futile

After posting this, I actually revisited SyncThing (its been like 2 years) and was kind of annoyed that it does the folder handling better. I didn't have much joy with the Android app or the ability to sync while in my work, but Resilio could definately learn a thing or two from their choices with regards to folders. Good point about the 'ghost' devices. I have like 3 or 4 cluttering up my peer list and wish I could remove them.

+1 For when doing Mobile Device Backups (where folder names can't be changed). Also, in general most places I do work for rely heavily on folder 'structures' to give context to the content. So relying on the final node (folder name) to say it all is just not a good idea. /Marketing/Current/Advertising/Artwork/Stock Images/JPG ----> "JPG" == Means Nothing

So I've been a little frustrated with the 'Backup' functionality for the same reasons. If you want to backup from multiple Mobile Devices to say your NAS, it is possible, but to have folders of the same name (DCIM, Download, Pictures, etc...). By default it would seem that Resilio just names the folder DCIM (1), DCIM (2) etc... but of course its a real pain to know which folder belongs to what. With some manual intervention during the 'connect' process, you can organize these folders accordingly at your NAS/Destination, but it doesn't solve everything... How to do it I'm gonna talk about this from the perspective backup from from Mobile (Android) to NAS (Qnap), as this is where I have tried it... The general principal is that you do not want to 'push' the backup to the NAS, instead declare the folder to be backed up and NOT specify to which device(s). In doing this the Backup will be 'defined' but not automatically 'connected' on your other device. If you automatically 'connect' the backup it will go into your default Sync/Save path, and if you have a folder with the same name it will get complicated. After defining your folder to Backup on your Mobile Device, the next step is to goto Resilio on your NAS and right-clicking the new 'disconnected' folder and choosing 'Connect'. In this next dialog you can specify the resulting 'Path' and therefore 'Folder name' of how it exists on the NAS. Example Lets say you have 3 Devices (Mum iPhone 5s, Dad OnePlus 3T, Sister Samsung S7) that you want backed up to a NAS (Qnap), and they are all running Resilio. On the first Mobile Device you want to specify which folders to 'backup' but you do not want to tick a destination as to where to back them up to. Next you'll want to goto 'My Devices' on the NAS, and Link the device by scanning the QR Code. (If you are alreadly linked, thats fine, but ensure you do not choose where to backup to). At this point all the 'backup' folders will appear in the NAS and will be in a disconnected state. You can then right-click on each one and choose Connect and then specify a Path and Folder Name for that particular folder (and turn off selective sync). For example, if the folder is DCIM, you can name it '......./Backups/Mum iPhone 5s - DCIM'. After you have connected to all the backup folders for that device, you can then repeat the process for the next device and so on. You should end up with something like this: ...../Backups/Mum iPhone 5s - DCIM/ ...../Backups/Mum iPhone 5s - Download/ ...../Backups/Mum iPhone 5s - Pictures/ ...../Backups/Dad OnePlus 3T - DCIM/ ...../Backups/Dad OnePlus 3T - Download/ ...../Backups/Dad OnePlus 3T - Pictures/ ...../Backups/Sister Samsung S7 - DCIM/ ...../Backups/Sister Samsung S7 - Download/ ...../Backups/Sister Samsung S7 - Pictures/ Problems Because the 'original' name of each folder is the same at the source on every device (i.e.. DCIM, Download) if you disconnect from all of these folders on the NAS (or add another destination at a later date) you will not know which folder belongs to which Backup/Device. This is because when you 'disconnect' from a folder it will show up as how it was named at the source. So you will have a list of 'disconnected' folders that look like this: DCIM DCIM DCIM Download Download Download Pictures Pictures Pictures This is also the case for how other devices see whats available to be connected to. For example 'Dad OnePlus 3T' sees two other DCIM folders it can connect to, but doesn't know which is 'Mum iPhone 5s'. Also it clutters the list where it may not be relevant to that device. Feature Request There are a number of ways this whole process could be made simpler and more robust/purposeful. The simplest way would be to just provide an 'label' or 'column' that explains the device that the 'backup' originated from. It doesn't solve anything, but makes the manual process easier/possible. The next would be to allow some kind of 'auto naming' pattern for backup or read-only folders. i.e.. if connected to a read-only or backup folder then name it '.../<DeviceName>/<DeviceName> - <OriginalFoldername>'. Ideally though, it would be nice to separate (both visually and physically) how Backup folders and Shared folders appear and work. For example, provide two separate paths where these are default saved to (.../Backups/ and .../Shared/). Additionally why not add a view to the UI where Shared folders and Backup folders are separated with a Horizontal rule/collapsible heading, I don't want to see a ton of backup folders on most of my devices. Lastly though, I can't help but wonder if much of this could be made easier if the User was simply able to specify a 'Unique Title/Label' for a sync'd (Backup or Shared) folder that is independent of the Folder name itself. For Example, if I 'backup' the folder 'DCIM' from 'Dad OnePlus 3T', it could retain its 'name' of 'DCIM' but could get the unique default 'title/label' of 'Dad OnePlus 3T - DCIM' (that could be changed), that would appear that way across all devices. Any device could update/change this and it would be seen the same way across all devices at all times. It would be massively useful for 'Shared' folders too. In a scenario where I have a work machine with a '/Projects/' folder it'd be great to 'title/label' it as 'Acme Inc, Work Projects', because on my personal machine I already have a '/Projects/' folder for say house repairs. Seeing 'Projects' in Resilio is just not user friendly, especially when there is more than one. Additionally, if you were to 'join' a shared folder at a later date that had the same unique name, you could specify easily choose to consider them the same or change the 'title/label' of one of them to treat them different. I gather that might be difficult or even impossible to implement, but honestly I struggle to use/rely on Resilio day to day without this ability to differentiate folder names from their content.

