Help:

OmniPresence for Mac

Welcome to OmniPresence, the document syncing solution that keeps files on your Mac and iPad in harmony with the cloud and with each other.

What It Is

On your Mac, OmniPresence runs in the background, watching a “connected folder”. It makes sure the files inside are in sync with files in the cloud (a WebDAV server of your choice) and with your OmniPresence-enabled iPad apps.

On iPad, OmniPresence is built into individual apps. You’ll access OmniPresence folders and files from within the apps’ respective document browsers. The result is that all of your OmniPresence-enabled devices detect changes wherever you make them, and constantly sync up to keep your documents up to date. It’s like magic!

What It Isn’t

OmniPresence isn’t a replacement for your current sync solution for OmniFocus or OmniPlan. It’s a technology designed for documents such as OmniGraffle diagrams and stencils, OmniOutliner outlines, and OmniGraphSketcher graphs, so you won’t need to change a thing in your current OmniFocus and OmniPlan sync setups to use it.

What You’ll Need

To sync documents on your Mac with the cloud, you’ll need the OmniPresence app for Mac (you are here) and a WebDAV server (this includes our very own Omni Sync Server, which is being augmented to support your Omni document syncing needs).

To access synced files on your iPad apps you’ll need the new versions with OmniPresence built in, available on the App Store now as free upgrades to the existing versions of OmniGraffle, OmniOutliner, and OmniGraphSketcher for iPad.

Getting Started

  1. To help you get started, OmniPresence for Mac will guide you through the process of creating a new OmniPresence-connected folder. This should be an empty folder to start with; once it’s created you’ll move the files you want to sync into it.
  2. After choosing a folder to sync on your Mac you’ll pick a cloud server for it to connect to. OmniPresence supports standard WebDAV servers such as the one included with Mountain Lion Server, those available from most web hosts, and Omni Sync Server.
  3. Finally, provide your credentials and hit Connect. OmniPresence checks to make sure the server meets the requirements for OmniPresence sync, and voilà! You’re up and running. With your new folder connected to OmniPresence, any files you add to it on your Mac will be added to the server and automatically updated everywhere as you make changes.

Ending a Connection

To stop syncing a folder you’ve connected, click its Info button and choose Disconnect. The folder on your Mac will be moved to the trash and the files inside will no longer be synced. Any files left in the folder before disconnecting will stay safe and sound at the cloud server location you specified. To reconnect and start syncing with those files again, just create a new folder connected to that cloud location.

A Note About Folders (Within Folders)

As you arrange files on your Mac to fit your needs you may want to create folders within your primary sync folder to keep things organized. This is fine! Your folder structure will be retained on your Mac and in the cloud.

Support for folders within the iPad document browser is planned, but for now, when you view your synced files in an iPad app’s document browser you’ll see all the files the app can open in a single view. New files you add from your iPad will be synced to the folder’s top level on your Mac.