This idea has come up before, but it’s not currently being discussed.
SimpleMind, a mindmapping outliner I like, uses Dropbox as an optional way to store its outlines. It works really well, and I’d love to see the same for Dynalist. It doesn’t have to be Dropbox.
The way it would work, you extend the Files tab to have an additional folder tree which is in Dropbox (you need to login). In Dropbox, Dynalist creates a new folder named Dynalist, and you can direct new outlines to be created there instead of stored on the Dynalist server. (Well implementers may choose to also have stuff on the Dynalist server for technical reasons.)
Benefits:
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There are now files you can look at directly, copy, backup, sync to your local computer, and open your own copy/import into another tool.
(It’s completely understood that you might advise people not to edit the Dynalist file directly because of sync issues and editing errors. That would be “at your own risk”.) -
Having made a connection to Dropbox for the purpose of saving Dynalist outlines, you can immediately add a feature to link to other Dropbox files in Dynalist. Making up some syntax:
[Cat Picture](drop:\x\y.jpg)
Now all users have a way to embed any kind of document in a Dynalist, and it will be portable to all machines, you just need to log in to Dropbox and Dynalist. This will be great for the inline document display, or for just linking files to open.
(A future extension would be to figure a way to deal with a shared folder so shared Dynalists would work with shared files.)
As for dealing with Syn issues between machines, I think if you route all updates through your server and to its connection to Dropbox, you only have one source for updates, and Dropbox sync won’t get in the way.
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This is huge. This one feature will transform Dynalist from a fancy outliner to a comprehensive information organizer.
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I’m looking at these floundering attempts by Dropbox company to make more collaborative tools besides just file sharing. I think this is a business opportunity to align Dynalist with a file storage solution and get added exposure for your tool, in addition to all the benefits for Dynalist users. Put together that in-action video to pitch it. (background: Dropbox itself started with that kind of video to sell people on their concept before they had the technology to actually make it happen.)