Sharing between User Accounts

I'm new to Macs and need some help.
I have 2 user accounts on my mac and want to share picture and music files between the accounts. Both can be read & write. All my music is in the iTunes music folder. Even when I share that folder I can't get to the files on the other account. Each artist has their own folder within the iTunes music folder and they all have the minus symbol beside them when viewing from the 2nd account. How do I share these files between user accounts?
Also, where do I save my pictures so that they can be seen on both accounts?
I started to share all the folders with in iTunes but that was taking forever so I quit the process and now my public folders are not showing as shared in the preferences. How do I get my sharing preferences back to the default settings?

I now have my mac set up just the way i want. thanks for the input you all gave! How I did it:
in the file sharing system prefs i deleted the "ghost" folders that were showing. I call them ghost folders because they were grayed out and not clickable. They were pointing to a folder that I had removed from my system because I deleted my user account so that i could start over from scratch to set things up right from the beginning. This still left these folders in the sharing menu so I just had to delete them one at a time until they were all gone making everything look clean again.
I learned that sharing files between user accounts on the same computer (and even the guest account) can only be done with files that are in the public folder. Adding my iTunes Music folder to the sharing list did not share my mp3 across users on the same computer. I just had to move the iTunes Music folder (not the iTunes folder) to the public folder so the other account could access it. Then I followed the directions in the link provided in this thread about sharing in iTunes. Now I don't have to have my wife's Maria Carry in my library! And she does not have to have my songs in her library!
For photos I placed the files in the public folder and just imported them into the iPhoto library for each account.
On a side note, having our own accounts allows us to set up the computer they way we want, but allows us to have access to the same files. I'll be adding a 500gb hard drive to it soon for time machine and can't wait to have that set up. My only question now is when can i add time capsule? Can I add it as a 2nd wireless network in addition to my linksys wrt54g2 that is connected to the cable modem (i need the linksys connected to the internet for xbox live and ps3's network), i know i would then connect the external HDD to it for more storage, therefore I guess I would move all mp3's and picture files onto it freeing space on the computer and just direct both user accounts to the files on the HDD connected to time capsule.

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Sharing between user accounts on same computer

Hi Folks,
I've just tried this and it didn't work, However the default setting for this scenario is usualy that I've got it wrong.... So.
Can you share an iTunes account between two different user accounts on the same computer?
The reason for the question is that my Wife and I both share the same iMac. At present we just use the admin automatic login and share everything. Neither of us have Mac eMail so my eMail is pushed to "Mail" application, and I use this and "Address Book" to sync my iPod touch. The calendar is shared anyway. My wife access her eMail through Safari.
However my Wife is about to get an iPhone. (I'm not jelous...much) This means that we will need a way for her to sync the shared iTunes content but to have her own Mail, Notes and Address book.
The easy way seemed to be to set up a user log in account for her, to give independant Mail etc. and have it share the iTunes account. But this did not seem to work, so have I got it wrong? Or is there another way to achieve the same end?
Many thanks,
David.

Put them in /Users/Shared.
-mj

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Hello-
My wife and I share the desktop. A few years ago, I created 2 user accounts to log in to the desktop. Apparently iTunes does not share the library between the accounts and thus we created 2 different libraries with purchased music from 2 iTunes accounts on the same desktop.
Is there anyway to merge the files or to share the library so that she does not have to login to her side to access her purchased music? I'm sure it's probably a simple move of files to a common directory, but i'm not sure how to proceed.
Thanks

Sorry, I think that this official Apple Post ought to do it.
iTunes: How to share music between different user accounts on a single computer
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1203
Chris CA is an expert, so if you don't understand Chris's expert advice and/or you don't understand the official post here, then simply take a break, relax, and come back and try again.
Best Regards,
~mm

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Sharing libraries between user accounts question

After many years of having one user account on our iMac, I have decided to segregate user accounts for me and my wife. I'm doing this because I have an iPhone and she is going to get one soon. When we sync our respective iPhones, we want to keep iCal and and Address book information unique to each user account. What I'm trying to figure out is how to share iPhoto and iTunes content between user accounts. I know there is a share preference that will allow the master libraries in these applications to be shared, but the photo albums and playlists created on the original user account are not "shared". Would it be possible to have playlists from iTunes and albums/events from iPhoto to be shared between user accounts? This would enable my wife to sync all her iPhone data from her user account. Thanks in advance.

