The Chorus Sync UI

Taskbar Window

The main window shows you what is going on in the syncer and has a few useful controls.

1. Open the Sync folder (The folder in your Private Space in your Chorus Site in your Private Space)

2. Open the Chorus folder (The folder being synchronised on your Mac or PC)

3. A list showing what the last sync operations of files in a folder in Chorus to a folder on your PC or Mac. We refer to sending when they go from PC to Chorus and receiving when they go from Chorus to PC.

4. What Chorus Sync is doing and the progress of the any batch being synced

5. Which direction the files were synced (send or receive)

6. The sync status of each file—usually a tick showing that the file has been successfully synced, a circle showing sync progress or, occasionally, an error

7. Open the app menu

8. Notifications preference: One click for silent, two clicks for off.

Menu

There are a just few controls in the menu.

1. The current version number

2. Show the sync errors window

3. Open the help window (with links to the guide)

4. Quit the app

5. Pause syncing

6. Choose whether to automatically start Chorus Sync on Mac/PC login

7. Create a file to send to Third Light support (see Preparing a Support ZIP file). Usually only necessary if you have experienced a bug or a crash

Collaborating using Chorus Sync

The powerful collaboration featured of Chorus Sync are based around combining two concepts:

1. Sharing folders with team members
2. Adding shared folders to the Sync Folder

Putting a shared folder into your Sync Folder means that you will have instant access to your team's files. Every time they make a change it instantly syncs to your PC or Mac. Every time you make a change your team will get the new copy within seconds.

There are 3 simple steps to collaborating with Chorus Sync… 

1. Select a folder

2. Add your team to the share

3. Get everyone  to add the shared folder to their Sync Folder

Common Scenarios

Files and folders that only you can see and edit

Having your work right where you need—when you need—it it is at the heart of Chorus Sync.

Anything you put into your Sync folder in your Private Space or a Chorus folder on your PC will sync onto any other machine you install Chorus Sync onto.

This is great if you regularly work with more than one Mac or PC. Anything you save on one machine will be ready for use on your other machine next time you open it.

If you work on the move, from a home office, or a laptop on the sofa your most important files will always be at hand, where you need them.

Step-by-step:

Directly

The simplest way to sync your work is with folder created in your Sync Folder.

1. In Chorus, open your Sync Folder in your Private Space
2. Create a folder
3. Place any files you need into the folder
4. The folder will now sync to your Mac or PC

Alternatively, from your PC or Mac,

1. Open your Chorus Folder
2. Create a folder in it
3. Place files from your hard drive into it or save a file you are working on directly into this folder
4. The folder will now sync up with Chorus

Indirectly

If you want to sync a folder that is already neatly filed somewhere other than your Sync Folder (and you'd rather not move it) it is possible for you to have it in two places at once by sharing the folder with yourself!

1. Select the folder
2. Choose ‘Share’ and then‘Folder Share…’
3. Add yourself to the shares and choose which permissions you would like (as it’s you you can probably have them all)
4. A shared folder will appear at the root of your Private Space
5. Move the folder into your Sync Folder
6. The folder will sync with your Mac or PC

Using Chorus Sync with files and folders that someone shared with you in Chorus

Shared folders can also be placed in your Sync folder in Chorus. Once a folder is shared with you you only have to place it into your Sync Folder for it to sync with your PC or Mac.

Now, if you need a file, you can ask for it to be shared with you rather than emailed or dropped into Slack. This way the owner of the file retains control of where the file is and can see at a glance who else has access to the file.

Step-by-step:

1. Request a folder to be shared with you
2. The folder will appear in the root of your Private Folder
3. Move the folder in to your Sync Folder
4. The folder will now sync with your Mac or PC

Making a shared folder that multiple users can edit

Shared folders are the killer collaboration feature of Chorus Sync.

By sharing a folder, not only your private files—but the project work you are collaborating on with your team—can be with you too. Every time you hit save your changes will sync with everyone else's folder.

Step-by-step:

Usually you would do this using a folder in a shared space but it is also possible to have many people sharing a personal folder too.

1. Choose (or create a new) folder in a space for the team to work in
2. Select the folder and choose ’Share’ then ‘Folder Share…’
3. Add the people in the team, giving them the permissions you’d like them to have
4. A shared folder will appear at the root of each of their Private Spaces
5. Ask them to move the folder into their Sync Folder
6. The folder will now Sync with their Mac or PC
7. Every time they save an edit it will be synced with everyone else and onto their Mac or PCs.

Making a shared folder that is read-only for some users

Because synced folders are backed by Chorus’s sophisticated permissions model you can share a folder with read-only permission. This won’t, of course, prevent the files from being placed into documents by those you share with, but it will make sure they can’t edit them and save those edits back to Chorus.

Step-by-step:

This differs from before only by choosing stricter permissions when adding people to the shared folder.

1. Choose (or create a new) folder in a space for the team to work in
2. Select the folder and choose ’Share’ then ‘Folder Share…’
3. Add the people in the team, giving only ‘View’ permission to the people you don’t want editing and saving files.
4. A shared folder will appear at the root of each of their Private Spaces
5. Ask them to move the folder into their Sync Folder
6. The folder will now Sync with their Mac or PC
7. Every time they try to edit a file they will be prevented from saving it back in the sync folder