I don’t have an iPhone and am using Scrivener via an old c. 2011 Toshiba laptop with Windows 10. Is it possible to sync my Scrivener work to my Dropbox account without an iPhone? My phone is Android. This is all new to me. I’d appreciate some guidance as I adjust to the learning curve. Thanks!
yes, just put the Scrivener project folder into a Dropbox folder. Dropbox, not Scrivener, will control the synching of the files with the Dropbox server
But what is your purpose. to sync another machine? What is your purpose? If not iphone, what?
Thanks so much. How do I put the project folder into the Dropbox folder? Sorry to ask such a dumb basic question. I guess I don’t need to sync to another machine-- I’ve just seen so many references to using an iPhone for syncing that it had me somewhat bumfuzzled. Thanks again for the help.
Why are you doing this? Given your questions, I’m not sure this a thing you need to do.
Thanks, rms. Are you saying I don’t need to back up to Dropbox? I’ve been looking at Youtube videos that sung the praises of Dropbox as essential to backing up Scrivener. Should I dispense with that advice and simply back up to an external hard drive?
Dropbox sync service not a backup, IMHO. I’m not sure random internet sites necessarily wise. Just my view.
Simplistically, I recommend:
-
Keep all your Scrivener projects as a subfolder of Documents, called ~/Documents/Scrivener
-
In Scrivener direct all your automatic backups to the default location, or put into say ~/Backups/Scrivener
-
Rely on your laptop’s routine full system backup regime to backup all the above files. I do hope you already have a routine regular backup of your computer.
Some people direct their Scrivener backups to a Dropbox folder as it’s “away” from their location. Better than nothing, but … if there is a fault with the backup files (corruption, accidential deletion, et. al.) then the fault will automatically sych to the other locations and … poof, your backup is gone. Not good.
There is probably a L&L FAQ or in the “Scrivener Manual” recommendations about backups.
1 Like
Hi tasmaniantiger, and welcome to the forum.
Dropbox can be a handy way to have your projects saved to a cloud-storage account. It’s useful if you’re working on your project from multiple computers. Or, it can be a good place to save any manual backups you create using the File > Back Up > Back Up To... command in Scrivener.
By default, though, Scrivener will already be creating backups automatically each time you close your project at the end of a writing session. Did you open the project, write, and close it three times today? Then you’ll have three backups from today.
For my main writing projects, I work only on my Mac. I have test projects I sync between my Mac and PC for troubleshooting as a L&L staff member. I have the iOS app on my iPad and iPhone, but I rarely write there either.
For years, I wrote all my first drafts by hand and transcribed them into Scrivener for editing.
As rms said, syncing is good for those who need it. But, not everyone does.
For securing your work in multiple places, this forum thread titled Got a Backup? might be helpful. Some of its tips are Mac-specific, but it’s a good starting point for considering what services you have and need.
2 Likes