(Sorry, edited the above because I submitted too soon.) Yeah, maybe it’s worth checking the project file in Dropbox occasionally and seeing what it’s doing. I don’t know if that’s something that would happen all the time or if it’s only occurring when there’s a glitch in the sync process.
I’m leaning toward a fluke in the sync process. One would think that this syncing thing would be more… seamless… it’s worked out for the most part.
I know I came back to Scrivener after it crashed and I lost 10,000 words during NaNoWriMo in 2007 (This was somewhere along the x.7 release line, called Scrivener Gold). I decided that it wasn’t worth two cents and went back to Nisus Writer. 2008 I tried 1.x and was impressed and bought it and now I’m on 2.0 and I’ve recommended it to people… What can I say, a great program, It tends to be open on my MacBook.
Josh
Probably a fluke. Also I noticed that your second example was an older Scrivener project, so I don’t know if there’d be any difference there–not in the process itself, since it’s all still a bundle, but just as far as the binder files and so on, since they’ve changed for 2.0. I may test this out later when I’m procrastinating further on my writing.
Going back to an earlier point in this thread about Scrivener seeing the whole bundle as one file, someone in the giant thread on syncing suggested using a disk image to achieve this. You can store the disk image in Dropbox and open the project in one step with an alias on each of your computers (in the dock or on your desktop or wherever you like), then work, close the project, and eject the disk. Since you want to be closing your projects anyway when you leave on one computer (and it sounds like you’re already in the habit of this), it’s not much more work than just keeping the .scriv file on Dropbox, but it keeps Dropbox from viewing the project as a thousand little files.
Here’s the post on it (there are a few following) so you can check it out: https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/working-off-of-network-drives-mobileme-thumb-drives/5101/142
I still have a handful of projects that haven’t been updated, that one just happens to be one of the ones that hasn’t been…
[EDIT} The first file was one that has been converted, all of the old files (the (From…) are prior to the conversion.
I mainly work off the MacBook and do some minor things on the Mini (it has a 19" monitor…) I’m actually more concerned about leaving a project open on the Mini and then trying to open it while I’m in the field…
Hmm… I wonder if I changed the names of the Machines and that is what has caused the (From…) files to appear. (or I deleted the computer from the sync group and that is what did it…)
What about Synk v. 7 http://decimus.net/synk ?
In other words, would you recommend using Synk in order to work on a Scrivener project opened on both my desktop and laptop computers (I would be the only person working on the project, which means the project will never be modified on both computer simultaneously) ?
Although Synk developers say there shouldn’t be any problem, I’d like to check with Scrivener developers and with anybody would might have some experience with Synk’s recent version (v. 7).
Note: I’m now using Dropbox only for Scrivener projects’ backups since AmberV strongly advised against any other use of Dropbox with Scrivener. But this is a real pain since I go back and forth from one computer to another several times a day…
Thanks.
I haven’t tried Synk so I can’t comment, sorry. If you try it, make sure the project is only open on one machine at a time (and heed the warning Scrivener gives you if it detects it isn’t), and back up religiously. And don’t shout at us if things go wrong. 
I’ll try to take a look when I get chance, but that won’t be for a little while, sorry.
As for Dropbox, as I’ve said elsewhere, I use Dropbox to share my .scriv files between machines and accounts. You are unlikely to lose work placing Scrivener files on Dropbox (but I make no guarantees), and I’ve never had a problem. The main things you need to bear in mind are:
-
Once again, make sure you don’t open the same project on two machines at once (Scrivener will warn you if you try).
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Make sure your automatic backups are set up to save a zipped-up backup to the local hard drive on project open or close (or both).
(1) should ensure you never run into problems with Dropbox trying to account for conflicts and messing up the internals of the .scriv file in the process (which is the worst I’ve ever seen happen to Dropbox syncs, and it is reversible) and (2) should cover your back in case you ever do run into problems.
So, essentially, provided you take the above precautions, Dropbox is generally safe. But it wouldn’t be sensible for us to tell users that syncing is always safe, because no syncing solution is 100% safe, as is nothing that involves transferring data between devices.
All the best,
Keith
Keith, just to clarify, do you use the ‘sync to external’ dropbox folder method, or do you actually store your Scrivener project folder on dropbox and work off it from multiple machines?
Hi reacher
(No need to PM me as well - best to ask in one place and in public if it’s a tech question.)
I store my Scrivener project on Dropbox - you should never try to sync projects on different machines to the same external folder.
All the best,
Keith
Ok, so you’re saying that you store your project on dropbox for safety purposes, but not in order to work off of it from multiple machines?
No, I work from it.
Ok, thanks. Sorry for all the questions, I’m just trying to sort through the ambiguity between the official supported recommendation about dropbox and Scrivener and the way people are actually using it. Like most people, I write on multiple computers (workstation at home, laptop when traveling, etc), so storing the Scrivener project on dropbox is the ideal (really, the only) way to work. Sounds like as long as I insure everything is synced and closed on one machine before opening the project on another I’ll be ok – unofficially of course. 
