diff --git a/config/galaxy.ini.sample b/config/galaxy.ini.sample
index dbc13b0ca32..d0d9438808d 100644
--- a/config/galaxy.ini.sample
+++ b/config/galaxy.ini.sample
@@ -1013,13 +1013,23 @@ use_interactive = True
 # database for authentication) and set the following two options.
 
 # This should point to a directory containing subdirectories matching users'
-# email addresses, where Galaxy will look for files.
+# identifer (defaults to e-mail), where Galaxy will look for files.
 #ftp_upload_dir = None
 
 # This should be the hostname of your FTP server, which will be provided to
 # users in the help text.
 #ftp_upload_site = None
 
+# User attribute to use as subdirectory in calculating default ftp_upload_dir 
+# pattern. By default this will be email so a user's FTP upload directory will be
+# ${ftp_upload_dir}/${user.email}. Can set this to other attributes such as id or
+# username though.
+#ftp_upload_dir_identifier = email
+
+# Python string tempalte used to determine an FTP upload directory for a 
+# particular user.
+#ftp_upload_dir_template = ${ftp_upload_dir}/${ftp_upload_dir_identifier}
+
 # Enable enforcement of quotas.  Quotas can be set from the Admin interface.
 #enable_quotas = False
 
diff --git a/lib/galaxy/config.py b/lib/galaxy/config.py
index bfae71b72db..a85efd03f2b 100644
--- a/lib/galaxy/config.py
+++ b/lib/galaxy/config.py
@@ -292,6 +292,7 @@ class Configuration( object ):
         self.whoosh_index_dir = resolve_path( kwargs.get( "whoosh_index_dir", "database/whoosh_indexes" ), self.root )
         self.ftp_upload_dir = kwargs.get( 'ftp_upload_dir', None )
         self.ftp_upload_dir_identifier = kwargs.get( 'ftp_upload_dir_identifier', 'email' )  # attribute on user - email, username, id, etc...
+        self.ftp_upload_dir_template = kwargs.get( 'ftp_upload_dir_template', '${ftp_upload_dir}%s${ftp_upload_dir_identifier}' % os.path.sep )
         self.ftp_upload_site = kwargs.get( 'ftp_upload_site', None )
         self.allow_library_path_paste = kwargs.get( 'allow_library_path_paste', False )
         self.disable_library_comptypes = kwargs.get( 'disable_library_comptypes', '' ).lower().split( ',' )
diff --git a/lib/galaxy/managers/context.py b/lib/galaxy/managers/context.py
index 822dbee4475..9dde7a241a5 100644
--- a/lib/galaxy/managers/context.py
+++ b/lib/galaxy/managers/context.py
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@
 Mixins for transaction-like objects.
 """
 
-import os
 from json import dumps
+import string
 
 from galaxy.util import bunch
 
@@ -139,12 +139,17 @@ class ProvidesUserContext( object ):
 
     @property
     def user_ftp_dir( self ):
-        identifier = self.app.config.ftp_upload_dir_identifier
         base_dir = self.app.config.ftp_upload_dir
         if base_dir is None:
             return None
         else:
-            return os.path.join( base_dir, getattr( self.user, identifier ) )
+            identifier = self.app.config.ftp_upload_dir_identifier
+            template = self.app.config.ftp_upload_dir_template
+            path = string.Template(template).safe_substitute(dict(
+                ftp_upload_dir=base_dir,
+                ftp_upload_dir_identifier=identifier,
+            ))
+            return path
 
 
 class ProvidesHistoryContext( object ):