Together has always been pretty capable in its support for importing all sorts of things, through the Shelf, Dock icon and system services. Together 2.1 adds three new ways to import links and files.

Automatic File Import

Together can now automatically import files saved in its library folders, meaning you can save files directly to Together’s folders without having to manually import them. This can be enabled by checking “Auto import files added to Library folders” in Import preferences and it’s on by default.

For documents to be imported, you can save them anywhere in Together’s library folders apart from the Support and Trash folders. Together may move the document if it’s in the wrong page (e.g. a text document in the Images folder).

This will probably remove most people’s need for specific watched folders, but that method is still possible and may be useful too.

Import Hot Key

Together 2.1 also adds support for a global import hot key, which can also be set in Together’s Import preferences.

When the hot key is pressed, links or files will be imported according to Together’s Import preferences. This will work with most web browsers, Mail, Microsoft Entourage and NetNewsWire and the Finder.

Bookmarklets

A popular request was for Together to have support for bookmarklets, so web pages can be saved to Together with a single click, so this is now available in 2.1.

You can install the bookmarklets in your browser by clicking the Bookmarklets button in Together’s Import preferences. There are three different bookmarklets to save the current page as a bookmark, web archive or web PDF.

Updated October 1, 2008 to reflect changes to Together and MobileMe (formerly .Mac) since version 2.1.

Together can now sync with MobileMe. Syncing can be enabled for a library by checking “Sync Library with MobileMe” in the Library Manager panel (choose Together > Library Manager from the menu).

A synced library will merge with all other synced libraries, therefore only one Together library can be synced per Mac. Syncs will be performed according to your settings in the MobileMe System Preferences panel.

Files that are linked (i.e. the original file exists outside of Together’s library) on a local Mac will be saved as copies in the LIbrary on a remote Macs.

Most other things that are synced to MobileMe with Apple’s Sync Services are small pieces of information such a bookmarks and iCal events, rather than whole files. It works, but there are some things to watch out for:

• You need enough free space on your iDisk to accommodate your library, with spare capacity for tracking changes. You can find out the size of your library by selecting all items in the Library group. The total size will be shown in the Info view.
• Due to the way Sync Services works, Together’s memory usage will temporarily swell by the size of your library while syncing and later on, one of the processes used during syncing (dotmacsyncclient) will temporarily consume memory that 3x the size of your library. Therefore, I would recommended not syncing a library if it is greater than about 20% of the memory installed on your Mac. So, for a Mac with 2GB installed, 400MB would be the limit.
• Large files are also unsuitable for syncing. If you have files in your library that are more than a few megabytes in size, it’s possible syncing will crash Together.
• Finally, if you have a large library, the sync status icon in the menu bar will stop spinning after 10 minutes even though the upload could still be in progress. A process called dotmacsyncclient is responsible for sending the changes to your iDisk and you can see whether this is still running in the Activity Monitor app.

Here’s a rough guide of how long it might take to perform the first sync:

Future syncs will be faster as they’ll only deal with the files that have changed.

Together 2.1 is released today. This is a large update that includes the most-wanted feature requests following version 2.0, along with some great new features to help make Together easier and more useful. You can download the latest version here.

Sync, AppleScript, Web PDFs

Together can now sync its library with .Mac, includes AppleScript support and a new way of saving web pages – as PDFs that look identical to the original page, with background images, clickable links and no pagination.

Shelf Improvements

The Shelf has seen a number of improvements, including a new Favorites section, where you can drag groups and items from Together’s library for quick access, Quick Look previews, so you don’t need to go back to Together to see the content of a file, the ability to tag and group Quick Notes and the option to hide the Shelf tab, so it will open when the mouse moves to the edge of the screen.

Organizing

Smart groups become more useful with the ability to only search specified groups instead of the entire library. With group tagging, Together can automatically tag items added to groups and you can now copy or drag clickable links to Together items to other applications.

Import

Together’s import features have been extended considerably. For starters, Together can now automatically import any files saved in its library folders. There is a new global Import Hot Key for importing files from the Finder, URLs from web browsers and email messages, and there are now bookmarklets for Together, so saving a web archive, PDF or bookmark from your web browser is one click away.

For further integration with Spotlight and other applications, Together can now import files’ Spotlight comments and keywords as tags and export items’ Together tags back to the original files’ Spotlight comments in the Finder.

