How to use SyncPlaces

Typical setup

First browser

The instructions that follow are for a typical scenario with one user wishing to synchronise all their bookmarks across a number of machines. Anyone wishing to set up more complex scenarios should still read these instructions in order to fully understand what the different options are for and how they were designed to be used.

Remember that when SyncPlaces is about to change your bookmarks or passwords a backup of them is taken first, which you can restore if anything goes wrong.

Install SyncPlaces on your first computer and use the wizard to set the appropriate options. Test your server settings by using 'Send' to send your bookmarks to your server, and then 'Receive' to get them. If you have any problems with either action then refer to the Support page for help.

Try sending and receiving several times without making any changes to your bookmarks. You should received an 'Already up to date' message because the default options should be set to send/receive only when there are changes ('Only synchronise ... if changed'). You may wish to try changing or adding to your bookmarks to see this in action. Note: do not set any of the other options just yet, especially the Send safely option.

Second browser

Install SyncPlaces on your second browser, setting the options in the wizard to be the same as the first. Try sending and receiving as before, resolving any issues as you go.

The next step is to merge the bookmarks on the two browsers together. You can do this by sending from the first browser, receiving on the second, modifying as required, then sending from the second and receiving back on the first.

If you already have a 'master set' of bookmarks on one browser then send from this 'master' browser, so that your 'master' bookmarks are on your server. In your other browser, uncheck the merge option and receive to that browser to overwrite everything with your 'master' bookmarks. Then check the merge option again on the other browser for subsequent use.

If you wish to add more browsers, simply repeat the instructions above.

Send safely

When you send your bookmarks and passwords, you will overwrite the bookmarks/passwords on your server. But if the bookmarks/passwords on the server contains changes from another browser and you haven't yet received them, then these will be lost. The 'Send safely' option prevents this by always carrying out a receive and merge first. That way any differences on the server are merged into your local bookmarks/passwords before sending to the server, so the whole process is a lot safer.

Automation

Once you have all your browsers set up, you can use the automation options to automatically keep them synchronised with each other. For a single user that always closes their browser on a computer before using another the 'Startup/Shutdown' options are all you need. If you tend to keep more than one browser open at the same time on different computers, or there is more than one user involved, then also use the 'Sync automatically' and 'Sync at regular intervals' options to automatically send any of your changes and regularly check for changes by others.

Note that using the automation options automatically sets the Send safely option

Merging and 'Send safely'

When bookmarks are merged SyncPlaces starts by comparing your bookmarks with a backup taken the last time you physically sent anything. This is done to work out what has been added and deleted locally since the last physical send. The server's bookmarks are then merged in, with local adds and deletes being preserved.

For safety this backup is thrown away whenever you change the server settings, restore a backup, or change the folder to synchronise on (changing profiles can also cause any of these to happen). If the 'Last sent' date on the Actions dialog is blank, then this has definitely happened. In this case, if you've made any recent changes and haven't sent them yet, then ensure that 'Send safely' is switched off before you do, otherwise a receive may happen potentially messing up your local bookmarks and then sending these to the server. Of course you can restore your local bookmarks using the Restore button, but the bookmarks on your server may now be compromised.

Also when you are doing any major reorganisation on one browser (i.e. moving lots of items between folders, creating lots of new folders etc), then it is best to turn 'Send safely' off on that browser, so that when you send these changes it will not do a receive first, potentially messing up your changes. If this happens then it may be easier to use the Restore button to put everything back to what it was, then make the changes again.

Finally, note that turning off 'Send safely' also turns off several automation options, so remember to turn these back on again afterwards if you use them.

Selecting a single folder to synchronise on

On your first browser, in the Options, select a folder to synchronise and then 'Send' (with 'Send safely' turned off). On subsequent browsers select a folder to receive into (you may have to create one first). This folder should have the same name (for safety), but can be anywhere in your Bookmarks. Finally you can 'Receive' the single folder in the usual way.

Note that if you are regularly swapping between profiles in order to sync on two different folders, this may reset the 'Last sent' date so be aware of the first merging tip above. A future release should have a more comprehensive solution for syncing multiple folders.