In any good iPad reader app, it won’t take long before you library becomes quite large. GoodReader not only reads a number of different file types – PDF, MS Office, iWork, text, etc. – but it also offers impressive note-taking functions. All this practically insures you’ll soon have a large collection of documents in your GoodReader library. Fortunately, GoodReader also provides a document management capability that not only helps you organize your library, but also makes it easy to move documents back and forth between your tablet and other locations. Here’s a look at some of that functionality.
The My Documents screen is the hub for finding, uploading, managing and synching documents from your desktop and any number of online sources.
In this example, you see the list of GoodReader documents currently on my iPad in the left pane. On the right are several accordion-style buttons which, when tapped, display the functions pane for each button. Here the Manage Files pane is displayed. Before you can perform a function, you must select the document(s) on the left that will be affected. I tapped the SCGS2011 2.pdf document which highlighted the selection dot on the left. Now I can:
- move or copy the selected files within the GoodReader file system on this iPad
- create a zip file of the selected files
- use the star toggle button to star/unstar selected files or folders
- use the protect toggle button to add/remove password protection for the selected files or folders
- mark files/folders as read or unread
- send the selected files as email attachments
- rename a single selected file or folder
- use the Link button to create a special URL to a single selected file which can be used by other apps on your iPad that are capable of opening URL links
- extract files embedded in a PDF Portfolio so GoodReader can read them
- open the selected file in another iPad app that supports Document Interchange
- create a task in the Appigo Todo app (purchased separately)
- create a new folder
- create an empty TXT file which can be edited within GoodReader
- delete the selected files or folders.
Once you’ve finished any management operations, tap Done.
You can download files directly from the Web. Once you open the Web Downloads pane, you are presented with two options: Browse the Web and Enter URL. If you know the complete address to the file you want to download, use the Enter URL option. Otherwise, use the Browse option. In this example, I know I can get a PDF copy of the Notebooks Handbook from the app’s site, but I’m not sure of the document’s address so I chose the Browse the Web option and went to the site.
As soon as the page containing links to the handbook loads, GoodReader pops up a message asking if I want to follow the link to the document or Download the Linked File. I chose download and in seconds I’m reading the handbook.
GoodReader also provides access to a growing number of cloud services like Dropbox, Google Docs and SugarSync through the Connect to Servers pane. You can even use this to open email attachments.
Before you can use this capability, you will need an account with one of the cloud services and then set up a GoodReader record for the account. This is done by tapping the Add button displayed at the right side of the Connect to Servers header. The popup you see here is used to select the service to configure. Then, depending on the service chosen, you’ll enter the necessary connection information for that service. You only need to do this once. GoodReader will remember the information. You can edit your service records at any time should something – like you password – change.
Now, when you open the Connect to Servers pane, you will see the services you’ve configured. Tap on a service to display the file browsing pane you see here. Once I select a file by tapping it, a Download button appears at the bottom of the browsing pane to I can download it into GoodReader.
By combining GoodReader with a cloud storage service, family historians can use their iPad to maintain a library of research-related documents that gives them almost instant access to research notes, working documents and reference material at any time.