My current environment is that I have a iPhone, Mac mini and a MacBook Pro, and iPad mini an iPad Pro. 80% of my work is done in my home office while occasionally I need access to information while on the road.
I do have a Qnap NAS that I can access via QNAPlink. As I currently understand it, there is no role for a NAS in the DevonThink environment.
I do capture a lot of data while I’m on my iPhone and iPad.
I am just starting to explore turning the Mac mini into a DevonThink database server for use while I am at home. I am not anxious to allow remote access via the web. Thoughts?
One of the main reasons that I am re-focusing on getting Devonthink working is that I have been using OmniFocus as a task manager.
When I got a paper document that needs an action I would create a task and then just take a picture of the document. Unfortunately when my Omnifocus database blew up I found that that way of working is not supported. So now I want to put the document into Devonthink and just added Link into Omnifocus.
Dropbox versus iCloud
If you were just starting out would you create your databases in Dropbox or iCloud?
Recently while finally trying to get organized I moved the bunch of files around in iCloud and my documents folder when away. Apple acknowledged that it was their problem and luckily they were able to restore the files.
Unfortunately, their restore was a all or nothing restore so it required a lot of cleaning up after I got the files back.
#Import or index or a combination
##Indexed
Conceptually I like the idea of an index in that I could access the data how do through finder or through Devonthink but I get the sense that if you make too many changes in Finder then the Devonthink index will get confused.
If you had an indexed database and reorganized it, (moving groups around) using Devonthink would those changes be automatically reflected in Finder eventually?
##Import
If I went the imported route and then have a bunch of files that were added to a Inbox folder in Finder how would I file those documents where they belong in Devonthink as well as in Finder.
I suppose I could use Hazel to copy a file to the correct Devonthink location and then move the file to the correct location in Finder.
#1Big database versus many small databases
In iCloud I have the following folders:
Personal growth
Health
Relationships
Finance
Career
Focused and organized
Projects
Personal
System Management
House
Totally these Folders that up to about 400 GB in iCloud with Projects and Finance being the largest at about 50 GB each.
I’m not sure what the trade-offs would be between just creating one 400 GB database versus 10 individual databases which I would probably open up each time I launched Devonthink.
If I went with individual databases do think I should find a way to split up projects and finance in order to half their sizes.
What are the trade-offs between1 big db vs many small?
I suppose several small databases would make backing up easier as I could back up one each night.
If I opened all of the small db’s would I be able to search them all at once or individually?
Can you have replicants across db’s in case it applied to 2 area. For example a project that involved finance.
I imagine that I would lose a little of the AI assistance in filing as I understand it doesn’t work across databases.
Initial organization
I was thinking about copping all the files that are in iCloud to A local drive and then cleaning them up/organizing them in finder as I would have access to Hazel, Houdaspot, keyboard maestro and Alfred.
I have only recently become aware that Hazel and the rest of the applications also can work in Devonthink, though might require reworking some of my rules.
Based on that do you think it would be easier to import the 400 GB into Devonthink and reorganize inside Devonthink and then export it out to a clean version of iCloud or Drop Box?
If I decided to go with small databases I would then export them to finder and then import them into the individual smaller databases.
Once I had the big database would it be possible to create the smaller databases directly without having to export/import.
I recognize that I might be overthinking this and I am a firm believer and the kiss principle: Keep it simple stupid.
What would you recommend for the simplest and most reliable path forward.
I’ve already told my wife what I want on my tombstone:
Tomorrow I’m going to get organized!
I’ll change it if I can get Devonthink to get me organized today.
I cannot tell you how much I hate it when I have a 10 minute task but it takes me 30 minutes to find the necessary documents.