Overview & background
Fieldwire users on a Business or Premier Subscription have the option to set up 2-way syncs between their Fieldwire projects and Box, Dropbox, and/or OneDrive accounts. This type of sync allows Fieldwire to automatically upload individual or entire sets of plans and files into your Fieldwire account whenever you add those files to your Box, Dropbox, or OneDrive. Additionally, any changes made to plans, files, or photos, in Fieldwire automatically update the files they correspond to in Box, Dropbox, or OneDrive. Setting up a 2-way sync essentially creates two sets of "mirrored" project files in Fieldwire and your cloud storage platform.
Note: 2-way syncing connects your cloud storage platform(s) to individual Fieldwire projects, rather than your entire Fieldwire account. This means you can connect one Box account to one project and a different Box, Dropbox, or OneDrive account to another project in the same Fieldwire account. You can also connect the same Box, Dropbox, or OneDrive account to all of your projects if you choose, but you'll need to establish the connection (by following the steps below) in each project.
Table of Contents
How does this look in Box, Dropbox, or OneDrive
How to Set-Up the 2-Way Sync in a Project
Photos, Forms & As-builts: 1-Way Sync
How does this look in Box, Dropbox, or OneDrive?
The first time you set up the 2-Way sync in a project, a 'Fieldwire' folder is automatically created in Box, Dropbox, or Onedrive.
Subsequently, each project you connect to Box, Dropbox, or Onedrive will automatically create a project folder within the 'Fieldwire' folder. Within each project folder, you'll find separate folders for Plans, Photos, Files, and As-Builts:
Before You Begin
Before you set up the 2-way Sync connection between your project(s) and your cloud storage platform, please make note of the following recommended Dos and Don'ts that can help avoid synchronization issues:
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Do:
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Don't:
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How to Set-Up the 2-Way Sync in a Project
To set up a 2-way sync between one of your Fieldwire projects and a Box, Dropbox, or Onedrive, account, please follow these steps:
| 1. Click on '+ New plan' |  |
| 2. Select Dropbox, Box, or OneDrive: |  |
A new tab will open, where you'll be prompted to enter your login credentials for the cloud storage platform you selected. Enter the pertinent credentials for the Box, Dropbox, or OneDrive account you want to connect to Fieldwire. You'll know that's successful if you see a new Box, Dropbox, or OneDrive button at the top of your plans page:
Note: If using OneDrive for the 2-way sync, please ensure the account you are connecting to has a valid OneDrive license included in your Microsoft 365 subscription. Please view this link to review which licenses will be adequate.
You can review the Microsoft help center to learn how to assign and remove licenses to your users on an enterprise, or company plan.
Note: Fieldwire doesn't hold the account credentials such as email or passwords when a connection is created between a 2-way sync source. The connection is made using a token. This is also for security reasons.
Check the Connection
The 'Dropbox' (Or Box, or OneDrive) button indicates that you've set up your sync. Click on this button to see the connected Dropbox, Box, or OneDrive account, the Fieldwire account that set up the 2-way sync, and the last 'push & pull' to and from the synced program to your Fieldwire account:
The Dropbox (or Box, or OneDrive) account is the email address of the connected account.
The 'Fieldwire account' is the user's email that established the connection between Fieldwire and the 2-way sync source.
The 'Token' shows whether or not the sync is 'Valid', or whether or not the content is pushing from Fieldwire to Box, Dropbox, or OneDrive, or vice-versa.
The Last 'pull' is when information is updated in Fieldwire and then "pulled" to update the corresponding files in Box, Dropbox, or OneDrive.
The last 'push' is when information is updated in Box, Dropbox, or OneDrive and then "pushed" to update the corresponding files in Fieldwire.
Please note that the most recent pushes & pulls refer to any project that has recently synced, rather than the specific project you are viewing. It's possible that the project you are viewing is still in the queue and has yet to be synced.
Tip: To force an immediate update (sync) on any particular project, add a quick markup to any plan. This will initiate Box, Dropbox, or OneDrive to force a "pull" from Fieldwire.
Plans & Files: 2-Way Sync
When you add new plan sheets to the Plans folder of the project in Box, Dropbox, or OneDrive, they'll automatically push to Fieldwire. If you upload plans to Fieldwire, they will pull to the Plans folder in the connected cloud storage platform. Similarly, if you add content to the 'Files' folder in Box, Dropbox, or OneDrive it will push to Fieldwire and vice-versa. Since this is 2-way sync, any name edits or plan deletions in one program will automatically occur in the other program. The same is true for Files.