I have an idea that uses a different approach. I haven't done this for this purpose, so if you decide to try, please do it one step at a time so you can undo it. I'll explain it for iTunes.
Instead of using the Sharing preference in iTunes, put the iTunes Music folder in a location that can be accessed from both accounts. You might use an external drive, or the <hard drive>/Users/Shared folder.
iTunes should NOT be running. Go to /Users/<username>/Music/iTunes folder. In that folder is the iTunes Music folder. Copy this folder to a location on the external drive or to the Shared user folder. Rename the original iTunes Music folder another name, such as iTunes Music Old. Make an alias of the new iTunes Music folder (in the shared location) and put it in the user's iTunes folder (where iTunes Music Old now resides). Rename it "iTunes Music" if necessary (you are making the alias take the place of the actual iTunes Music folder). * It is very important that the name be exact.
Start iTunes. All of your music and other media should be accessible as if the iTunes Music folder is where it used to be. To prove to yourself that the files are being accessed from the new shared location, do a Get Info on a couple of songs in iTunes. "Where" should show the file to be in the new location. To prove to yourself that you can add new content to the new location, download a free song from the iTunes Store (or a Podcast) or rip a CD. Then do a Get Info on the new item.
Up to here, I'm confident it will work, because I have done it. The rest is "theory"...
Copy the old user's /Users/<username>/Music/iTunes folder (except the now duplicated iTunes Music Old folder) to the shared location. You are only doing this step so that it will be available when you log in as the new user (your wife's account), which is the next step.
Log out and log in to the new account.
Copy everything in the old user's iTunes folder (that you just put in the shared location) to the new user user's /Users/<username>/Music/iTunes folder. Replace any duplicated items. You want the new user's iTunes folder to look exactly like the old user's iTunes folder (except for iTunes Music Old). Hopefully, that iTunes Music alias will connect to the actual iTunes Music folder at the shared location. Try it. Run iTunes as the new user. Hopefully, everything looks like the old user's iTunes. Do the tests like before to prove it.
At this point, the two iTunes "looks" will start to diverge. But at least the starting point will be the same.
If something does not work as expected, log in to the old user's account. With iTunes NOT running, go to /Users/<username>/Music/iTunes folder. Delete the iTunes Music alias. Rename the iTunes Music Old folder back to iTunes Music. Everything should be back to the way it was.
If it works to your satisfaction, you can eventually delete that iTunes Music Old folder.
I don't use iPhoto, but if iTunes works, you can do the equivalent steps for iPhoto.

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Since upgrading my iTunes library to Version 11 I can no longer share the library between user accounts on the same Mac.
The 2nd user is asked to create oir use an iTunes library, but when it is pointed to the Media folder it cannot share it.
Previously in iTunes 10 it all worked fine.
How can this be done please?
The library is in a shared areas that we both have Read/Write permissions to.

jc_hering wrote:
that works for anything he purchases after he creates the new account. What about his current music that currently resides in my itunes library? How can I get his current music out of my library into his new account/library?? Thanks..
Copy it to his computer into his iTunes library and authorize his computer with the iTunes account used to purchase them..
You cannot tranfser items from one iTunes account to another. Purchased items remain part of the iTunes account is was purchased with.
iTunes account - used to purchase items
iTunes library - where purchases (and CD RIPs) go on the computer

I have one imac. my wife and i each have our own user accounts and itunes library. How do we share selected music between user accounts?

i have one imac. my wife and i each have our own user accounts and itunes library. How do we share selected music between user accounts?

To give other users read-only access to your library, use the Sharing features of iTunes. Sharing works over the local network as well as on the same computer. See the built-in help for details.
If you want to give full read/write access to more than one user, see the support article linked below.
iTunes: How to share music between different accounts on a single computer

HT2963 File sharing between users

What is the "Wheel" user?
Does this user need to have RW access to a file in order for that file to be shared between users on the same MAC?
I set the file permissions to RW for each user but they remained read only for all users except the user who created the file.
Then I change the "Wheel" permission to read write and then the file became write enabled for the other users.
In the same direction ... what is the point of having a drop box if you can only write files to it but it is not possible to read any files from it.

Finder > help menu. Enter file sharing!
"Sharing files with others who use your computer
You can share files with others who use your computer by placing the files in the Public folder in your home folder. Anyone with an account on your computer can read or copy the items you put in your Public folder (except for your Drop Box folder, which only you can open).
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Copy the files you want to share into your Public folder, inside your home folder.
To give a copy of a file directly to another person, copy it to their Drop Box folder (inside their Public folder), where only they can see it.
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iTunes: How to share music between different accounts on a single computer - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1203 - relocating iTunes' media folder to a shared area but leaving separate library files - extra tip at https://discussions.apple.com/message/17331189

Sharing Music between User Accounts

Hello,
I've been trying to share a single itunes music folder between two accounts on the same computer. I've read dozens of threads on this topic in these forums, and still can't seem to get this to work.
Right now, I'm going back to basics and simply trying to put the iTunes music folder in a Public folder, which can be accessible by both user accounts. I've followed the instructions documented in the following article:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93195
When I do this, I have a problem with permissions. If I move or copy the music folder on one user account to a public folder - when I switch over to the other user account, and access that public folder, some of the individual music folders within the itunes music folder are accessible, and then on others, I am denied permission. There does not seem to be anything unique about the folders that I don't have permissions on, compared to those that I do.
Any thoughts? Thanks.
ML
iMac G5, Mac Mini Intel Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Hi,
Thanks for the reply.
I did a copy paste of the iTunes Music folder into a new iTunes Music folder under Users/Shared. When I switch over to the other user account, I get the same results. Some folders are accessible and some folders I have no access. It's strange as about 25% of the music folders are No Access, and the others are readable.
Any further thoughts? Thanks,
ML

