How to set up automatic actions with Dropbox Automator

Dropbox is a free online data storage service. With Dropbox, you just need to drop a file into its directory and it will be automatically synced on the cloud. After that, you can access this file with all your other devices.

Not only that, there are many other things you can do with Dropbox. File conversion, multiple cloud storage, photo editing or even data encryption can be easily applied with a single drop, with help from Wappwolf Dropbox Automator, a free web application charge. It works by monitoring a specific folder in Dropbox and can be installed to activate priority actions for new files that you drop into the folder.

Link refer to Wappwolf Dropbox Automator: http://wappwolf.com/dropboxautomator

Dropbox Automator features

Dropbox Automator provides easy automation of files in selected folders and this process is as simple as this:

1. Select the directory you want to automate.
2. Set the actions you want to apply to the files stored in this folder.
3. Dropbox Automator activates pre-set actions when it finds supported files in the selected folder.

There are many "actions" available that you can use, including converting files to PDF format without manually converting them. Other actions you can take with Dropbox Automator include:

When you set up an action for your folder, Dropbox Automator will start reviewing that folder. Whenever you save a file to this folder, it will automatically create a new folder called ' Processed ' within the folder you selected - Dropbox> YourFolder> Processed .

All files you store inside YourFolder will be moved to the Processed folder, where all original files are stored. Next, the tutorial will show you how to set up actions to convert documents to PDF.

How to set up automation actions in Dropbox

1. To start automating actions whenever you move files to Dropbox, go to the Wappwolf Dropbox Automator page and click the Try now button.

2. You will have the option to connect to your Dropbox account, select Connect Dropbox or you can also register with your email. Select option 2 to only allow one folder to access Dropbox-Automator .

3. After you have chosen to connect to Dropbox, you need to allow Wappwolf access to your account. Click Allow .

4. Select the folder in Dropbox you want to set up automation. Select any folder or click to create ' New Folder ', then click Next .

5. You will have the option to set up automation actions. If you want to automate the document, select from the ' Document ' section. You can choose to convert documents to PDF, automatically upload to Google Drive cloud memory, send to Kindle and more (see picture below).

6. When you choose any action, you will see details about the action. Read on to understand how the automation process works and find the supported file types, then click Add Action to continue.

7. When you select an action, scroll to the bottom and click Add Action again.

8. That's all you need to do and now you will be redirected to the status page. Each time you transfer supported files to the selected folder, the conversion status will appear on this page. You can also stop automating, deleting and creating a new one from here.

Automation management in Dropbox

After you have set up an automatic action, to automate this operation, just move your file to the folder you have selected. For example, if your directory name is ' Automator ', in Dropbox, it will be Dropbox> Automator . Just move your files into Automator folder .

The original files will be moved to the processed directory, while the converted files will be in the parent directory.

Now open the Wappwolf page and you will see the number of files processed (marked with green).

This service added to Dropbox works very simply, but it is a great help tool to help automate many of the actions you want to perform for your files. This will be really helpful when you need to make bulk changes. Since these actions have been set up automatically, you can save a lot of time to do a lot of other things.

See more:

1. Synchronize the folder on your computer with Google Drive, Skydrive and Dropbox
2. How to synchronize specific folders and share folders in Dropbox
3. Run multiple Dropbox Instance in Windows 7