How do I sync or restore my Nisus Writer preferences?

[martin]

Nisus Writer Pro 3 (and Nisus Writer Express 4) makes it easy to backup, restore, and sync preferences and other settings.

How to backup Nisus Writer settings:
1. Launch Nisus Writer.
2. Open the preferences and switch to the General pane.
3. Choose a folder for the "synchronized settings location".

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(You can choose a sync service like Dropbox or iCloud Drive, or any arbitrary local folder.)

4. Quit Nisus Writer.

All your application settings will now be stored in the selected folder. If you make changes to your Nisus Writer settings in the future, all changes will be automatically saved at this new location. If you need to capture a snapshot of your settings in their current state you should make a zip archive of the folder or otherwise preserve an independent copy.

NOTE: This may or may not include your macros, templates, and glossary files which can be configurable separately. If you previously established custom folders for those files (eg: via the Document Manager) you may want to backup those files separately, or reconfigure them to use a subfolder within your synchronized settings location.



How to restore or sync Nisus Writer settings:
Once you've followed the above instructions and selected a "synchronized settings location" on your first Mac, it's easy to sync these settings to one or more other Macs. You only need to configure your other Macs to use the same settings location:

1. Launch Nisus Writer on your 2nd Mac.
2. Open the preferences and switch to the General pane.
3. Choose the same sync settings location you established earlier on your first Mac (eg: Dropbox).
4. You will be asked if you'd like to load your settings:

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5. Click the button "Load External Settings" to discard your current settings and load the settings that were saved by your first Mac.

This same process can be used to restore previously archived settings. If you have a copy of prior Nisus Writer settings, you need only choose that folder in as your "synchronized settings location" to restore those earlier settings. This folder need not be stored in the cloud.



Nisus Writer Pro version 2:
The following instructions are only for version 2.x and are provided for legacy users. These details are obsolete for version 3.

How to backup settings in version 2:
1. Quit Nisus Writer if it is running.
2. Open the Terminal application.
3. Enter the following command to create a backup folder on your Desktop:

Code: Select all

mkdir ~/Desktop/NisusSettings

4. Enter the following command to export your preferences to the backup folder:

Code: Select all

defaults export com.nisus.NisusWriter ~/Desktop/NisusSettings/defaults.plist

5. Enter the following command to copy application settings to the backup folder:

Code: Select all

cp -R ~/Library/Containers/com.nisus.NisusWriter/Data/Library/Application\ Support/Nisus\ Writer\ Pro/ ~/Desktop/NisusSettings/Application\ Support

All of Nisus Writer's preferences and settings have now been duplicated to the NisusSettings folder on your Desktop.

How to restore settings in version 2:
If you followed the instructions above earlier, here's how to restore the previously exported settings. These instructions assume the backup settings are still located in the NisusSettings folder on your Desktop.

1. Quit Nisus Writer if it is running.
2. Open the Terminal application.
3. Enter the following command to restore application settings:

Code: Select all

cp -R ~/Desktop/NisusSettings/Application\ Support/ ~/Library/Containers/com.nisus.NisusWriter/Data/Library/Application\ Support/Nisus\ Writer\ Pro/

4. Enter the following command to import your preferences:

Code: Select all

defaults import com.nisus.NisusWriter ~/Desktop/NisusSettings/defaults.plist

5. Restart your computer.

If you now launch Nisus Writer, all your settings should have been restored.