Share a QuickBooks file safely, easily with File Locking

The Desktop App supports QuickBooks sharing on PCs and Macs

QuickBooks file sharing is safe and easy with My Docs Online and the Desktop App. Share any QuickBooks file with colleagues, your accountant, or even yourself when you’re on a different computer. Our file locking technology allows you to open and update QuickBooks directly from your My Docs Online account while keeping the file locked so that no one else can make changes while you’re using the file.

What is a file lock and why is it important when updating QuickBooks? In simple terms a file lock is used to prevent two people from opening and updating the same QuickBooks file at the same time. If that were to happen one person’s updates would wipe out the other’s. That’s a bad situation for any file type but especially bad for something as important as QuickBooks.

The Desktop App File Locking feature supports all PC and Mac desktop versions of QuickBooks.

To use the Desktop App for File Locking for QuickBooks sharing follow the following steps:

  • Select the QuickBooks file you have previously uploaded to My Docs Online and click “Lock & Open”
  • The file will be locked on the MDO servers, downloaded to your PC or Mac, and opened for editing in QuickBooks
  • After you complete your editing Save and Close the QuickBooks file (or close QuickBooks)
  • In the Desktop App Click “Save & Unlock” for the file. Your changes will be uploaded to the MDO servers and the file will be unlocked. The date and time for the file will be updated

If you change your mind and need to discard your changes right-click the file and select “Unlock without Saving”.

The Desktop App can handle any type of file

The My Docs Online Desktop App can “Lock & Open” ANY kind of file, including the examples shown in the box on the left. All versions of Windows and Mac OS X are supported, and you use the regular program for that file type on your computer, giving you a familiar, fast and powerful way to edit and update a shared file. When you are done editing the file or document you simply “Save & Unlock” so your colleagues can access it.

What about security?

Access to an account via the Desktop App is secured using a Login ID and password, and SSL encryption is automatic.

How do I get started?

If you don’t have a My Docs Online account, Try it today for FREE and discover why our customers have relied on us since 1999.

Using your existing account or your trial account, get the Desktop App and upload your QuickBooks file.

Start your FREE 15-day trial TODAY.

Learn More about My Docs Online.

What We Recommend When Asked About Sharepoint Migration Tools

Although Microsoft Sharepoint is different from My Docs Online in scope and application (it’s usually used in company intranets) it often comes up in customer conversations. Or more often in conversations with people who call/chat/email to ask about Sharepoint because we often come up in searches related to Microsoft products and technologies like Sharepoint, which like My Docs Online includes Web Folders support.

If you are looking for a Sharepoint migration tool you should take a look at Sharegate, which just had its second anniversary.

Have you tried our Live Chat support system yet?

If you’re a My Docs Online customer you know how important customer service is to us.  We’ve got real people answering the phones in our Florida based offices.  We have real people, not auto-responders who reply to your email messages.   But what many of you may not know is that we’ve now got those same people answering live chat requests that can be launched from our website.  We’ve added live chat  to many of our web pages to make it as easy as possible for you to get your questions answered. It’s the latest addition to our business communication options.

Any time you see the “Click for Live Help” button it means we’ve got trained staff standing by to answer your chat questions.

Why is live chat a great way to reach out to us?  Sometimes you just have a quick question, or need a link to an instructional page, or have a question about account configuration, or file permissions.  Whenever you want to reach us with a question, comment or suggestion and you see that blue box just click it and launch the chat.  We look forward to chatting with you.

 

Go Ahead and Disable Browser Java Applets — You Can Still Use the Java-based Desktop App

There’s been a lot of news of late regarding Java Applet vulnerabilities. The usual scenario is a link in a phishing email leads the unsuspecting victim to a hacker website that uses unpatched security flaws in Java Applet plugins to compromise the user’s PC. Some commentators are advising you disable Java Applet Plugins in whatever browser you use.

If you choose to disable Java Applets in your web browser will it cause the Java-based My Docs Online Desktop App to stop working?

The short answer is: No, it will not. You can disable Java applets and still use the Desktop App.

Java applets are browser plugins or extensions that run inside your browser (Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox, Safari…).