If you'd like to upload plans through your cloud storage platform, upload single-page files (as opposed to multipage) and make sure that the plan name of the new version plan matches the existing version, and choose to 'Replace' the file.
Note: The 'Plan' size limit for content uploaded to the 'Plans' folder in the cloud storage platform is 1GB. The 'File' size limit for content uploaded to the 'Files' folder in the cloud storage platform is '200 mb'. We suggest waiting to upload plans until the sync has been successfully set up in order to keep your version control in check.
If uploading multipage plans, upload through Fieldwire, allow Fieldwire to work its magic in terms of splitting out the plans and correctly naming them. Please refer to this article for more information.
Note: Typically, it is best practice to pick one upload method and to stick with it once the 2-way sync is set-up. For example, if you upload plans through Fieldwire, continue to upload plans through Fieldwire.
Note: You can create an unlimited set of subfolders within the 'Plans' or 'Files' folder in your connected Box, Dropbox, or OneDrive account. The Plans or Files folders will automatically create those subfolders within Fieldwire but the sub-entities have to have unique names.
Example:files/myfolder/mysubfolderfiles/myfolder/mysubfolder
Note: Plans and Files that are stored under the ‘All Plans’ or 'All Files' folders in Fieldwire will appear as ‘loose files’ in the cloud storage of your choice. To Organize these, create a folder in Fieldwire or your cloud storage platform and move the 'loose files' into it.
| Files stored under 'All Files' in Fieldwire: | How the files appear in Cloud Storage (OneDrive) |
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Version control
Viewing old versions of plans within Fieldwire is simple. There is a list of all old versions of the plan in the bottom right on web and the bottom left on mobile.
But when a syncing issue arises, you may need to look for older versions on the program you are syncing with. Here's how to find your old versions on Dropbox, Box, and OneDrive:
Dropbox:
Find the plan that you'd like to view the versions for and click the ellipse at the right hand side and select Version history.
From there, we can see: 1) when the plan was uploaded, 2) which is the current version and 3) who uploaded or edited that recent version. For older versions, you have the option to 4) restore the plan. If you see text like 5) you'll know that any version below that text was deleted. This tells us that only two versions of AR-2F02 currently are stored on Fieldwire.
Box:
You'll see right within your folder what version is the most current. To view those versions, click into the plan, then select the ellipse, and click Version History:
OneDrive:
Click into your plan and select Version history at the top of the page. A window will open listing all of the versions added. By clicking the ellipse next to older versions, you have the option to restore an older version:
You can check the version history of your plans by selecting the 'Version History' option in your cloud storage system:
Photos, Forms & As-Builts: 1-Way Sync
The Photos, Forms, & As-Builts folders sync in one direction. When you add new photos to your Fieldwire project, the photos will push to the 'Photos' folder in the connected cloud storage platform. When Forms are updated to a non-editable status (for example, "Submitted"), they will push to the folder that corresponds with the form template that was used. Copies of marked-up plans will push from Fieldwire to the As-Builts folder.
If content is added to the Photos, Forms, or As-Builts folder in Box, Dropbox, or OneDrive, it will not push to Fieldwire. Any subfolders created in the Photos, Forms, or As-Builts folders will not push to Fieldwire.
How to Disconnect
To disable the 2-way sync between Fieldwire and Box, Dropbox, or OneDrive for any given Project, click on the syncing button at the top of the Plans page and select the “Disconnect” option:
You can also disconnect from the 'Settings' tab of the project:
Note: If you reconnect to Box, Dropbox, or OneDrive again in the future, all of the existing data in Fieldwire will replace whatever data was previously stored in the “Fieldwire” folder of the Box, Dropbox, or OneDrive account you're connecting to. If you need to change the 'Fieldwire Account', or the 'Dropbox/Box/OneDrive Account' refer to this article.
For steps to connect to a different 2-way sync source, go over this article.
More Information
Please watch our tutorial video for more information on setting up a 2-Way sync between your Fieldwire Project and your preferred cloud storage platform:
FAQs & Troubleshooting
These articles provide more specific information about why content may not sync between Fieldwire and Dropbox / Box / OneDrive and how to easily resolve common issues: