Ask Erika our Desktop Application Expert your questions! July 26th, 11:00 to 2:00 PT [ Edited ]

[Mark_YSI]

Ask an Expert – get knowledgeable tips and advice from the product team at YouSendIt.

Every month we will host a forum discussion centered around one of our Product managers. This month, on Thursday July 26^th from 11am – 2pm PST, you can chat with Erika Tingey, our Sr. Product Manager for our Desktop Applications. 

How it Works

First you need to login to the YouSendIt Community – then come back to the Ask an Expert section in the community.

1. Ask your questions by replying to this thread

2. Or see below and reply to a question or answer already posted

Erika and a few others will be ready to answer your questions about our Desktop Apps.  

Why Should You Join In

This is a great opportunity to talk directly with the people who created the apps you use every day. You have the ability to give suggestions, ask questions, and get help from the people that designed and wrote the product. It is not every day you get the chance to connect with the best and brightest at YouSendIt.

We hope to see you on Thursday for our very first Ask an Expert day.

[Mark_YSI]

A little more info about Erika to get everyone ready for tomorrow:

She has been a Software Engineer and Development Manager with a 15 year track record in consumer and enterprise software.  Erika has focused on building high-performing and flexible teams and guiding them from concept through launch. She has recently taken the position of Product Manager handling the YouSendIt desktop products.  These products include our Desktop Sync, Express, and Outlook plug-ins.

"I'm passionate about building great products that solve real customer needs. Really looking forward to hearing from customers about how they work and how YouSendIt can help."

[kirbyk]

thanks mark. I'm looking forward to this.

[ErikaTYSI]

Welcome to our first Expert Day! I am excited to be the first YouSendIt Expert to kick this off. I have been a Software Engineer and Development Manager for 15 years, working in consumer and enterprise software, building high-performing and flexible teams and guiding them from concept through launch. Now I am the Product manager for all of YouSendIt’s Desktop Apps (Desktop Sync, Express, and Outlook Plugin). Don’t hesitate to ask me questions, give suggestions and feedback, or get some technical help. I am here from now till 2pm PST.

[katieB]

What are the reasons I would use the desktop app if I already use the web app? 

[ErikaTYSI]

Hi Katie,

The desktop app will sync all the files in your YouSendIt cloud to your computer. (or a subset, if you use our cool new Selective Sync feature.) There are a couple of advantages to that: you get offline access to your files, and when you make changes to files in your YouSendIt folder, they will be automatically synced back up to your cloud

[ErikaTYSI]

You can also be sure that you have the latest version of a file, because the desktop app will automatically sync down any changes other users who are sharing your folder have made to the files.

[kirbyk]

Why are there 2 desktop applications? Why can't there just be one application that combines what yousendit express does, and what the desktop App does?

[vsolanoy]

What if I have multiple computers? Will files be synced on all of them, and what if I've updated files on two computers, how does that work?

[ErikaTYSI]

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kirbyk wrote:

Why are there 2 desktop applications? Why can't there just be one application that combines what yousendit express does, and what the desktop App does?

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Hi Kirby,

We are heading toward combining the functionality of our two Desktop apps, so eventually you'll be able to send files and share folders from one place.

For the moment, you can still send files in your YouSendIt folders from Express, by navigating to that folder from your Express application and selecting files or folders from there. 

Can you tell me a little more about what you're trying to do with our apps? 

Thanks!

[ErikaTYSI]

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vsolanoy wrote:

What if I have multiple computers? Will files be synced on all of them, and what if I've updated files on two computers, how does that work?

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If you install our Desktop application on multiple computers, your files will be synced to all of them. You can use our Selective Sync feature to choose different folders to sync to your different computers. (Can you tell I'm excited about Selective Sync?) 

If you're updating your files from multiple computers, or you have different people sharing a folder and updating the same files, all of the updates will be synced to your YouSendIt folders, and to all of your computers that have the desktop app.

[kirbyk]

Thank you for your response, Erika. I use the desktop app to store documents and work on things with colleagues, but have a lot of clients without YouSendIt accounts that I send files to. Just thought it was kind of funky have to use 2 different applications, but if you're working on combining the two, that's great news for me. What's the estimated timeframe where an app with combined features might be available?

[Shane_ysi]

If the same file is edited on two different machines in between synchronization cycles, a conflict will occur. When this happens, one of the files is renamed as "original file (1)" and also synced to all the machines so neither change is lost. In that case you will want to reconcile the two files.

[ErikaTYSI]

We'll release it as soon as it's ready! We have a lot of exciting things coming out over the next few months, which I'll post about on the forums as they are released.

