Support
What Is BlueLink?
BlueLink is a utility that will add a Contextual Menu to the Finder to create local links to files in your cloud storage services.
If you’re tired of co-workers sharing links to cloud files that require you to view & open them in a web browser, and would prefer to work with the file you already have synced on our local computer, using BlueLink will be a welcome change.
Creating & Sharing Links
BlueLink will add a right-click contextual menu item when you’re viewing a file in your Finder that is stored in a cloud service. When selecting Create Local Link, a human readable URL link will be copied to your computer’s clipboard, so you can easily paste it to share with others. The URL will typically look like: bluelink://Dropbox/Engineering/Specifications/CompanySpecs.pdf.
Clicking on Links
Clicking on a BlueLink link will automatically resolve the files location to your local computer’s cloud storage service, and select the file in your Finder. Depending on the application, the first time you click the link in that application it may ask you to follow the link. Always select Yes, or it won’t work going forward.
First Time Setup
BlueLink requires a special Finder Extension to be given access to add the right-click contextual menu. If not prompted automatically, you’ll need to go to System Preferences – Extensions – Finder Extensions, and ensure that the BlueLink Extension is enabled.
Cloud Storage Services Setup
BlueLink works with the majority of the Cloud Storage Services on the market. Each one will need to be configured individually to add the right-click contextual menu, and to be able to click on links to select files.
- Open Preferences in BlueLink from the Menu App icon
- Enable the checkbox for the desired cloud storage service
- Select the base folder location for the specified cloud storage service. This is usually in your user home directory. For example, Dropbox will typically install at /Users/<user home directory>/Dropbox.
Troubleshooting
These are some of the commons problems encountered:
| Problem | Steps to Try |
|---|---|
| Right-click contextual menu isn’t showing | – Make sure you are in a folder that is managed by a cloud storage service. For example, /Users/<user home directory>/Dropbox. – The specific cloud storage service is not enabled in BlueLink. Go to Preferences and enable if not turned on. – The BlueLink Finder Extension needs to be given permission to the Finder. Go to System Preferences – Extensions – Finder Extensions, and disable then re-enable the BlueLink Extension. – The BlueLink Finder Extension may have died. Quit BlueLink from the Menu and restart it. |
| Clicking on a URL doesn’t do anything | – Make sure the Url scheme you are clicking on is bluelink://. – The cloud storage service needs to be the first file/folder name in the link. – The cloud storage service has to be enabled via Preferences. – Strange characters in a folder or filename aren’t always valid for a Url link. Try removing non-standard characters from the folder or filename and create the link again. |
| It says the File can’t be found, but I know it’s there | Some cloud storage services, specifically Box, only cache some of the contents of subscribed folders. Try manually navigating to the desired location in the Finder first to cache the contents. Subsequent links should then work. |