No problem at all. In fact you prompted me to do something I’ve been meaning to do for a while, and update the Dropbox advice, so I’ve been writing another post with guidelines on using Scrivener with Dropbox. You can find it here:
https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/using-scrivener-with-dropbox/11295/1
That covers everything you should need to do to ensure that working on a project directly from Dropbox doesn’t cause you any troubles. Of course, back up religiously just in case.
All the best,
Keith
I have a similar workflow for working from my MacBook (My primary writing machine) and my Mac Mini. I actually do very little writing on the Mini, but the files sync both ways regardless. I use SugarSync rather than Dropbox. I have my writing folder set to sync on both computers, and as I write, I can actually watch SugarSync sync the files as I write. I’m only using one machine at a time, and make sure that the sync in complete on the MacBook and that the sync is complete on the Mini before opening the file on the Mini.
I think the tricky part of this is going to be when I get my new Air at the end of this week…
Keith, the new guideline post is wonderful, thanks. I think this will help many users. As you know, cloud computing and sharing workflow between a handful of devices is the way most professionals work now, so this issue is often the first one to address when considering a new piece of software like Scrivener – it certainly was for me.
BTW, you might want to update last couple questions of this FAQ with the new information: literatureandlatte.com/wiki/ … nformation
After spending the last two days reading these forums and watching the tutorials, I’m about to bite the bullet and buy Scrivener. One big question remains unanswered for me, though.
I currently use Word. I mostly work on a desktop computer, but like to occasionally work on my laptop (I think a lot of writers are this way!) To move files, I currently copy a folder with whatever Word files I’ve used during a given writing session onto a jump/thumb/flash drive, and then walk it to the other computer and upload. I like this method a lot better than Dropbox. Dropbox screams for me to make errors (given the length of this thread, I may not be the only one!) I am NOT techie at all, and I like “seeing” what I’m doing so I know files are where I want them and that the latest version of my document is on each computer.
So if I buy Scrivener, I assume I can download the program onto both the desktop computer and the laptop computer. But is it then possible, given the “bundling” of Scrivener files, to download to a thumb drive at the end of a session on one computer and walk it to the other computer to upload? Is there some special technique to do this that’s different than the way one would copy a file in Word?
My desktop does back up automatically every day to both an external drive and to an offsite storage location, so it’s not a question of having an effective backup in case something goes wrong. I have that covered. It’s a question of being able to work between computers.
I’ve spent forever on the forums and can’t figure out the answer to this. Before I download, I want to be sure I know what I’m doing so I get the program up and running properly on both computers and can transfer files between them. THANKS!
Yes, Scrivener project files on the Mac look and act just like ordinary files. It will be no more difficult to copy a .scriv project than it will a .doc file. This is the most basic and easy way to work with Scrivener files. A lot of the stuff you see in this thread and others that talk about syncing a .scriv project is going to by nature be more technical than a simple copy, because once you put a .scriv project on a non-Mac server, it turns into folders and files (well, that’s what it always was, but the Mac hides that) and you have to start worrying more about the components of the thing and making sure Dropbox is correctly operating on the hundreds or thousands of files inside a typical .scriv folder.
Now in your case, you can just drag the .scriv bundle and the whole thing moves in one shot. You might find this a little slow, especially once your project grows a bit, so you might want to try switching to using .zip files if it gets too slow. This is easy to do, from within the open project in Scrivener you can save a .zip backup of the project anywhere you like, including directly to the USB stick. Zip files compress everything, saving lots of space, and pack it all into one single file (a true single file). But just starting out, you can get by with just copying the .scriv file around like a .doc file, and if your demands on the program are never too intensive, you might never need to take the zip option.
So in summary, the reason why you haven’t seen a lot of discussion on copying .scriv files is that honestly it’s very straightforward. There isn’t much you can do to get that wrong that isn’t also within the realm of plain old common sense knowledge from any form of file copying.
Wow–thank you! That makes it all sound very easy. Now to test it out
Yeah. One of the big design factors in the project format was ease of portability. Drag a single thing, and all your research and snapshots and manuscript are right as you left them on Machine A, all the way down to which document you were viewing last, all the way down to the selection of text in that document. Unfortunately ease of portability has clashed a little bit with the rise of automated computer synchronisation, so that has made things marginally more complicated than they were meant to be originally.
Just remember that the ula for dropbox state very clearly that they own EVERYTHING residing on their servers. That includes your intellectual data. Meaning that they have the right to take, copyright and use anything that is now or ever has been in the past, put on their servers.
So take care when using them.
The apple iCloud that is being implemented with Lion does not have that ULA, though they do have the right to go through the data and turn it over to authorities etc… which is reasonable.
Can you point to the current portion of the Terms of Service or other document that states this? I know there was a big brouhaha over their terms as regards the public folder, but I think they changed those terms to be more in line with common sense. I believe the former terms were a case of over-zealous lawyers trying to cover their asses with regards to files that users of their service chose to put on the public folders. The new ones just caution you that DropBox cannot be held responsible for copywrite infringement perpetrated by third parties who access your publicly available data.
Current Terms of Service:
dropbox.com/terms#terms