This document discusses the importance of reuploading revised versions of slideshows on Slideshare without changing the URL. It allows for short-term error corrections, long-term revisions to keep content up to date, and for classroom materials to link to the latest version. Although Slideshare removed the reupload feature, users can request its return by searching for "Reupload" on the support page and asking them to bring it back due to its value. The document encourages users to submit feedback to potentially have the feature restored if there is widespread demand.
2. What is Reupload and Why is It So Important?
Reupload is (or was) a feature that allowed users to repost a revised version of a slideshow without changing its
URL. Now that it is gone, the only way to revise a slideshow is to delete the original version and repost a new
version with an new URL. Why does that matter?
Short-term error correction: We are all human. (Well, at least I am). We make mistakes. After you have
posted your slideshow, you, or one of your readers, notices a typo, a wrong number in a calculation, or a broken
link. You want to fix it, but meanwhile, you or your readers have bookmarked the original version, or Tweeted
the link, or posted it on Facebook. When anyone follows those links or bookmarks, they will be taken to the
original version with the error, not your corrected version. If you deleted the original when you made the
correction, they won't find anything.
Long-term revisions: Sometimes I publish a slideshow on a topic of lasting interest, say, the economics of a
soda tax. I posted this version of my soda tax slideshow in 2010. Last year, soda taxes were back in the news,
so I posted this revised version. At the same time, I added the little yellow box on the front page of the original
so that anyone who had the old link could find the new version. This week, I wanted to update it again to include
the news of the failure of Chicago's soda tax, but with reupload gone, I can no longer steer anyone who finds
one of the old versions to the newest version.
Classroom use: College professors and high school teachers use slideshows in their classrooms all the time.
They include links to the slideshows in the printed or on-line curriculum materials they give to their students.
What if the creator of the slideshow fixes an error or makes an update? Doesn't the teacher want them to find
the latest version, not the old one? Without reupload, this won't happen.
Even if you never post slideshow yourself, you need reupload so posters can keep
their slideshows up to date!
3. What Slideshare Told Me When I Asked About Reupload
When I first contacted SlideShare about reupload, I got this non-responsive response:
Thank you for your email and I am sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused. We're always looking for
ways to improve the SlideShare experience for our members. This sometimes means removing features that
aren’t heavily used to invest in others that offer greater value. Please know we continuously evaluate how
features and products are used, and make adjustments accordingly to focus our resources on providing the
most value to our members. As a result, we have removed the ability to re-upload documents to SlideShare.
As a workaround, you can upload a new file to SlideShare and delete the current one. Please be aware that
this means we will not be able to transfer any views/likes/URL's to the new presentation. Again, I apologize for
the inconvenience and we greatly appreciate your feedback. We have documented the issue in order to track
additional reports of the problem and for consideration to be addressed in a future release.
--Allison LCS Support Specialist – Mobile
This was a boilerplate response that other users have also gotten. It has been posted and reposted several times on
discussion boards.
4. What They Told Me Next
I reopened the case and pointed out to "Allison" that it is nonsense. I told her that reupload is does not fit the
category "not heavily used." It is an essential feature that people use all the time. It offers great value. This time I got
a response that gave me a tiny bit of hope:
Thanks for your feedback about removing the re-upload feature and I wish I was personally able to do
something myself however, please know I've sent your concern to our product team for consideration. Taking
member feedback into account, we're always looking for ways to improve the SlideShare experience. When
many of our members ask for the same improvement, we try our best to get it done. Though immediate
action may not be possible, your feedback will be incorporated into our ongoing discussions about the direction
of our design and development.
So, if one of us complains, nothing happens, but if a lot of us complain, something might happen. Let's see if
"Allison" is right. Let's send lots of requests to bring back reupload and see if they bring it back.
5. What You Can Do
SlideShare makes it pretty easy to ask for help in getting something fixed. Here is how you do it:
1. Go to the SlideShare home page: https://www.slideshare.net/
2. Scroll down to the very bottom and click on "Support"
3. Type "Reupload" in the search box at the top of the main support page
4. Next, you will get a page that says, "Sorry, we couldn't find any information about 'Reupload’” (unless, by the
time you do this, they have added some information).
5. Go to the bottom of that page and click on the "Contact us" link
6. That will take you to a page where you can send a message to SlideShare help. Ask them to bring back
reupload, and tell them why you care.
Thanks! If we all work together, we can save SlideShare from self-destruction!
6. Tax Flavor of the Year: A Soda Tax
In 2014, Berkeley, California became
the first city in the US to institute a tax
on sugar-sweetened beverages
(SSBs), popularly known as a “soda
tax”
Philadelphia, Seattle, Chicago, and
other cities followed. France, Denmark,
and Mexico also have soda taxes.
The popularity of a Soda tax is due to:
The need for additional tax revenue at
all levels of government
Increased concern about obesity and
its associated health-care costs
But soda taxes face fierce opposition.
Chicago’s was repealed in Oct. 2017
Updated Oct. 11, 2017 Ed Dolan’s Econ Blog