My Mac is tight on storage space, so I wanted to off load what I could to the cloud. I also needed to keep certain files on the cloud service as they needed to be on my PC as well. The problem with DT is anything indexed is held onto on the disk (if you try and push it to the cloud, DT immediately pulls it back - I wish DT would work with the cloud). What I needed was a mixed set up with some folders/files present only in the cloud for PC use (cloud only), some indexed so I could use them within DT (cloud and DT), and others only within DT so I didn’t use up space by having a file both sat in DT and on cloud folder on disk (DT only). I soon got into a mess with not remembering which folder (within finder) was where. Duplicates all over the place in DT. I came up with a simple naming convention for my top level folders that visually told me what was where and how I was using it.
I thought I would share if it is any use to anyone:
- Cloud folders that I have imported into DT, so I can keep off disk, I prefix with ‘+’ to tell me ‘added to DT’. If I see them on my Mac disk I can push them off to the cloud. These are mainly reference files that don’t change much so I can live with any small discrepancies. I can use them on my PC from the cloud. If I run out of space on my Mac I can remove knowing they are still safe in the cloud.
- Indexed folders I prefix with ‘=’ to tell me ‘both in folder and in DT’. I set the cloud option to keep on disk so they are not constantly being dowloaded. This is mainly inflight projects for both work and home.
- Files in the cloud but not in DT I do not prefix (I could use ‘-’ but don’t at the moment). I may pull these into DT in the future and rename accordingly . This is mainly work stuff used on PC only.
At a glance on my PC or in Finder, I know what to do if I add a new file. If it is to an ‘=’ folder do nothing as it is in DT. If it is to a ‘+’ folder add it to my inbox to push it into DT as well (I have an ‘@Inbox’ cloud folder which is my main inbox - even web browser downloads are pointed here). On Mac I move/copy anything I need to from @inbox into the DT inbox. I go via the DT inbox as the structure of ‘+’ folders is different within DT to the cloud, mainly because I only want to sync a subset of information to my iPhone/iPad to use in DTTG. This visual method helps me when I am on my Mac or on my PC. I tend to organise everything as ‘projects’. Finished projects get moved into the archive year when they were finished.
Example:
@Inbox
=Active
/Work/Project D
/Work/Project E
/Home/Finances 2021
/Home/Holiday plan 2021
etc.
+Archive
/2019/Project A
/2020/Project B
/2020/Finances 2020
etc.
+Reference
/Manuals
/Project Management methods
etc.