Scrivener 2 Basics - Folder Sync *Mac Only*

Tutorial showing Scrivener's folder synchronisation feature. Detailing collaborative work using Word, and syncing with both the PlainText and Notebooks apps on the iPad.
Scrivener's website: http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.html

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• Scrivener
• writing
• corkboard
• outliner
• full screen
• keywords
• binder
• importing
• references
• links
• synopses
• iPad
• PlainText
• Notebooks
• Word
• iPhone
• iPod touch

[seamas66]

I have two copies of scrivener one on my laptop and one on my desktop. I synced with Dropbox but I can't figure out how to open or import the file to the other computer. Unfortunately this video doesn't cover that scenario. In Dropbox there is a Draft and a Research folder but all the text files are grayed out. Any advice?

[davidmj13]

@seamas66 Hello. The video does (kind of) cover this scenario. ;-) You should simply choose the same shared Dropbox folder on both your laptop and desktop when you go to File > Sync > with External Folder... I hope that helps.

All the best, David.

[karyn27]

Thanks for that, I was beginning to think buying a 3g iPad was a waste of time, the only reason I bought it was for portable writing...macbooks aren't as light as they look! I bought mobile me but maybe i should have just stuck with dropbox...so do you recommend Plaintext or Notes for syncing? Is one better than the other, or both as good?

[davidmj13]

@karyn27 Hello Karyn! Sorry for the late reply - it is going to be lame too. I simply recommend whichever app you prefer using! ;-) It really is a subjective thing and I am not really in a position to say "definitely use this app" as we are trying to build relationships with a number of app developers, making Scrivener open for synching to as many good quality iPad apps as we possibly can.

All the best, David.

[scampercom]

So the Sync will both save the latest and retrieve the latest in one operation? To illustrate: say there are two collaborators, both saving to Dropbox. The first author has been working on chapter 10, and the second author has been working on chapter 20. When the first author uses Sync to save her latest updates, will Scrivener see that the external version of chapter 20 has changed? (Hopefully a sync operation wouldn’t overwrite a chapter that the second author had updated in the meantime.)

[davidmj13]

@scampercom Hi. The sync will happen with whatever version of the documents are saved in the Dropbox at that time. If there is an updated version of chapter 20 already in the Dropbox, that will be synced whilst chapter 10 is being written. With 'Take snapshots of affected documents before updating' selected, you will always have the safeguard of snapshot rollbacks anyway. I hope that clarifies.

Cheers, David.

[bombadillow]

@slughand The app demonstrated in the video is Notebooks by Alfons Schmid, not Circus Ponies Notebooks. Too many similarly named apps, eh? :)

[slughand]

Are you using Circus Ponies "Notebooks" app or one of the others? I have Notebooks for Mac and was looking forward to the iPad version until I saw what they were charging for it. I actually use Scrivner for what I initially bought Notebooks to do and like it much better. I am a Pastor/Teacher and find Scrivner very useful for Sermon/Teaching preparation.

[TheYeyeSays]

When I sync using Dropbox and the Plain Text app, it never completes. The dialogue box says "Syncing 25 of 25" and just freezes there. I've tried forcing Scrivener to quit and re-trying at least 5 times, with no success.

[bearthw]

@karyn27 I prefer PlainText. Clean, simple, works well and now has word count (a good thing). Also works well with Dropbox syncing. I've tried Notebooks and Elements as well and definitely prefer PlainText.