External Folders
Use Cases for External Folders
The “External Folders” section allows you to edit text files which do not reside within Ulysses for several possible reasons. The following (incomplete) list should give you an impression how versatile this section can be used:
Synchronize your work with Dropbox or other cloud storage providers
Create beautiful presentations with Deckset
Store your files inside a Git repository
Generate additional backups of your texts
Share your work with other users
Markdown vs Ulysses files
When working in external folders, Ulysses lets you choose between two file formats – Markdown and our own file format. By default, Markdown is selected to ensure the highest-possible cross-app compatibility. However, if you store your sheets as Markdown files there are a few constraints you should know about:
- Local images cannot be embedded. You can, of course, always use external image URLs to link to images on the web. This way they are included in the export.
- Attachments are not available. That means no attached notes, images or sheet-specific goals. On Mac, keywords are attached as file system tags, but they cannot be synced to iOS.
- Markdown XL tags (Comments, Annotations, Delete) are not part of the original Markdown syntax specification and therefore not available.
These restrictions are gone when you decide to opt for Ulysses’ own file format: All you have to do is disable “Read and Write Markdown files” in the folder settings and the app will start using Ulysses files for any newly created sheets. Existing Markdown files will not be converted automatically and will not show up in the external folder anymore.