The Desktop App is a Java application and does not run inside the browser. We also authenticate the application with a secure digital signature.

If you turn off Java applets in your browser for security reasons it will have no effect on your ability to run the Desktop App.

Optional Move/Copy/Delete Notification Added to Desktop App, New Web Interface

Administrators have always been able to set email notification rules for file and folder Uploads, and now those same rules can be extended to generate notifications for file Move and Copy, and also for Delete.

File Move notification, and in the case of the Desktop App File Move and File Copy notification, is currently be set by our support staff at your request. The same notification rules in place for Upload Notification control who gets notified.

Optional Delete notification can also be turned on, again using the same Upload Notification rules already in place.

This new feature is available for the Desktop App and also for the newest Web Interface.

The feature is not available for Personal Edition accounts.

If you want one or both of these notification options turned on for your account email [email protected] and mention your ID, and whether you want Move/Copy Notification, Delete Notification, or both.

Windows Automatic Update is Causing Problems for a few users with the Desktop App

If you’ve recently had an automatic update to your Windows operating system and the Desktop App is no longer working the problem is most likely related your Java cache, which needs to be cleared.  The problem can be resolved in about 2 minutes by following these instructions from our FAQ.

If you have any problems with the instructions please let us know and we can walk you through the fix.   There are a variety of ways to reach us – all available here.

Allowing people to upload files into your account – without the need to invite them to become a My Docs user

The following question came in through our online support chat earlier this week:

Question – “I am wondering if your system has the capability to create a general link that can be supplied to any individual so that they are able to upload files to a my account.”

 MDO Support Answer – ” Yes, it’s called customer upload”

Question – “So, I don’t have to invite specific people like the DropBox system?”

MDO Support Answer – No.

The My Docs Online “Customer Upload” link can be posted on your website or emailed directly to your customer allowing them to securely and easily upload files into your account without the need for a login ID or password.  They have no access to your account other than this ability to upload files.

If your business has the need for customers to upload large files directly into  your account and don’t want to provide them with an additional login ID and password check out customer upload.

You can learn more, including where to find your account specific customer upload link, by checking out the video below.

Our First Award Was Printed in a Magazine, Our Latest is a Link

Best Web ToolWe’ve been in business since 1999, and garnered our first award in 2000, PC World’s “Best of the Web”  in the Online Storage category. In those days that meant being written up in an actual printed-on-paper magazine. They also sent us a nice plaque that still hangs on a wall in our offices to remind us of our history.

Now  WebHostingSearch.com  has informed us we’ve been named a “Best Web Tool” in the  File Sharing category. The Web having matured somewhat in the past dozen years it takes the form of an image file and a link.

Looking for a Replacement for Apple’s Disappearing iDisk?

A new user recently emailed us to point out that My Docs Online, using WebDAV and the Desktop App, is working nicely as an alternative to MobileMe and iDisk, which will no longer be available after June.

Here’s what he said to us:

I just signed up for your service after evaluating many others over the last few days.  Your interface seems closest to what I had with the iDisk under Apple’s Mobile Me.  I upgraded to Lion and also had to find something before June 30 when the iDisk goes away.  

I use the OverTheAir app for my iPhone and iPad2 to get to your site, I use the “go to server” (WebDAV) method on my OS 10.6 Mac computer and the desktop app on my Lion (10.7) Mac.

– Bud Cothern

Apple’s iCloud is very different from iDisk. iDisk is (soon to be was) a remote server that is organized like a typical drive, with a folder tree, and accessible via standard, open methods like WebDAV. iCloud is closed, and accessible only via apps using the interface provided by the operating system. It’s another outgrowth of iOS, where the location of files is generally hidden, and files are accessible from the apps that handle them. Mountain Lion for the Mac will work much the same when it is released later this year.

That means there’s no way to use the iCloud storage outside the services and apps that make use of it,  such as iPhoto, iTunes Match, iWork, and AppStore apps that makes use of the iCloud Storage APIs.

Those who prefer their cloud storage to more open, flexible, and accessible from non-Apple products will need to look elsewhere, and as this user found, My Docs Online can do the job.
If you’d like to try it for yourself you can sign up for a no-obligation, no-credit card needed trial here.