Ewan Main

I’ve been doing this for a few months now, and it’s proved so useful that I thought I’d outline the steps here. This is another implementation of a general routine that’s been covered elsewhere:

• Install Dropbox on as many computers as you need
• Store your application data and preferences in the Dropbox rather than their original locations
• Make symbolic links to the Dropbox so that the system finds the files as usual
• Watch in wonder as your work, settings and preferences update themselves across all your computers.

I’ve found it especially useful to do this with the /Library/WebServer/Documents folder in Mac OS X. I tend to work on web projects in there, so that I can preview them as I go simply by pointing my browser to http://localhost/ . (By putting them in the webserver folder, you gain the benefit of a PHP processor without having to upload the files anywhere.)

In more detail, then:

1. Firstly, get a Dropbox account. It’s free for up to 2GB, plus you’ll get a bit of extra free space (as will I) if you use this referral link. Download the software and install it on all your Macs.
2. Download and install SymbolicLinker. This step isn’t strictly necessary, as it’s easy enough to make symbolic links from within Terminal, but I find it invaluable to have this as a service from within the Finder contextual menu.
3. Now the fun begins. Make a folder called Documents, somewhere within your Dropbox. (To avoid confusion you might want to put it inside some other folder first; doesn’t matter.) Move your entire set of web files into there, complete with folders.
4. In a Finder window, right-click / control-click on the new Documents folder, and choose Make Symbolic Link. (If you haven’t downloaded SymbolicLinker, this option won’t be there, and you’ll need to do this in the Terminal instead).
5. Open a new Finder window, navigate to /Library/Webserver . Make sure there’s nothing in there that you want to keep (your web files should be safely in the Dropbox by now, after all) and delete the /Library/Webserver/Documents folder.
6. Go back to your Dropbox. Drag the file named Documents symlink over into /Library/Webserver, and rename it to just Documents. You should now find that going to http://localhost/ will point you to the files stored in your Dropbox.
7. Go to your other Mac(s) and repeat steps 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 . Done!

You now are in the extremely useful position whereby any web work you do at home on the iMac, say, will be synced over to the Macbook in the blink of an eye, ready to demonstrate to anybody. Just remember to connect the Macbook to the internet for a moment before you take it out of range, to give Dropbox the chance to update itself.