Library and Previews

Together’s user interface is now more customizable, with a choice of icons sizes for items and groups and preferences for the various different previews. Together can now also generate thumbnail icons for web archives and bookmarks.

The Portrait-orientation Info view has been improved so you can see an item’s basic information and its tags, comments, or groups at the same time and the tag browser now has options for which system tags to show.

These are just a selection of more than 60 new features and improvements in this version. The Release Notes page tells the full story and I will be posting more information about these new features over the next few days.

Occasionally I am asked to explain the difference between groups and folders in Together. I might be able to boil this down for the FAQ, but here is a full explanation.

Together has two ways of collecting files together, groups and folders. In a nutshell, folders work the same as in the Finder, while groups work like iTunes playlists.

Groups were introduced in version 1.0 to support the point of Together, in that you do not need to file items into folders because they always appear in your library. Folders were added to version 2.0 because sometimes the folder structure is important to the files being stored and because some people were accustomed to that way of working.

Folders

Folders in Together work exactly like folders in the Finder, and that’s exactly what they are. A file can only exist in one folder at a time, adding a file to that folder moves it there and removing a file from a folder moves it to Together’s Trash and removes it from Together’s library and any groups or smart groups. Removing the folder moves the folder and its entire contents to the Trash.

Groups

Groups work like iTunes playlists and are very different to folders. Groups cannot be arranged hierarchically. A file can appear in more than one group at a time. Adding a file to a group adds a reference to that file, and removing a file from a group or removing the group itself doesn’t change anything else. Groups will always keep track of files, no matter where they are stored.

Using Groups and Folders

How you want to use these is up to you. Folders, as mentioned, are good when you want or need to organize files hierarchically, while groups allow you to create loose collections and removes the limitation of only being able to see a file in a single place. You can’t mix groups and folders in a hierarchy because they’re pretty incompatible in terms of what is stored where.

Groups are ideal for research, where you can collect a number of documents from different locations into once place, without moving the files from their original locations. Once you’re finished with the group, you can just remove it without removing any of the files it contains.

Any developer will tell you that no application can remain simple for very long. This is good as further development of the application through ideas and requests means that the application can grow with a receptive audience. The difficult part is determining how.

Some applications suffer this problem more than others. The most dangerous aspect of this for a developer is to introduce something that becomes a problem, and in the worst case, a millstone around their neck. It’s not easy to remove features, even if they are problematic. Likewise, insufficiently implemented features will generate more work in support requests than they took to add in the first place. The key to keeping this manageable is to work within the scope of the application.

My two applications are oceans apart in this respect. Both have grown in ways I could never have imagined, but none more than Feeder. It started as a fairly straightforward RSS reader, but then became involved in the anything-but-simple world of podcasting. Now it’s an RSS editor, an audio / video file tagger and FTP client all wrapped up in one package.

And yet, on the surface, Feeder hasn’t changed much at all. Someone who bought the 1.0 version for creating a standard RSS feed won’t feel like the app has become something different or unsuitable. The features have integrated seamlessly because they are right for the application. There are many requested features that didn’t make the cut, and I’m satisfied that those decisions proved correct over time.

Together’s potential scope is much broader than Feeder’s to the point that I am still implementing features I thought of four years ago. On seeing the app, people have many ideas about what it should do or be. In the two months since Together’s 2.0 release I have done little more than answer emails and during that time have collected over 100 valid feature requests, filtered through what I see as the scope of the application.

Together’s scope is no different to version 1.0 and that is to store, organize, preview and search files as elegantly and efficiently as possible. In time, the scope might expand without detracting from the fundamental nature of the application, but for now, with strong demand for features that will likely take years to fully realise, there is far too much to be done. Of course, these features cannot be added all at once. People expect regular updates, so each release will prioritise the most needed requests.

Interest in Together has been so great as to be overwhelming. Even with all the work put into the 2.0 version, the potential for the application is huge and some people will be happier with its progress than others. Thankfully, there are lots of options out there, so there should be something for everyone. Obviously, I can’t keep sprinting on the support treadmill, so I’ve set up the forums and placed much more emphasis on the FAQs to try and bring the situation back under control.

As I mentioned when I announced the application, version 2.0 sets the platform from which the app will grow over the next few years. Some things are going to take time, but the future for Together looks very promising, not least thanks to everyone who has supported and contributed to Together and KIT so far. The 2.x series is shaping up to be very exciting indeed.