The original post: /r/datahoarder by /u/randdude220 on 2024-12-25 18:03:58.
tl;dr:
Looking for a system to tag files in such a way that the information is accessible from all devices. Eg. photos of a specific family member will be tagged #person_name_surname then I can find all photos, videos and documents of this person regardless of the folder they are located in or what device OS I use. Maybe some program that adds "tag this file" to right click context menu and then adds the tag(s) to file metadata somehow?
Details:
I have multiple TB of data currently in Google Drive. I am thinking about migrating to Dropbox for various reasons. You hardcore veteran datahoarders will probably disapprove of this decision but my #1 priority of cloud storage is speed of usage and convenience. I want the experience of regular uploading to be as frictionless as possible in Mac, Windows and IOS because I do it daily and if it's even a minor hassle I'm going to start procrastinating on it unfortunately. I basically use it to catalog my everyday life photos and videos like a diary of some sorts. Needless to say I will incorporate some kind of automatic offline backup systems too.
Anyway I have my files very meticulously organized into folders but there are many files that I want to group additionally so some kind of labeling/tagging system that is independent from folders seems to be the way to go but I'm not sure how to approach this. Should I find some kind of application that adds some metatags to files or...?
An example process: I want to tag some files in my Mac folder that is synced to Dropbox. Now I would like to see these tags also in the offline backup storage that automatically one-way syncs from Dropbox to my home backup server HDD (and of course preferably to other locations in the future) while using Windows PC, so OSX's own tagging system is out of the question. I don't want to use Dropbox's own tagging system either in case I want to stop using it someday.
Is that kind of thing even possible?
Some additional info to maybe help find a solution:
- I will do most of the tagging only from Mac and Windows so mobile device support is only optional.
- Only files will be tagged not folders.
- All types of files must be taggable, not only photos and videos.
- Bulk tagging should be possible to shorten the time spent on this whole process.
- Finding files by multiple tag names should be possible (eg. #person_name & #location_home).
- Tag information must not get lost in any process of file transferring.
I would be greatly appreciated by any info or tip! Thanks in advance!!