I work on two computers and was interested in the synch function…which I see is on the Mac but not on the Windows version. Is there some sort of synch like equivalent or workaround for Windows users?
If you’re talking about sharing a Scrivener project between two computers, that can be done by keeping the project in a shared location like a Dropbox folder. We have a knowledge base article on how to do this and some warnings for what to avoid.
The folder sync feature on the Mac is for exporting some documents in the project to work on them outside of Scrivener. You can do the same process manually using the File > Export > Files… feature to save an external copy of selected documents, then copy the changes back into the project later (sorting the external files by modified date makes it easy to see which need to be updated in the project).
In the for what it’s worth department I have been using Dropbox for years to store my Scrivener Writing Projects with few issues.
As always, the warning to back-up your work is important because it is possible for Dropbox and other Cloud storage services to mess-up the Scrivener folder scheme.
I also set my back-up folder on a Cloud Service and have frequent back-ups scheduled but to date I have never needed the back-up because of a sync error.
Good Luck!
I am new to Scrivener and completely am on board with using it to corral lots of complex information. I have a working outline at this point (not a stable one) and am a bit daunted by the syncing process until I am further along. I believe I would do better for now by importing notes created my other device…which brings me to my questions.
Q1: Which tablet – Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 or iPad mini 3 – would work best for this purpose?
Q2: And what software would be optimal for the import function. Related, what file formats work best for this?
Q3: In terms of dividing up my work into different folders once it is imported, what is a good procedure?
Thanks much,
Susan
At the point you are describing, I would say that doesn’t matter much at all. The advantage to using files—and why we use normal plain-text and RTF files for the automated folder sync feature on the Mac—is that files can be created and manipulated nearly everywhere. That’s not to say there aren’t considerations, but most of those come down to the software you are using on the tablet. The hardware itself means little in this equation, and should be chosen on preference.
This will for the most part come down to whether or not you need rich text formatting. If your writing is pretty much body font text, or if you use a plain-text way of writing like Markdown, then plain-text is all one needs, and it will open up your software options considerably. If you have important formatting in your text though, lots of italic phrases, block quotes, tables and so forth, one of the Word document formats and a more traditional “office” suite might be better. There are options for both iOS and Android in that regard.
The Documents/Group menu command and associated shortcut might be what you’re looking for. I’m not sure if that is what you mean by dividing up work, but that will cluster selected documents into new folders for you as efficiently as possible.
Thanks, Amber. Very Thorough, and very much appreciated.
In terms of process – what I am hoping to do is import of “bunches” of writing from the tablet and then divide it up appropriately into the outline. Example: I may have four paragraphs and end up putting them in three different folders.
Wondering if I should create different files on the tablet (if so can I bulk import?) or lump everything in one file, in which case I assume there is a tagging option to assign various paragraphs to various folders?
I’m sure there are finer points to this but I want to start with a workable basic strategy.
Thanks for your help!!
I would say that you have good options for doing what is comfortable on the tablet, and letting Scrivener handle the import depending upon how you prefer to work. With a longer file that is meant to be subdivided when you import, you could type in a simple divider between sections (like “-----” on a line), on your tablet, and then use the File/Import/Import and Split… command to break up the single document into multiple documents based on that divider. Or you could split it yourself using the Documents/Split submenu commands. If working with multiple small files on the tablet is comfortable for you, then that approach works well too.