Using ZionWorx with Dropbox

ZionWorx allows changing the database and theme directories to different locations on the computer. This opens up the option of setting either directory to be within DropBox and therefore stored in the cloud. It also allows linking with other computers so the same data and themes are available in all locations. This sharing does however introduce a configuration issue that needs to be considered.

Setting the Theme and Data Directories

Within Dropbox first setup your ZionWorx folders. Create a ZionWorx base directory and then beneath that create Themes and Data sub-directories. If you want to store media and powerpoints there you may want to create sub-directories for these as well however that is not required. Also you may only want to store the database on Dropbox so only create the directories you need.

In ZionWorx open the Options form and set the database and themes base directories to be those within Dropbox.

You will need to manually copy the contents of the current Data and Themes directories to the Dropbox ones as they are not automatically migrated.

Sharing with Multiple Computers

Of course using Dropbox opens up an easier avenue to share a ZionWorx database and themes between multiple computers. Preparing the service list at home and then opening the file at church doesn't require emails or USB sticks.

However the slight issue is that ZionWorx playlists store all file references as an absolute path to the file. And on the computer the playlist is opened on these files have to be in the same location for ZionWorx to find them. That is why ZionWorx has a playlist package feature to transfer the playlist and all required media in a single file to another computer.

Where this affects Dropbox integration is that by default Dropbox is installed into a user-specific directory (has the username in the path) and the playlist is saved with that user-specific directory referencing all the required files. On the second computer if there is a different user (which is normally the case) which the ZionWorx folder has been shared with none of these required files will be available and songs will present with no background.

The workaround is to access Dropbox Preferences and move the dropbox folder on all machines out of the default user-specific location to the same fixed path on every computer. e.g. C:\Dropbox - which then produces C:\Dropbox\Zionworx as the application path. This way all file paths to dropbox files/themes will resolve correctly on all machines and you benefit from an easy synchronising system.