Sharing FCP projects between user accounts problem

Hello!
I'm working on a project with several other colleagues. Each of us has his own User account on the computer (dual G5 / 10.4.7) because we have different preferecnes regarding keyboard layouts, desktop colour etc. We would like to have our FCP project files accessible to each of us.
I have tried different approaches to solve this task, but haven't fully succeded yet (I tried creating the project file within the /Users/Shared foler; putting it into a dedicated /Users/FCPProjects folder and applying chmod/chown commands; creating a Editors group with NetInfo and assigning those foders to this group; I even tried to work around this using ACLs).
The problem is that when we click "Save All" command in FCP, we get three or four OK-only dialog boxes in a row saying "Access denied". The project file is in fact saved (I can see it by checking the Modified time in Finder), but FCP seems not to be aware of this and doesn't want to quit. It's an unpleasent situation because it allways makes us worry about losing our work.
Could someone please give us instructions on the correct procedures for resolving the issue.
Thank you
Best regards
Mato Ilijic

matoid,
ACLs should work for you, and it seems that they are. You shouldn't have to deal with the error dialogue either, so let's see if we can't get rid of it.
First, let's talk about groups. I have looked at your "step by step," and I notice that you didn't bother to change the group ownership of the "shared" folder that you created. Fine, ACLs still work, but the group ownership of "wheel" might be the cause of your error messages. ACLs are a more advanced system of access controls than the older POSIX system, but POSIX still exists, and might affect your work.
Let's assume that you have your standard users that will be using FCP placed properly into a common group. For this discussion, I'll call that group "fcpusers." Under the POSIX paradigm, any "shared" folder can be owned by any one of the users in this group, but it must have a group ownership of "fcpusers" in order to work properly for everyone. When it does, every new file or folder created in it will "inherit" that group ownership.
Now, every user on a given machine will have read access to that shared folder. If a non-member of group "fcpusers" attempts to save a file there, however, an error message is likely to appear. One other possibility is that the file is saved, but with an "unknown" group ownership. This is because of a conflict between the groups the saving user is a member of and the attempted "inheritance" from the enclosing folder.
I want you to try the following. Please do this exactly as I outline it:
1) Create a new group in Netinfo Manager. Duplicate the "admin" group. Change the name of the duplicate to "fcpusers," then delete the "realname," "generateduid," and "smb_sid" properties. Change the GID to "101." Select the "users" property, then choose Directory>Insert Value. Type the short name of one of your users. Repeat this procedure for every user of FCP. Select any admin users in this group who will not be using FCP, and click the "Delete" icon. Finally, choose Domain>Save Changes.
2) Create a new folder in /Users/Shared. For this discussion we will assume that you will call it "FCP_Data." Further, we will assume that one of your FCP users is named "usera" (your terminology ;-)). Open Terminal. Since you seem to be well-versed in the use of Terminal, I will simply post the commands needed:
<pre style="overflow:auto; font-family: 'Monaco'; font-size: 10px">sudo chown usera:fcpusers /Users/Shared/FCP_Data
sudo chmod g+w /Users/Shared/FCP_Data</pre>
3) Before anyone begins saving files in this directory, make sure that their umask is changed using TinkerTool. Also, I recommend that all media gets saved here, too. I'm not sure how close FCP is to iMovie, if it doesn't save all data in a "package," but it is likely that media is being referenced using "placeholders." If this is the case, and media for a given project is scattered all over the file system, there could indeed be ownership issues. If media needs to be on externals, this same "shared" folder can be created there. Just make sure that #1, the volume has "ownership and permissions" in effect, and #2 all media is kept within the "shared" directory structure.
You must use TinkerTool to change the umask such that members of the group have read/write permission. TinkerTool doesn't specifically say this, but the corresponding umask is "002" (the OS X default is "022"). BTW, umask is subtracted from the "full permissions" value of "666" when saving non-executable files ("777" for folders and executables).
Once you have a properly configured "shared" folder and a proper umask in place, your users can begin to populate the shared directory. If any existing projects are to be added, they must be copied by a user into the shared directory, not simply moved. Only when a copy is made will the new copy inherit the proper group ownership. Just to be sure, I will include one more set of commands to use, once the shared directory has been populated:
<pre style="overflow:auto; font-family: 'Monaco'; font-size: 10px">sudo chown -R usera:fcpusers /Users/Shared/FCP_Data
sudo chmod -R g+w /Users/Shared/FCP_Data</pre>
Please follow these instructions carefully, then report the results. This should work, and without using ACLs.
Scott

Sharing between User Accounts

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