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Importing/Switching from Dropbox


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I have a new job, and they use Dropbox extensively.  I want to sell them on using Evernote, but didn't know if we could drag and drop the existing file structure from Dropbox into Evernote.  From there we can add tags, and exploit the other functionality of Evernote.  If we can't, I don't think I can convince them to use Evernote.  Has anyone converted from Dropbox?

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Hi.  If you're talking about an hierarchical folder structure in Dropbox,  there's no direct comparison in Evernote.  We have Stacks,  containing Notebooks,  containing Notes.  - As you probably know,  there's no such thing as sub-folders.  I haven't converted from DB,  but I do use Dropbox (and OneDrive,  and Google Drive) in addition to Evernote - by putting the share link from my stored files into a note,  plus some appropriate explanations and keywords.

You could,  in fact,  mirror all your existing DB files and structure into a note.  The 'parent' and 'child' headings here are just note entries showing the structure...

  • Parent 1
    • child 1
      • <file share link> - marketing plan 2018
      • <file share link> - budget 2018
    • child 2
      • <file share link> - marketing plan 2017
      • <file share link> - budget...
    • child 3
  • Parent 2
    • child 1 
    • etc...

New files being saved could be attached to the same note as icons - all files types (except JPG and PNG) can show up as icons like this (which is actually an Outlook email,  but shows the same icon.)  PDF files can display as text ("inline") or as an icon.  Right click the file to choose.

ScreenClip.png.55435b10907ac64cd9a6efac389dc463.png

Beware that having the file attached to a note restricts collaboration - you can't have two people opening the same file:  one will see a 'file is locked by <user>' message.  Dropbox is (I think) more amenable to multiple users having access,  and shows real-time changes where Evernote syncs periodically - every few minutes - so updates in spurts.

It's more sensible (and avoids being unemployed at Christmas) to run a test setup alongside your existing processes - get a friendly colleague or manager to help you set up a mini-copy of an Evernote environment and try it out.  There's nothing like real-time experience to find any possible drawbacks to an approach...  at the least you're demonstrating responsible project management skills and (maybe) alerting Management to a valuable new resource...

Good luck!  ;)

Edit:  Also - one thing which always comes up with this sort of setup is confidentiality.  Can we run this setup from our own server?  The answer is NO.  This has to be internet based;  that's how Evernote works.  But if your firm is happy to store stuff in Dropbox,  then Evernote cloud storage is no worse,  and (probably) considerably more secure!

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5 minutes ago, Philosofy said:

Thanks.  I've been using Evernote for years, and love it.  So we couldn't drag and drop the Dropbox folders into Evernote and they are converted to Notebooks and sub-Notebooks?

Er,  no.  

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