Scrivener And Dropbox Redux

Friday October 24, 2014

I would like to start out the redux version of this story with a huge thank you to the folks at Scrivener for setting me straight (and being gentle about it.) Scrivener has features that allow it to be used with syncing services like Dropbox, and the team at Scrivener encourages the use of those features! So I also apologize for indicating that this was not the case. Below, you will find my updated blog post complete with the correct how-to instructions for making Scrivener and Dropbox work together. Remember to save your work!

I've heard so many horror stories recently of writers losing all of their work to computer problems that I knew I needed to take some preventative measures. Risto and Megan (Risto's wife and my other best friend,) both suggested using Dropbox as a way to sync and backup my writing files. The way I understood the program / website was that you save a file to Dropbox and then you can simply open it from any other place where you have your instance of Dropbox running. This allows you to save a file - in my case, 2 years of work - and not rely on just your computer or external memory device.

As with all tools, understanding the weaknesses of each program or storage medium and their interactions with one another will maximize your use of them. Your computer can fail. You can easily lose your physical memory device. You can lose both in freak occurrences like fires or floods - and I sincerely hope you do not! Not preparing for that outcome, however, can set you up for disaster! If I lost all of my possessions in a fire today, getting back my writing would be the most important thing to me. Almost everything else could be replaced.

I went ahead and set up a Dropbox account, then set to work backing up my most important writing projects, but I immediately ran into a problem - Scrivener, that new and lovely writing program that I use for my larger writing projects - only works with Dropbox if you take several steps to ensure your work stays together. Scrivener saves projects using multiple files and folders, sometimes hundreds of them, according to the Scrivener website. Simply saving your project file to the Dropbox website and then opening it will yield a template of your project, but all of the pages within that project are blank (I tried it.) A quick search on Scrivener's Literature and Latte Forum revealed that this is a common problem with many people saying that Scrivener and Dropbox should not be used together. Had I done a more detailed search, I would have found that the folks at Scrivener know their software well, and know the workaround. Their instructions for using Dropbox can be found here or you can read on below and have some pictures. NB: I am going to show you instructions for using Windows 7, and their site seems to show how to use the Mac configurations. They seem to be just about the same, but that's my disclaimer.

The first thing you will need to do is have a Dropbox account. After you've signed up for your account, you will need to install the desktop application which can be found here.

Before you save any of your work to Dropbox, read the instructions below.

The lovely Scrivener folks bolded this one, so I will too. Do not open your project on more than one computer at once. Doing so will result in weird project corruption stuff. Their description of what exactly would happen was vague enough to be terrifying - I don't want my novels corrupted.

Once you have your Dropbox account and desktop application linked, you are almost ready to go. The Dropbox website can be used to upload single files like .doc and .docx. I did not see an option for storing folders which is exactly the way a Scrivener project is saved - admittedly I am not the most tech savvy person you will meet, and I could have missed that option. The easiest way to save your whole Scrivener project in one go is to drag YOURPROJECT.scriv into your Dropbox folder. That takes and syncs the entire project to the Dropbox website at once. dropbox image

Put your whole .scriv project folder in your desktop Dropbox, and it will remain ordered online.

Using this method, if you were to lose every physical copy of your work, you would need a new computer (which you would need anyway,) along with the desktop application of dropbox running. Then log in as you would otherwise, and your work will be waiting in the desktop application for you to open.

opening a project from Dropbox

Opening a project from Dropbox the first time. As with any other .scriv folder, the project.scrivx file (highlighted) inside will open the whole project. After you open it the first time from Dropbox, Scrivener will open from that source automatically every time afterwards.

Two more things and you'll be good to go! We're way past the hard parts.

This warning comes straight from from the Scrivener website:

" Do not open the project before your Dropbox folder is fully synced. If you try to open the project while your Dropbox folder is still syncing, you could be opening it in its old state before it has downloaded the changes made from your other computer - and by opening the project, you will overwrite those changes with the older version you have opened. So be sure the tick in the green circle is present in the Dropbox icon in your menu bar - if it's not, don't open the project: wait until Dropbox is fully synced."

The last step is also right from the Scrivener team. They recommend turning on automatic backups, and directing those backups to save to your current computer. That way, if you run into project corruption issues, your insurance policy is right at your fingertips.

Open the Tools menu dropdown and select Options -OR- press F12 to bring up the same menu. There is a sidebar with an icon menu on the left side of that window (shown below.) Click on the Backup icon.

Now tick in the box marked "Turn on automatic backups." This was the default setting when I first opened this window, but there are some other good options and it is wise to check. Now that your automatic backups are on, you have several options concerning how they are saved. Remember to keep your Backup Location local as you are already saving the prime copy of your work to Dropbox. I also selected that I have 10 backups of everything made and that they are compressed when saved. For giggles, I had the date included in backup file name.

Backup Menu

Hit F12 to access this window.

Hit Apply and you are good to go!

That's it! I think it is completely worth the 20 minutes this will take you to perform. Save your work to your hard drive. Save your work to a flash stick. Save your work to Dropbox or to another syncing service. Basically, save your work everywhere. Do not lose your hard work.

Once again, thank you to the Scrivener team for being awesome and letting me know that I was passing on bad info. Check out their site for other cool information on how to use their programs.

Scrivener And Dropbox *Redux*

Friday October 24, 2014

Scrivener And Dropbox Redux