Issues? Please take a look at the Trouble Shooting guide

Overview

Cloud Storage is essentially an ‘external hard disk’ which you can access over the Internet - from any computer/device.

There are various providers of Cloud Storage and most of them have an app which you can install on you Mac/PC that automatically synchronises a local folder with a ‘copy in the cloud’. This means that you can save files into the local folder and know that a copy will be sent up into the cloud automatically. This provides a great way to backup and share files. It works the other way around too. If a file is placed ‘into the cloud’ it will automatically be copied locally (to your Mac/PC.)

iThoughtsHD (and its iPhone sibling) can upload and download maps to and from a number of Cloud Storage systems - Dropbox, Box.net, MobileMe (and any other WebDAV accessible system.)

This all means that Cloud Storage can be used to transfer maps between iPad, iPhone and Desktop. It also provides a great way to backup maps.

What about iCloud?

iCloud is Apples cloud offering. It is designed to keep iPad, iPhone and specific desktop application data all in sync (photos, calendars etc.) It is possible for apps too hook into this system and eventually iThoughts will integrate with it. However, there are (currently) a number of shortcomings - which make it unsuitable for iThoughts. First amongst those is that there is no way for desktop applications such as MindManager, iMindmap, Novamind etc. to read/write maps in such a way as to enable iThoughts to access those same files (via iCloud.)

Cloud Folders

iThoughts has the concept of ‘Cloud Folders’. These are special folders within iThoughts which are ‘linked’ to equivalent folders in cloud storage (e.g. Dropbox.) iThoughts will ensure that both folders (local to iThoughts and in the cloud) are kept ‘in-sync’. This means that a new map created within iThoughts will be copied up into the cloud automatically and any map already in the cloud will be copied down (into iThoughts.) Subsequent changes to those maps will be automatically reflected up/down as necessary.

Additional Info:

1. •It is possible to configure multiple cloud storage providers in iThoughts. You might have a personal Dropbox account and a work Box.net account - with a cloud folder for each.
   

1. •It is possible to configure multiple accounts per provider - so you may have a work Dropbox account and a personal Dropbox account.
   

1. •When creating a cloud folder you will configure which desktop file formats to include when syncing. A typical configuration might be to enable ITMZ, MMAP and PDF for syncing. This enables you to:
   

2. •Generate a PDF copy (for those without a desktop mindmap app)
   

3. •Edit the map on your desktop using MindManager (.MMAP)
   

4. •Keep iPhone and iPad changes perfectly in sync (using the native iThoughts format .ITMZ)
   

1. •Syncing is automatic. Whenever the app is closed it will upload any local (iPhone/iPad) changes to the cloud. Whenever the app is opened it will check for updates on the server.
   

2. •It will not check the server for updates any more frequently than once per hour - unless a manual sync is instigated.
   

3. •By default it will only auto sync when connected to WiFi (this can be changed on the iOS Settings App.)
   

   

1. NB: By default, it will wait for 1 minute after the app is closed before attempting to upload any local changes. This stops the app from continually syncing when switching frequently between iThoughts and other apps (copy/pasting information etc.) This behaviour can be changed in the iThoughts section of the Settings App.
   

1. •If there is a conflict (e.g. local and cloud copy have both been modified) then iThoughts will always choose the cloud copy (overwriting the local copy.) This is ok since iThoughts also retains snapshots of previous versions of the map - so if it was a mistake to choose the cloud version then it is simple to revert to a previous local snapshot (tap on the cloud icon next to the map name.)
   

1. •MOVING or RENAMING (map or folder) is more like a COPY operation. If a map or folder is moved or renamed in iThoughts then the cloud equivalent is not modified - which means that iThoughts will upload the newly moved/renamed map as though it were a new map and (re)download the original map in the cloud as though it too was new. You will need to specifically delete the original.
   

1. •DELETING a map or folder in iThoughts will offer the option to delete the cloud copy also. If this is not taken then the next time it syncs the cloud copy will be seen as a new map/folder and re-downloaded. NB: for technical reasons, this is not available on box.net integrations.
   

Creating a Cloud Folder

At the end of this section, there is a YouTube video demonstrating the following process. There are 2 scenarios to consider - the first is where all your maps are on the iDevice and you want them to sync with the cloud. The other is where all your maps are in the cloud and you want to sync them locally to your iDevice.

Creating a Cloud folder (your maps are all in iThoughts)

FIRST JOB: Get your maps into the cloud.

1. •In your cloud provider (eg Dropbox)
   

1. •Create a folder into which you will upload the maps from iThoughts.
   

1. •In iThoughts
   

1. •Select ‘Send Folder to Cloud’
   

2. •Select the local folder you wish to upload (could be the root ‘Maps’ folder.)
   

3. •Select an existing storage provider or tap on + to configure a new provider/logon.
   

4. •Select the formats of the maps you wish to upload (ideally select ITMZ as one of the formats.)
   

5. •Browse to the folder in the cloud which you created earlier and choose ‘Use this Folder’.
   

6. •Choose ‘Upload Maps & SubFolders’. This will copy the various maps in the selected formats up into the cloud.
   

7. •...now all your maps are ‘in the cloud’, follow the instructions below to create the actual Cloud Folder. Once the cloud folder has been created (below), you can safely delete the original local copies (they’ll be in the cloud folder.)
   

Creating a Cloud folder (your maps are already in the cloud)

IMPORTANT: Ideally try to arrange your maps into folders underneath a single parent folder. That way iThoughts doesn’t have to trawl through your entire cloud store looking for maps - which could take a long time.

1. •In iThoughts
   

1. •Select ‘New Cloud folder’
   

2. •Select an existing storage provider or tap on + to configure a new provider/logon.
   

3. •Select the formats you wish to sync (ideally select ITMZ as one of the formats as this gives you a good backup option)
   

4. •Browse to the folder in the cloud where your maps reside and choose ‘Use this Folder’
   

5. •Select ‘Create’. This will enumerate all the maps and folders and download them.
   

When iThoughts is closed it will upload any changes to the cloud - when it is opened it will download any changes from the cloud.

NB: There is a slight ‘cheat’ in the video above. iThoughts will only (automatically) check for cloud updates a maximum of once per hour - not each time the app is loaded as is shown in the video. This is to avoid excessive load on the cloud provider. However, you can always hit the sync button to check for updates - even if connected over cellular data. Closing the app to upload local changes is not subject to the one hour rule.