Scrivener on my iPad seems to have some confusion with Dropbox, and often, when I open my project, I’m told there is a syncing problem, and to check that Dropbox’s sync is up to date. I don’t know how to force Dropbox to sync.
I keep my files in the suggested place: Dropbox/apps/Scrivener
I eventually got out of the loop, deleted the conflicts, and managed to not lose any of my novel. I’m traveling, and writing is going well right now, and I want to solve this before I lose work.
Your help is appreciated!
Thank you,
Skye
On iOS devices you simply tap the sync icon to sync.
Always do that before leaving the app.
Always back out to the projects screen before leaving the app.
Thanks for the suggestion about backing out to projects before syncing. I haven’t found a sync icon in the Dropbox app.
You must force Dropbox sync from within Scrivener. You can’t do so from the Dropbox app itself.
You do it inside Scrivener.
Have you done the tutorial?
If you’re only working on your iDevice while you’re travelling, than one approach is to bypass syncing entirely, by moving your project on the Projects list from the DropBox section to the On My iPad section.Then you won’t need to sync at all until you return home. This is a particularly good thing to do if you’ll be working in areas with spotty wifi. iOS Scriv/DropBox really don’t like spotty wifi. When you return home, BEFORE YOU LAUNCH SCRIVENER ON ANY OTHER DEVICES, move your project on the Projects list from the On My iPad section back to the DropBox section, and allow it to sync completely.
If you decide to take this approach, then please please please be sure to export/share a copy of your project at least daily. You must do this, because the latest version of your project will only exist on your iDevice, and if something happens to your iDevice, all your work is lost. From the projects .list, choose edit, then pick the share button (box with upward arrow on bottom left). That will zip the project and you can email it to yourself, or upload to iCloud, or OneDrive, or wherever. Particularly, export/share your project from your iPad one last time when you return home, prior to moving it back to DropBox and syncing, just in case there’s an issue.
I strongly second Lunk’s suggestion of doing the tutorial, if you haven’t done so recently.
Best,
Jim
Thanks, Jim,
I’ll try to follow your directions. Yes, I’m in an area of spotty wifi.
I’ll review the tutorial, too. It’s been a while.
Skye
Jim
In the tutorial, I do not find how to move my project from Dropbox to “on my iPad.” Because of the spotty WiFi, I believe that’s what I need to do. Can you help me with that?
Skye
You tap Edit above the Projects and drag it down to ”On my iPad”
I would duplicate the project first, rename it, and then move the copy
In the Tutorial, duplicating projects from the Projects screen is discussed in the Working with Projects document. In the Syncing document below that, there are a couple of bullets that discuss the DropBox vs. Local (On My iPad) sections on your iDevice. As Lunk says, select Edit, then drag and drop from one section to the other.
Duplicating the project as a backup before you move it is a good idea.
Then move your Live project to the Local (On My iPad) section.
Open the Live project and verify that it looks good.
As long as you don’t later confuse which project is your Live one, and which one is your Copy/Backup, it’s okay to leave the Backup around. But if that’s confusing to you, I would delete the Copy/Backup from DropBox after doing the above steps. Again, you do this from the Projects screen by pressing edit.
How long will you be traveling? If for a longish time, then in addition to making the zipped backups from Export/Share that I recommended, you might also want to make local copies as backups periodically. From the Projects screen, press Edit, then Duplicate (box with + on lower left), then rename the duplicate project (long press) by appending the date at the end or something like that, to indicate it’s a backup.
The rationale behind the local project copies is in the event you’ve made some major changes or whatever, and you want to revert back to an earlier version of the project. You could also do this with the zipped bacukps from Export/Share, but it’s a much more involved process unzipping a project on the iPad.
Anyway, just another option. I hope I haven’t confused you. 
Best,
Jim
Thanks, Jim.
I’ll try all this. In the meantime, I’ve taken the low tech option of copying each version of the chapter when I’m closing it up, and throwing into an email and sending it to myself. The writing is going so well right now I hate taking the time to switch brains and work this all out. Definitely before our trip in August!
Skye