[Janja]

I have had an iPad with Omnifocus for about four months, and have loved it. Two weeks ago I got an iMac and am now trying out the desktop version of Omnifocus. I am trying to sync with the Omni Sync Server. Of course I start with the iPad because that has all my data in it. There is no data yet in my desktop version.

I have followed the instructions and I believe that the data in my iPad Omnifocus has been sent to the Omni Sync Server. Now I press the Sync button on the desktop OF and this message comes up:

Replace your database and start syncing?
Your current database will be backed up on your computer, and replaced by the sync database:
https://etc.

This scares me, as I don't understand it. Which database will be replaced? Which is the current database and which is the sync database? If the current database is the empty database on the desktop OF, and the sync database is the info that has been sent out to the Omni Sync Server, then I think I'm fine. But I would hate to lose all the data in my iPad OF!

Should i just go ahead and sync and hope it works as I want it to? (I want the iPad database to replace the desktop database.)

[derekr]

This means the database on your iMac will be replaced with the database from our Sync Server. It does sound like this is exactly what you want to do. We'll still make a backup of the database on your iMac, though, so you'll have one more layer of protection.

[whpalmer4]

Your current database is the one you are looking at in that application. The sync database is the one that is stored on the sync server by the last application to do a sync. You want to replace your current database with the one on the sync server. If you want to be suspenders-and-a-belt safe, you can do these things:

1) plug your iPad into iTunes and do a sync, which should back it up.
2) while you are there in iTunes, select the iPad in the list on the left, go to the Apps section of the iPad, scroll down to the bottom, select OmniFocus, and save the OmniFocus.ofocus file to your computer as a backup which you can easily access.
3) log in to the Omni Sync Server page at https://sync.omnigroup.com/<your user name> and click on the button that allows you to download a backup of your data
4) switch off your iPad and leave it off until you've verified that the Mac is now using the iPad data

[Janja]

Thank you, derekr and whpalmer.

On step 4, whpalmer, do you mean I should switch off the iPad AFTER I have downloaded the data or before?

[Janja]

Yay, I went ahead and did it, and it worked! Thanks, guys.

[whpalmer4]

I could have been more explicit about that — switch off the iPad before syncing the Mac, so that if something goes wrong, there's no possibility of the iPad syncing and collecting the wrong data (I'm confident that the next time you sync it would also complain that the databases didn't match and ask you which to use, but if it is off and not syncing, there's no chance of you making the wrong choice there!)