Getting Started

The PliantSDX app is freely available in the Google Play store.


The sign in screen is where you can sign into your Pliant CloudAccount. You will need a valid account with sdx.pliantcloud.com.  Log in with the supplied credentials.



Main Menu and Options

The first screen you see after logging in is the Menu. From this screen you can choose which functions you would like to invoke. This is the main menu screen you navigate back to from your menu choices.


  • Logout:logout back to main screen

  • Advanced Menu: turn Advanced mode on/off. Exposes advanced features of the Menu

  • HTTP Sharing: turns App in to a HTTP file server so files can beuploaded locally

  • FTP Sharing: turns app into an FTP File Server so FTP ciients canconnect and upload files 

  • Diagnostics: Turn on Diagnostics for the App and generate an email to support

  • FileBox: Takes the user to their unique filebox Folder 

  • Help: takes the user to the PliantCloud support site

  • About: gives version and build number



Settings


The server address is predefined as https://sdx.pliantcloud.com.


Use SSL is used by default to encrypt connections from the App. This can slightly slow down performance and upload / download speeds butprovides encrypted data traffic using https.

**Note: however that some versions of Android have a known bug that prevents SSL from being used and could result in an error on certain Android operating systems.


The PIN Lock can be turned on from the settings. It enables you tosecure the App and will prompt you for a PIN on startup or if the Appis backgrounded and then brought back to the Main view.


Images Auto Upload can be set to automatically upload new images from the desired local camera folder to the cloud folder of your choice.



Turning Android device into a webserver to add files


Once you click on the HTTP Sharing button from the Main Menu options you will be taken to a screen where you can start the http / webserver. Clicking Start Server will give you an address that you can visit to upload files.
The HTTP Sharing service, when running,will appear in the Android notifications taskbar. When it is stopped this is removed.
Files can be added to any directory (not just Pliant Cloud directory)

**Note that you must be on the same WiFi network as the machine that tries to use the web address from a browser


**Note that on clicking Start Server forthe first time, you may need to click it again as the first click completes an initialization.


**Note that you should turn this off from a security perspective when you are not using it.




Turning Android device into an FTP Server to add files


Once you have clicked to access the FTP sharing from the Main Menu, Menu Options you will first need to assign a username and password. Once this is done you can choose to start the FTP Server and you will be given a FTP address to access from your FTP client.

The FTP Sharing service, when running, will appear in the Android notifications taskbar. When it is stopped this is removed.
**Note that you must be on the same WiFi network as the machine that tries to use the web address from a browser.


**Note that you should turn this off from a security perspective when you are not using it.



Files on Clouds

This is where your cloud files are accessed within the application. To navigate within directories simply tap on the folder name to open. Use the back button to navigate up one folder level. 



When you are within any folder you will see the following menuoptions"

  • NewFolder: Create a new folder in the current directory

  • UploadPicture: Upload a Picture in the current directory

  • UploadFile: Upload any file in the current directory

  • Search:Search for files

You can upload a file or picture to your cloud from the Cloud Filesdirectory by clicking the Menu function and choosing the Uploadfile option.

Uploads are added to the Android taskbar.You can upload multiple files.

If you click on the uploadentry in the taskbar you are then taken to an upload screen where youcan choose to cancel it or remove failed downloads.


Searching for files

You can search for your files easily by clicking the search option on the Main Menu. If you have more than one cloud mapped to Pliant Cloud then the search will be done on the criteria you select against all clouds. For example if you have SkyDrive, Amazon S3, and Google Drive mapped to your Cloud and you search for '.doc files' then the search will be done against all Cloud Providers and the results returned.



Adding Folders to sync



The Pliant Cloud Android Sync enables you to sync from a localdirectory to your cloud or from a cloud directory to your phone.

Toadd a directory from your cloud to the phone:
1. Click "Fileson clouds:
2. Click on the directory you wish to add to be sync'dto your phone.