Thanks for getting back to me. I guess I didn't realize the "Name" column was directly tied the the Folder Name and when changed, it actually changed the Folder itself. Makes total sense. I just tried it out on my phone and understand now. I think what threw me off was the default Backup on Android being called "Camera backup", but actually being a folder called "DCIM" on the device. I'm guessing thats just a built in choice for the Android App to assist users. I should beable to make it work for my multiple devices, if I go about the manual route I laid out. Honestly, I think the oddness only really comes up when doing "Backups" and not Sync, and given its a "Sync" tool first, I can't fault you guys. Its seems unlikely that I might Sync 2 folders with the same name and different contents, but with Backup, it happens alot.. Windows with "Desktop", "Download" etc..., Android with "DCIM", "Download" etc... and in those cases (most of the time) you don't want the devices to Share (sync) the content, they should maintain their own. As for dealing with Duplicate entries in the "Name" column, for now I'll just be careful and double check the "Path" column or click to see which device/peer the backup is coming from. I'll keep my fingers crossed a that some form of Visual Separation for Backups comes to help down the line. Thanks again for answering my questions, and taking my suggestions on board.

Yesterday I finally decided to try out the Mobile Android App and see if I could understand what Backup is vs Sync. Seems like a great feature but I'm struggling with how to manage it with multiple devices. I have a Pro license, and linked devices to one Identity.... One thing that struck me odd, when 'backing up' my Android Device to my Desktop Device was that it auto created a folder on my Desktop with the same name as the folder on my Android: /sdcard/0/Download = c:/btsync/Download I guess it was lucky I didn't already have a Sync with the same folder name, I'm not sure what would have happened. At this point I decided to start from scratch, and disconnected that backup and this time didn't 'push' the backup to my Desktop device, and instead manually went over to the desktop device and Connected and choose the path "c:/btync/AndroidPhoneName/Download" manually. It seemed like the only way you might keep Backups from multiple devices Organised. But its a shame that I can't now use the Push feature. So I went to go and do the same with my Android Tablet, but then realized that I couldn't rename the "Title/Name" field in BTSync for Backups. So I'd end up with 2x "Download" entries, 2x DCIM etc.... and not knowing which is which. So I figured I'd come to the forums and see if I'm missing something. I also confirmed that in the Mobile App I was unable to Rename/Customize the Backup "Title/Name" field (FolderName). I was a bit annoyed to see that DCIM was named "Camera Backup" and I couldn't change that. Thoughts on Backup After creating 6 separate Backups for the 6 folders on my Android I cared about, I realized that it didn't really feel right, and that it'd make more sense (to me at least) if you were to create a Backup and choose all the Folders you want in that Backup Job and then push that as a collection to the devices you wish. I believe this is more in line with what is typical in Backup software. I get that, if you wanted to backup some bits to one device and others to another it might introduce issues, but multiple Collections would simplify that to the point where you could have the granular approach you already have now. It would probably help to visually split out Sync's and Backups in the UI to. My Questions Is there are a way to Rename the "Title/Name" of a Backup, it seems possible for Sync's? Is there a way to Rename the Title/Name of Backups on Mobile Devices? Is Backups likely to stay this way or will it eventually be treated/visualized differently to Sync's so easier to Organised? Is a Remote Delete and Disconnect feature likely to ever be implemented?

I few months ago I was working in VisualStudios 2013 Express and saved a load of work. Returned to work on it later and none of the work was there. I was seriously confused, but figured it was probably a mistake at my end (although at the time, was concerned it could be BTSync). Last night I had the same thing happen, but this time was in a few applications that have now convinced me that BTSync is causing the issue. Basically I was working in a file in SublimeText on my Desktop PC and had been Saving/Syncing fine all day. After saving then switching task to Chrome and coming back, I noticed the file/tab was Empty, all my code was gone. Thankfully because I still had sublime open I could Ctrl-Z and the contents was back, but it seriously made me worried. I noticed the same, minutes later working on a different file this time in Notepad++ and I saved the file and was then notified when I switched task and returned to it that the file had been updated by something else. The machine I'm using is a Windows 7 Desktop with v1.4 BETA (PC A), the other nodes include another Windows 7 Desktop with v1.4 BETA too (PC , and a headless Linux v1.4 (I think). I remote desktoped into my other Desktop Node (PC , and saw a 0byte file in place of the file I was working on. I saved the file again on PC A, and watched it sync. I then looked at PC B, and the file's date and time changed but stayed at 0bytes. I returned to PC A and saw that my changes had been overwritten and I now had a 0byte file at both locations. It seemed like the File was locked on PC B and wasn't able to get written to but I'm not sure what was causing it. I deleted the Sync Key/Project. Restarted both machines and then started a new one, I wasn't able to create the same problem since, but it still has me concerned. I did wonder if it was the rate of File Saving cause it... something like... if you save twice in a short amount of time. One of the Nodes is still writing the first save and causes an issue? Is this a known issue? Should I not be using BTSync for rapid saving scenarios? I should probably move everything to GIT for these kind of tasks, but didn't want to have to setup a central GIT Repo (BTSync's P2P is really handy). If this worked reliably I suppose I could BTSync my GIT repo, or is that a bad idea? cheers, Fute