Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive

NOTE: These services were deprecated starting in Version 9.0 due to issues with API implementations.  This feature may reinstated at a later date, however, the more reliable solution within SongShow Plus is to use the SongShow Connect service.

Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive are services that let you store files out to "the cloud" and have access to them from a number of devices. Using services like this for building presentations is handy. You can upload pictures from a phone and download them later to your workstation machine to build a slide show. You can then store that slide show back to the cloud and retrieve it from your church's projection machine. Very useful for the most part, but the second part of this process could be better.

Typically, access to these services involves installing client software on a desktop machine which then integrates with the file system. The client software then automatically syncs the files you've stored to the cloud to the local machine. Working with multiple accounts becomes tricky, and some people (if not most) may not want all of their files to be synchronized to the projection machine. Another approach is to log into these sites through their web portals and download the files from there. This eliminates the hassles of the client software, but the process is outside of the SongShow Plus workflow and requires additional steps to then bring the files into a presentation.

The next edition of SongShow Plus will include direct integration with all three of these services. This new feature will let you register your cloud account(s) with a SongShow Plus projection machine. Then, when you need to retrieve images or videos that you have previously uploaded to your account, you can use one of the media import tools to gain direct access to those files. From there, you will see a list of your files, along with previews and files information. Select the files you want to use, then SongShow Plus will download them directly into it's file system. You can also use your cloud account for sending and retrieving programs and slide shows. This feature lets you build presentations on your home machine and easily retrieving them from your church machine.

When you register your cloud account with SongShow Plus, you can choose to have the account information remembered for later use, or specify that it is temporary, that is, only available during that session of SongShow Plus. You can also limit SongShow Plus access to a particular subfolder within your account. This lets you make your account available to other people that also use the projection machine, but limits the access they have to your files.

Having direct access to your files in the cloud from within SongShow Plus is another step in making your weekly workflow easier.

(BE277)

Comments: