About synced folders

A synced folder in Files mirrors a folder from Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive / SharePoint. Wallboard copies its files into Wallboard and keeps checking the cloud folder for changes. Devices never talk to the cloud service themselves; they receive ordinary Wallboard files.

You connect a folder once, with a cloud credential, and choose how changes should be handled:

• Connect Google Drive folder
• Connect Microsoft OneDrive folder

This page explains what those settings actually do.

File change tracking mode

The File change tracking mode decides what happens when a file that is already in Wallboard changes in the cloud. New files and deleted files are handled the same way in every mode.

Mode	When a file changes in the cloud	Use it when
Passive sync	Nothing changes in Wallboard. The copy imported first stays as it is; only its validity dates are refreshed.	You place files directly into Content and want them never to change underneath you.
Active sync	The new version is imported as a new file, and the old file is removed.	Content uses the folder as a whole (folder binding, system Datasources), not individual files.
Active sync + Smart file update	The new version is imported, and every reference to the old file is moved over to it before the old one is removed.	Screens should follow edits made in the cloud, including files selected one by one.

Passive sync

Passive sync is the "import once" mode. A new file in the cloud appears in Wallboard, a deleted one can be removed (see Removal sync), but an edited file is never downloaded again. That makes it the safe choice for files used directly in Content: what you approved is what plays.

The exception is validity: if a synced file's validity dates change in the cloud, they are updated in Wallboard in every mode. Learn more: Synchronize SharePoint Validity Dates

Active sync

With Active sync, an edited file comes in as a new file with a new file ID, and the old file is deleted. Anything that pointed at the old file one by one loses it:

• A Widget, Playlist or Channel item where the file was selected individually no longer finds it.
• Content that uses the folder (or a system Datasource on it) simply picks up the new file.

If you need individual files to follow their updates, turn on Smart file update, bind to the folder, or use a File System Datasource. Learn more: File in synced folder does not update in content

Smart file update

Smart file update is available with Active sync only. When a file changes, Wallboard imports the new version and moves every reference from the old file to the new one: every place that used the file keeps showing it, now in its new version.

The new version is still a separate file with a new file ID. Earlier playback records stay with the old file and are not moved over.

Which files come in

Sync copies only what matches all of these:

• The selected file types. Only the types chosen in the sync settings are imported. Google and Microsoft document formats are imported as PDFs.
• The selected structure. Folder menu > Edit structure decides which subfolders are synced. An excluded subfolder is skipped together with everything inside it.
• The maximum upload size. A file larger than the server's upload limit is skipped, without a message.
• Your storage. When the customer's storage limit is reached, new files and new versions are skipped until there is space again. Each skipped file is recorded in the Logs.

When a deep Microsoft folder tree stops at some level, check the credential's access list first (see below).

Who can reach what

On the cloud side, sync runs with the credential, not with you. A file shared with your own account, but not with the account behind the credential, is invisible to Wallboard.

Microsoft credentials can have an access list. A credential's Manager user can limit which sites, drives and folders the credential may reach (Edit Microsoft credential access list). When the list is in use:

• It is checked on every sync, folder by folder. Access to a parent folder does not include its subfolders: each subfolder must be on the list itself, or the sync stops there.
• If a file or folder is moved in Microsoft to a place that is not on the list, Wallboard can no longer reach it.

So if something is missing from a Microsoft synced folder, the credential's Manager user is the person to ask. Learn more: Microsoft credentials

On the Wallboard side, the synced folder's Teams decide who sees the files. Files that the sync creates get the Teams of the synced folder. Users who can open the folder can use its files without having anything shared with them in the cloud.

Removal sync

Two switches decide whether Wallboard removes what it can no longer find in the cloud:

• Sync file removal — files that are gone from the cloud folder are removed from the synced folder.
• Sync folder removal — subfolders that are gone are removed, with their content. When it is off, such a subfolder stays in Wallboard but is no longer synced.

"Gone" means anything the sync cannot see any more, not only a deletion:

• the item was deleted or moved away in the cloud,
• its file type was deselected in the sync settings,
• its subfolder was excluded in Edit structure,
• on Microsoft, it is no longer on the credential's access list.

Files you add yourself

With Sync file removal on, the synced folder holds only what is in the cloud. A file you upload into it directly in Wallboard is removed at the next sync. Keep your own files in a regular folder.

If the cloud service returns an error while a folder is being read, removal is skipped for that folder in that run, so a temporary outage does not empty it.

Turn both switches off if Wallboard's copies should stay whatever happens in the cloud.

Timing and the folder menu

Wallboard checks connected folders periodically, so changes made in the cloud are never instant.

The synced folder's menu offers:

• Edit synchronisation settings — change the tracking mode, file types and removal switches.
• Edit structure — choose which subfolders are synced. Not available while the cloud credential is broken.
• Toggle synchronisation — turn automatic syncing off or back on.
• Force synchronisation — start a sync straight away.
• Detach credential — stop syncing for good. The folder and its files stay as a regular Files folder.

If the credential stops working (for example the cloud password changed or access was revoked), or the connected root folder is deleted or moved in the cloud, syncing stops until the credential is signed in again or the folder is reconnected.

Something not working? See My synced folder does not sync.