I use Scrivener 2.6 on my desktop computer, and would like to use 2.5 on an older laptop to work on the same file. The file lives in my desktop Dropbox folder and the backup zip files are on my desktop hard disk. I have never used Dropbox to work on the same Scrivener project across different computers.
In order to work on my ancient laptop, my workflow would involve copying my Scrivener 2.6 project from Dropbox onto a flash drive, then working on it in Scrivener 2.5. Can I replace (overwrite) the 2.6 Dropbox file with the newer version from the flash drive, which I’ve worked on in 2.5, without causing problems? This is an extremely large and important project (my dissertation!) with many different parts to it, and data loss would be disastrous. I would sooner work on the project with pen and paper than risk losing work.
If you have any other suggestions for how to edit the same file on 2 computers, I’d love your input. Dropbox no longer supports the laptop’s OS 10.5.8, and I’ve heard that relying on it to sync between multiple computers can corrupt scriv files anyway.
(Of course, Scrivener for iPad would be an ideal workaround, but after years of waiting, I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I’ll graduate before it’s released.)
Hi, I can’t answer the 2.5 vs. 2.6 differences, but just to say many of us do use Dropbox to sync across multiple machines without any problems, indeed there was a recent discussion about another persons dissertation and dropbox:
Is there a slightly older version of dropbox which does work on 10.5, EDIT OK they won’t allow you to use older software: dropbox.com/help/8058 — hmmm how about google drive or box? The workflow should be the same. Otherwise I don’t think there should be a problem using a USB key.
I think the OP is talking about the same Scrivener project in Dropbox being worked on in 2.6 and 2.5, not Dropbox itself. There should be no problem in that, given that people share projects between Mac and Windows using Dropbox, where Windows 1.8 is currently somewhere between Mac version 1.5 and 2.x in terms of development; I myself shared projects with my collaborator who was using Windows 1.7 without problem (though we use Cubby as Dropbox is blocked by the GFWoC!) … initially there was a coding problem for Chinese between Mac and Windows, but that disappeared long ago.
So Mac 2.5 vs 2.6 should not be any problem at all.
And just to confirm, the project format has not changed in the entirety of the 2.0 version line. If a format update is required, there will be a unmistakeable process you have to go through to update the project, which creates a backup of the old version at that time, and then the older version of the software will refuse to even open the updated project after that has been done.
Thank you all for your valuable input. I successfully worked on the project in Scrivener 2.5 and opened up the same project again in 2.6. Everything is intact, and I will continue to use my flash drive to transport the project between computers.
Having poked around for other solutions, I discovered that some people run the Scrivener app from a flash drive so that they can use it at other computers while away from their own. I’m skeptical of this–I could see it either working beautifully or wreaking havoc if it doesn’t. Too rich for my blood, but something to consider if you’re the adventurous sort.