Looking to hire a scrivener expert for general checkup & help. I recently bought an iPad and found issues trying to sync Mac’s scrivener with the iPad’s. iPad Dropbox doesn’t show my newest project content either. In my attempts to have 2 devices sync up my draft novel, am finding my backup folders don’t have binder.scrivproj. Need help navigating and making sure the work is well saved.
Thank you!
Without knowing more, the most likely cause of the problem is that your Dropbox folder is not set to be “offline”. If “online” then some or all of the files are only “virtually” located on the device and in that situation, Scrivener won’t work. It needs all the files to be present. Change your Dropbox settings.
@rms’s advice is good. Also relevant is this article from our Knowledge Base:
https://scrivener.tenderapp.com/help/kb/cloud-syncing/dropbox-troubleshooting-macos-monterey
We’ve also got a whole section on iOS issues, including syncing and backing up:
https://scrivener.tenderapp.com/help/kb/ios
Hi rms, thank you for responding. I made sure I’m set to use offline viewing. It hasn’t worked. Not showing up from scrivener to dropbox. Probably likely I just haven’t found the right question to ask. I’ve looked at the articles and nothing changes. I rabbit-holes me into territory where I worry about my novel being lost…
But thank you again for your guidance!
Hi kewms, thank you for your response and the articles. I made sure I’m set to use offline viewing. It hasn’t worked. Not showing up from scrivener to dropbox. Probably likely I just haven’t found the right question to ask or the articles show different icons/folders for me to follow. The articles I’ve found this past week and these send me into rabbit-holes where I worry about my novel being lost…
Can you point me to where they’re scrivener professionals who give virtual technical help? I’m missing something…
Thank you so much!
What do you mean by that? Does the project on your Mac appear in your account at Dropbox.com?
Oh yes, thanks for asking. The project is in Dropbox.com in confusing files. For example, the Files > Data list doesn’t say which chapter it is but is shown as “OBB49A23-4…” and shows up as an .rtf which is not easily edited.
Or it says “… files can’t currently be previewed.” Then there’s a box for DOWNLOAD.
The structure of the project is hidden by Mac OS, but if you right-click in Finder and select the option to Show Package Contents, you should see pretty much the same as you do at Dropbox.com.
Do not attempt to open the project or any of its component files via the Dropbox.com web interface. It won’t work, and can potentially corrupt the project.
Please do this:
Create an ordinary text file on the Mac, and save it in the Dropbox folder. Allow Dropbox to sync, and confirm that the text file appears in your account at Dropbox.com. If it does, allow the iPad to sync, and confirm that the file appears in the Dropbox app on the iPad.
If all of that works, create a new Scrivener project with a few test files on the Mac, and save that in the Dropbox folder. Confirm that it appears at Dropbox.com. If it does, then allow the iPad to sync. Does the project appear in the Dropbox app on the iPad? If so, is it visible to iPad Scrivener?
So far the only problem I am seeing is that you thought you could call up the Dropbox app or website access and just ‘see’ your Scrivener project list as one of the files. But that is not how this works. As pointed out, Scriv projects consist of many files and Dropbox doesn’t cotton on to this in a way that lets it show you this fact usefully.
If you are seeing your project in Scrivener app on iPad in the “on dropbox” area, then your project is in dropbox. Likewise if you see your project in the Finder in your Dropbox folder on your hard drive (Assuming you are getting syncing with dropbox working at all.)
The dropbox app itself plays no role in Scriv’s syncing of projects between iOS and dropbox. The desktop dropbox app interface (if you have a version of dropbox that has that) also plays no role. Only the background app that syncs things is relevant. But in that case the only relevant place to look is your own hard drive (in the blessed dropbox folder).
If you are worried for the safety of your projects file(s), neither dropbox nor any mere sync service is the answer. You need to have a /backup/ strategy.
This raises the question of where your backup location is. As others have wondered, are you also putting your automated scriv backups on Dropbox? Another worry might be if your backup location was an iCloud drive drive. This might also be set to keep files “remote only”.