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I am designing a User Interface for a system.

Users can upload files, but the files are not necessarily authored by them.

I display the name of the user who uploaded the file, but I am unsure how to title this.

'Uploader' comes to mind, but this is apparently something I have made up as it does not appear in the dictionary.

Is there a word to describe this type of person?

Glorfindel
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Thomas Harris
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    I think "uploader" is fine for this. – GEdgar Dec 10 '18 at 14:30
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    It's something that lots of people have independently made up. Even if it doesn't qualify for its own dictionary entry, it's readily understandable, as -er is a well-known suffix and combines easily. I think you can go with it. :-) – Hellion Dec 10 '18 at 14:37
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    What dictionaries did you look in? Looks ok according to many of them: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/uploader https://www.yourdictionary.com/uploader https://www.wordsense.eu/uploader/ – Mark Beadles Dec 10 '18 at 16:15
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    Note that in technical fields it is acceptable to define a new term if one doesn't already exist. Just make sure (a) You define it clearly the first time you use it, (b) Your index includes it and refers back to the page where the term was defined. – chasly - supports Monica Dec 10 '18 at 16:54
  • see also this https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/4733/what-s-the-rule-for-adding-er-vs-or-when-forming-an-agent-noun-from-a-ver – neptun Dec 10 '18 at 16:57
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    Do you really need a dedicated word for this ? Why not just use "uploaded by" in the UI as @Typeset Mask suggested. – zakinster Dec 10 '18 at 17:59
  • Even though people have pointed out that "uploader" is in some dictionaries, in fact there are a lot of prefixes and suffixes that you can apply quite freely, and you cannot expect dictionaries to include all words that are created in that way (especially if they are print dictionaries where space is limited). "-er" is such a suffix. – Mark Foskey Dec 11 '18 at 04:42
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    the files are not necessarily authored by them ... what about a "pirate"? – Cœur Dec 11 '18 at 04:45
  • @Cœur The clients have rights to the files, they are generally law firms, I don't think they would appreciate being called pirates! – Thomas Harris Dec 11 '18 at 12:45
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    I got so many responses to this! I settled on 'Uploaded By' in my user interface, followed by the person's name, but used the term 'Uploader' in my documentation to describe what can be viewed in the interface. – Thomas Harris Dec 11 '18 at 12:47

4 Answers4

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The word 'uploader' is fine; many verbs in English are suffixed with -(e)r to describe a person doing the verb, e.g. baker, builder, dealer, driver, singer. 'Downloader' and 'uploader' are widely understood, and while it's not an official dictionary, Wiktionary even has it as an entry:

Noun

uploader (plural uploaders)

  1. Someone who uploads files
Community
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Glorfindel
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  • As it happens, I struggle to think of another word to describe what this question requires. "Uploader" is indeed the ubiquitous word. – Dan Dec 11 '18 at 15:07
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I believe “uploader” is the most obvious, and therefore the right choice. You might prefer a different word if:

  1. There is potential confusion about “upload” versus “download” (the terms are ambiguous in the context of peer-to-peer file transfers); or,
  2. Your application needs to make precise distinctions between, say, the user account that physically sent the file and the person or company who was legally responsible for sending it.

In that case “submitter” would also work.

bobtato
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You could use "uploader" although I agree it sounds a little strange. You might also consider "source", "poster," or "contributor."

Alternatively, you could use the word "by" and say "uploaded by:" or "posted by:" or "contributed by:"

Typeset Mask
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4

I would go with "submitter".
Also, can someone submit for a company, or for someone else? In that case maybe add a new field.

Tvde1
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