The Omni Group

If you still have access to the email address you tied to your sync server account, enter it in the lower left of this page, then click the “Lost your password?” link to choose a new password.

We make accounts available to our customers at no charge. One of the things we’ve learned since starting this project is that we don’t need to charge anything to keep the server up and running.

We may add additional features at some point in the future that may require a subscription, but the new features will be optional. You’ll be able to continue use our server in the same way you are right now at no charge.

We value your privacy. Communication to and from the server is encrypted using a secure HTTPS connection, just like the traffic between your computer and your online banking website. Additionally, the server is covered by all the security measures that we have in place to protect our online store.

We do preserve our ability to examine the data directly on the server, but we’ll only do so when it’s necessary to solve a problem, and we’ll get the account holders’ permission before doing so if possible. (If someone is misusing the server, that’s a different matter.) For comprehensive information, check our Privacy Policy.

However, if you do want maximum privacy for your data, you’ll want to use a server you control rather than iCloud, Dropbox, or any other server that someone else runs for you.

Just send a message to sync@omnigroup.com and we’ll be happy to assist. (It’s helpful if you can tell us what the old address was, even if you can’t access it any more.)

Sure can! We created a Twitter account for Sync Server news and updates. Follow or bookmark @OmniSyncServer for the fastest updates.

We’ll make every effort to prevent that from happening, and it hasn’t happened yet, but it is a possibility.

In case it helps: if something does ever happen, nobody knows more about how our applications work than the folks that run this server. :-)

Wondering how to move your existing sync setup to the Omni Sync Server? Worry not; it’s easy. First, use this page to create an account on the server. Once you’ve done that, the following steps will help you migrate your existing data.

1. Start by syncing all your devices with your old settings/server. You want all your devices to be in sync before you migrate.

2. Once all your devices are in sync, do one final sync with the old server on one of your Macs. Note that this is in addition to the sync you did in the previous step.

   (If you’re not using OmniFocus for Mac, you can skip to step 4 and carry out the following steps on one of your iOS devices instead of a Mac.)

3. On the same Mac used in the previous step, select “Back Up Database” from the File menu. This gives you a fallback position if anything unexpected does happen during this process.

4. Change the Sync preferences on the Mac to point at your new server. The easiest way to do this is to open up the “Set Up Sync” email the server sends you when you create an account. Just open that message and click the “omnifocus:///” link the email contains.

   (Note that you’ll want to do this in Mail, Outlook, or a similar mail-reading application. Web-based mail systems like gmail won’t handle the setup link properly. If you only read your email in a web browser, you can configure the sync manually in OmniFocus’ sync settings. Feel free to contact us if you want help with this step.)

5. OmniFocus will launch and ask if it should replace your existing sync settings. Tap or click the “Replace” button to let OmniFocus do so; enter the password you chose for your account when it’s requested.

6. Press the “Sync Now” button to do your first sync with our server. This sends a copy of your fully-synced data up to our server.

7. Open the email from step 4 (again, in Mail or an equivalent app) on another device. Click or tap the “omnifocus:///” link to configure that device to sync with the server, then enter your password and sync that device.

Repeat step 7 with your remaining devices. You should be good to go from now on, but if anything unexpected or confusing happens, feel free to contact us for help!

Once you have an Omni Sync Server account set up, here’s how to move your files back and forth between your Mac and iPad.

1. Start on your Mac. Click on the “Go” menu in the finder, selecting the “Connect to Server” option.

2. When the Connect to Server window appears, enter https://sync.omnigroup.com/YOURACCOUNT/ into the “Server Address” field, replacing “YOURACCOUNT” with the name you chose for your account. An optional step is to press the “+” button to add this address to your “Favorite Servers” list. Once the information has all been entered, press the “Connect” button. (Make sure to include the final “/” character; some versions of the Finder won’t connect if you omit it.)

3. A new finder window will appear showing any files you’ve already uploaded to the server - possibly from other Omni apps. Any files you drag to this window, or save to this location in OmniOutliner, will be sent to the server.

A good step to take at this point would be to open OmniOutliner on your Mac, create a new document, and save it to the Server. (As normal, you can use the File menu to do this.) Name the document “Server Test” or something equally memorable.

Next, we’ll get your iPad talking to the server, as well. Here’s how to do that:

1. Launch OmniOutliner for iPad. Tap the Import button in the upper left of the screen; it looks like an arrow pointing downwards into an inbox or tray.

