Handling multiple file uploads when the user must specify attributes for each file
I'm in the process of redesigning an application that contains a multiple file upload view. The current design features a tabular layout in which ten rows are displayed at a time. Each row contains a few dropdowns, a file control, and a textarea. Here's a basic conceptual representation:
As you can imagine, this doesn't present well on mobile devices or screens with limited width (e.g. the small, cheap laptops they often give out in corporate offices). Our actual implementation of this approach is clunky, too, but that's a separate problem.
My first instinct was to try something more sequential: Using a clean and simple "wizard", let the user pick attributes for and submit one file at a time. Give them an option at the end to easily start the process over if needed. All the while, their files will upload to the server "in the background." Here's a mockup of the "first step" of that approach:
This seemed promising at first, but I was later made aware that our users often upload 10-20 files in one go, and the "wizard" would add a lot of clicks over what they're doing today.
I then considered an approach in which the user may upload several files all at once and then assign attributes to them afterwards. This may actually work, but I've never seen this in the wild and wonder if it might confuse our users.
Are there established patterns/approaches for this scenario? If so, what are they?