your entry point is nested in a subdirectory, you can specify its path during upload. For example, if your structure is:

123my-project.zip
└── src/
    └── index.html

Set the entry point to src/index.html.

Supported File Types

Extension	Type
`.html`	HTML pages
`.css`	Stylesheets
`.js`	JavaScript
`.json`	Data files
`.png`	PNG images
`.jpg`, `.jpeg`	JPEG images
`.svg`	SVG images
`.gif`	GIF images
`.webp`	WebP images
`.woff`, `.woff2`	Web fonts

Files with other extensions are rejected during upload.

Best Practices

Use Relative Paths

All internal references must use relative paths:

1234567<!-- Correct -->
<link rel="stylesheet" href="styles/main.css">
<script src="scripts/app.js"></script>
<img src="images/logo.png" alt="Logo">

<!-- Incorrect — absolute paths won't resolve locally -->
<link rel="stylesheet" href="/styles/main.css">

Organize Assets

Keep your project organized with clear directory names. This makes it easier to maintain and debug.

Keep It Reasonable

Very large ZIPs (50MB+) may fail or take too long to upload. Optimize images and remove unused files before zipping.

Upload Process

Create your ZIP with the structure above
Go to dropley.app
Drag and drop or click to upload
Set the entry point if it's not index.html at root
Choose your expiration
Get your URL

What Gets Served

Dropley preserves the exact directory structure of your ZIP. Files are served with their original paths relative to the entry point:

123456789Original ZIP:
  index.html
  styles/main.css
  scripts/app.js

Served as:
  https://preview.dropley.app/p/abc12345/         → index.html
  https://preview.dropley.app/p/abc12345/styles/main.css
  https://preview.dropley.app/p/abc12345/scripts/app.js

Limitations

Dropley does not execute server-side code (PHP, Python, Node.js, etc.)
Server-side includes and SSI are not supported
Database-backed applications won't work (no MySQL/PostgreSQL)
Dropley is for static site hosting only