Multiple Seats and Database Sync

DEVONthink
1

I have a question about multiple seats. I am using the two I already have. My wife is considering using Devonthink 3 for a different purpose, so we are thinking of purchasing another seat. She would need to have not only her own Databases, but her own custom Metadata tags for her databases. I know I can only have one set of custom Metadata tags for all of my own databases. Will it be possible for her to have her own set of custom metadata tags for the copy of Devonthink used by her ‘seat’?

2

Since her stuff if entirely different from your stuff, why would she have the same metadata as you?

But I suppose you meant to ask something along the lines “When we sync our databases to the same location” (you didn’t say so, though). That is something I wouldn’t encourage.

What you could do:

  • Not sync between your machines, i.e. your wife has only one seat and she doesn’t sync with one of your machines. You continue syncing your machines as your are (if you are, which you didn’t say).
  • Use different sync locations. For example, you could use iCloud (which I do not suggest!) with your Apple ID, and she could use it with her Apple ID. Or (again with different IDs) use Dropbox. That would probably not work with Bonjour though, since you’d possibly have two “servers” on the same network. WebDAV should be fine, too, if you use different directories/folders on the server for you and your spouse.

There might well be other possibilities I didn’t think of.

3

Thanks for your response. It seems like that’s the solution. I have been syncing with icloud (cloudkit) without any problems. (My databases are mostly text, so they are pretty small, and I don’t need changes propagated super quickly). If she synced with Dropbox then they would be totally separate ecosystems, which is what we want.

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Each device is a separate entity and syncing is always optional, regardless of your marital status :wink:
If she has her own machine, logged into her own Apple ID, it has no relationship to your Mac and its databases.

  • If you’re not syncing a database with her, she can sync by whatever means she needs to. However, unless she’s syncing to DEVONthink To Go on her own mobile devices, there’s no compelling reason to sync at all.
  • If you are syncing a database with her, I would strongly suggest using a Bonjour sync on your local network, with your Mac as the Bonjour server and her Mac as the client.
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