[photographer2]

Does the desktop app have a resume upload? So if my connection is lost, once it is back up does my upload start back up where it left off?

[kirbyk]

You don't have an estimated release date. Fair enough. I have another question. More than once, my Desktop App has a red icon indicating files haven't been synced. This goes on for 2-3 days, and I don't know why, as I'm not doing anything different, and my internet access is normal. Any idea why this might happen?

[wisdom]

how do i send a file  with you send it it always says say number of files   now I cant use you send it when I send a zipped file because of this how do I overcome this problem

[ErikaTYSI]

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kirbyk wrote:

You don't have an estimated release date. Fair enough. I have another question. More than once, my Desktop App has a red icon indicating files haven't been synced. This goes on for 2-3 days, and I don't know why, as I'm not doing anything different, and my internet access is normal. Any idea why this might happen?

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Does the issue eventually resolve itself without any action from you? If so, it's likely that it's a transient error that goes away. Some examples are:

1. The file has changed on the server (either someone else edited it, or you did on another computer) but it is open locally and is locked, so the new version can't be downloaded.

2. Virus scanning is running on the file, so it can't be downloaded at the moment. This shouldn't last 2 or 3 days though.

3. The server is busy, and we need to wait for a connection. This also shouldn't last 2 or 3 days. 

Do any of those sound likely? Or do you take an action to make the errors go away?

[gregory]

Yes.  If for any reason a file upload or download is interrupted, then the next time the app syncs we will continue from where we left off - or where were interrupted.  This is even true if you turn off your computer and then turn it on again.  The one exception currently is if you use the menu from the system tray icon and select "Sync Now".  This will force all the partial file transfers to be restarted from scratch.

[ErikaTYSI]

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wisdom wrote:

how do i send a file  with you send it it always says say number of files   now I cant use you send it when I send a zipped file because of this how do I overcome this problem

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I'm not sure I understand your issue exactly - are you trying to send from our web application, or from within our Express app or Outlook plug-in?

You should definitely be able to send a zipped file from any of these places - what is blocking you?

[kirbyk]

I don't take any action that makes it go away, but it seems to sometimes affect both my home computer and work computer, but more often it only affects my work computer. I do try to sync the folders multiple times, only to get that red icon, and then all of a sudden, that red icon simply disappears. It hasn't affected my workflow in any way I've noticed, but it has concerned me.

[ErikaTYSI]

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Yes, it concerns me too. Would you be able to send me your log files? You can reach me at desktopfeedback@yousendit.com.

Are you on Mac, or Windows?

[ddion]

I use dropbox so students submit files. I would like these to autmatically appear in my yousend it folder automatically (so I do not have to do it one by one manually)

Is this possible?

[kirbyk]

Great, I'm on Windows, and I'll send you my log file. Thank you!!!!!

[Mark_YSI]

Hello Wisdom,

Not sure I fully understand your question, can you please give us a little more detail.

Thanks,

Mark

[ErikaTYSI]

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ddion wrote:

I use dropbox so students submit files. I would like these to autmatically appear in my yousend it folder automatically (so I do not have to do it one by one manually)

Is this possible?

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Thanks for the suggestion! That's a great idea. We don't currently have a way to connect your YouSendIt dropbox to a folder automatically, but I'll add it to our suggestions list.

[RichardAC]

I have tried repeatedly today to send files and each time it uploads and stops near the end of the transmission. The diagnostic says everying is working.

[ErikaTYSI]

Hi, Richard,

Are you using Express or our Outlook plug-in to send files? How big is the file you're trying to send?

Thanks

[ErikaTYSI]

Thank you so much to everyone who participated today! I'll try to monitor the forum and answer questions as often as I can. You can also send any questions you have about our Desktop applications to desktopfeedback@yousendit.com.

[unclebernie]

Yousendit apparently does not work with Mountain Lion?

[YouSendIt_Kyle]

Hi unclebernie! You can use your YouSendIt account with Mountain Lion. There are two minor issues we are currently aware of when using YouSendIt Express with Mountain Lion:

1. When you select files to upload in YouSendIt Express, the filenames will not appear, giving the illusion that no files were selected. You can still send files using YouSendIt Express, there just isn't any way to see which files you have selected.

2. When viewing the Sent Items tab, the Details panel doesn't appear.

We are working on resolving both of these issues as soon as possible.

Thanks to everyone who participated today, especially Erika, for taking time to address user questions! I'm going to close this thread now. Stay tuned for our next Ask an Expert session - more details coming soon!