2. Choose “Copy from WebDAV” from the popover that appears.

3. Enter https://sync.omnigroup.com/YOURACCOUNT/ into the “Address” field (again, including the trailing “/”); enter your account name and password into the appropriate fields, as well.

4. Tap the blue “Sign In” button in the upper right.

At this point, a window will appear listing the files stored in your sync server account. You can select any of the files to copy them to your iPad. Once you have a file you want to send back up to the server, you can do so with the following steps:

1. Select the document in the document picker.

2. Tap the Sharing button in the upper left of the screen, then select “Export” from the popover that appears.

3. Tap “Export to WebDAV”, then choose the format to export the document to on the next page.

Once you have an Omni Sync Server account set up, here’s how to move your files back and forth between your Mac and iPad.

1. Start on your Mac. Click on the “Go” menu in the finder, selecting the “Connect to Server” option.

2. When the Connect to Server window appears, enter https://sync.omnigroup.com/YOURACCOUNT/ into the “Server Address” field, replacing “YOURACCOUNT” with the name you chose for your account. An optional step is to press the “+” button to add this address to your “Favorite Servers” list. Once the information has all been entered, press the “Connect” button. (Make sure to include the final “/” character; some versions of the Finder won’t connect if you omit it.)

3. A new finder window will appear showing any files you’ve already uploaded to the server - possibly from other Omni apps. Any files you drag to this window, or save to this location in OmniGraffle, will be sent to the server.

A good step to take at this point would be to open OmniGraffle on your Mac, create a new document, and save it to the Server. (As normal, you can use the File menu to do this.) Name the document “Server Test” or something equally memorable.

Next, we’ll get your iPad talking to the server, as well. Here’s how to do that:

1. Launch OmniGraffle for iPad. Tap the Import button in the upper left of the screen; it looks like an arrow pointing downwards into an inbox or tray.

2. Choose “Copy from WebDAV” from the popover that appears.

3. Enter https://sync.omnigroup.com/YOURACCOUNT/ into the “Address” field (again, including the trailing “/”); enter your account name and password into the appropriate fields, as well.

4. Tap the blue “Sign In” button in the upper right.

At this point, a window will appear listing the files stored in your sync server account. You can select any of the files to copy them to your iPad. Once you have a file you want to send back up to the server, you can do so with the following steps:

1. Select the document in the document picker.

2. Tap the Sharing button in the upper left of the screen, then select “Export” from the popover that appears.

3. Tap “Export to WebDAV”, then choose the format to export the document to on the next page.

We take snapshots of sync server contents once a day, and keep one weeks’ worth at a time. Weekly snapshots are also taken and are stored for up to 45 days.

If you think you’ve accidentally deleted a file you need from your Sync Server account, contact our support ninjas (800.315.6664 or via email) ASAP and we’ll do everything we can to assist. We cannot guarantee that we’ll be able to recover the file, but we’ll make every effort to do so.

Important note: we very strongly recommend that folks take advantage of the backup solutions built into their Apple devices. The Omni Sync Server is not a replacement for Time Machine or iCloud Backup!

What is Mail Drop?

Mail Drop is a new feature of the Omni Sync Server that lets you send emails directly into your OmniFocus Inbox. You can create multiple private send-to addresses in order to give access to third parties, and delete those addresses at any time.

Some Examples

• Forwarding actionable emails from your PC at work;
• Processing emails on your iPhone or iPad;
• Using if this then that to automate all kinds of internet-y things;
• Allowing a partner to delegate actions directly into your OmniFocus system.

How to get started

If you’re already using the Omni Sync Server to sync OmniFocus, you can log in to the sync server web interface and create your first Mail Drop address. After logging in, just click the Create Address button to automatically generate the email address (a combination of your username and a random string of characters)

If you don’t have a Sync Server account yet, you can sign up here. The account creation process includes instructions for configuring OmniFocus to use your new account (it’s as simple as tapping or clicking a link in an email).

What kind of information can I add to OmniFocus via Mail Drop?

When you send an email message to Mail Drop, the subject line of that message will become the name of your new Inbox item. The body of the message will become the note; it can contain text, attachments, and simple HTML (more complex formatting is stripped).

I’m already using the OmniFocus Mail Rule and Clip-O-Tron or send-to-omnifocus@omnigroup.com to process email.

Mail Drop is designed to have fewer external dependencies than our current solutions that involve Mail on OS X. Each time the OS has been updated recently, we have had to do a significant amount of work to keep basic functionality working, and in some cases have not been able to restore features. While Mail Drop’s functionality is currently basic, we plan on using the time saved to add more features so that it has the best of all of the previous solutions.