To add a directory from your phone to be kept in sync within the rootdirectory of your default cloud storage provider (if you have morethan one cloud in your account, you can see which is root from theCloud Providers screen, it will have a star against it)

1.Navigate to My Syncs
2. Click Add Folder this will take you intoAndroid Directory Structure
3. Navigate into the folder you wishto add and choose "Add to Sync" from the menu

Whenyou are ready to sync:


1. Navigate to My Syncs
2. Click on the directory you wish tosync from My Syncs
3. Click Sync now
4. Repeat for eachdirectory you added, whether it is added from the phone or the cloud.


Each Time you wish to refresh your Cloud Files view, all you need to do is to go to 'My Syncs', select any directory you wish to refresh and choose to sync from the menu. Any updated or new files will be sync'd up to your Cloud of choice or down to the phone. You can also see the date and time of the last sync on the folder from within the 'My Syncs' view.

If you wish to have all your sync folders update on login, you can choose the 'Sync All on Startup" from the "My Syncs" menu. This will initiate a background sync when you login. If you look in the top right hand of your screen after activating this option and logging in you will see a refresh icon to show you the sync is in progress. You can also go back to the My Syncs view at any time a background sync is running and check the last sync time on folders to check on progress.


If you wish to enable auto sync, you can choose “Auto Sync” from the “My Syncs” menu. You will then be able to choose how often Pliant Cloud Storage will sync files/folders you have on your device with the Cloud and vice versa. The choices are:

  • Never (choose this when you wish to cancel the existing sync)

  • On Application Start (each time the Application starts up)

  • Every two hours

  • Twice a day

  • Once a day

Once the sync is enabled you will see a notification in the Android taskbar letting you know when the next sync will occur.

You can also choose just to highlight the folder you wish to sync and choose to sync manually.

**Note - Auto Sync could provide to be expensive if you have a paid data plan so be sure to control it when you are using your cellular network.




Cloud Notes

You can create notes directly in the Pliant Cloud Android App and choose which cloud they are stored on by setting the Primary Cloud Provider from the Cloud Providers Menu. By default, notes are stored in a smart folder called "My memos".

There is no formatting, these are simply text files. The advantage of creating them in Pliant Cloud is that can be sync'd back to your underlying cloud.  You can also assign categories to notes which become folders on your actual storage cloud.

To sync notes up/down you just need to click the sync button available from the menu options.

There are various menu options that you have when you click on anote:

  • Open: Opens the note to edit (or just double tap the note)

  • Delete: Deletes the note

  • Rename: Renames the note

  • Send: Enables you to share the note using Android sharing options. If youchoose the email the note will be attached.

  • New Note: Start a new note

  • New Category: Creates a new Cloud Folder



Advanced menu

The advanced menu enables additional features in the main Pliant SDXview.  These additional features include:

  • Favorites:Files and folders can be added to your favorites for quick access

  • CollaborationGroups: View and manage shared folders for your organization

  • CloudTasks: View completed and scheduled operations 




Collaboration Workspaces

You can create new business collaboration groups directly from the phone. Collaboration groups are groups you setup to share file content with all members. You only need to share a file with the Group and all members get an email letting them know the file name that you shared with the group and that it is available for them to view.  

You can press and hold on a business group to perform further actions. You can choose to rename or delete the group, or view its members.

From the Business Group members screen you can view existing business group members and add new members.


**Note, You can control whether members can be collaborators from the Groups Menu with the Pliant Cloud Cloud File Manager.




Cloud Tasks


Cloud tasks represent tasks that you have either setup or that have completed on Pliant Cloud. These invariably represent one of five things:

1. Sync'ing Pliant Cloud meta-information with your Cloud(s)
2. Backing up email
3. Emptying Trash
4. Moving or Copying files
5. Uploading files directly from a URL

From here you can check the status if they are scheduled, or you can choose to rerun tasks that have occurred previously but are completed. For example, if you have previously sync'd your Amazon S3 File information with Pliant Cloud but want to redo the sync as you have entered files using another Amazon client you could do it from here. The same goes for any task.

Note that you can rename the sync title that you see from the 'Cloud Sync Tasks' menu option which can access from the sidebar when logged into the PliantSDX website.