What is MagicCarpet?
Magic Carpet is version control software which works in conjunction with any FTP server. It is a desktop application which is installed on either MacOSX or WinXP PC's. It requires no software on the server, other than a standard FTP and HTTP server connection.

Why do I need version control software?

There are a number of things MagicCarpet can do for you. First of all, MagicCarpet allows you to upload files to your FTP and HTTP server. This is useful for all types of projects. For instance, say you're building a website and you want to create a staging folder for the website. You can use MagicCarpet to create a new project called "Staging" and then let your developers upload HTML and image files to the Staging project. You can choose to record all the changes made by each developer on each file.

Any type of file can be uploaded, versioned, tracked and archived using MagicCarpet. This includes HTML, CSS, PHP, C++ source files, Runtime Revolution stack files, text files, images, Word Documents, Spreadsheets, etc..

Check-in and Check-out
You can check-in and check-out the files as you need them. This is especially great for teams of developers. Each developer can individually check-out a file, work on it, then check it back in. When a file is checked out, it's status is changed on the server, and other developers are unable to check-out the same file.

Transparent Compression
If you choose, MagicCarpet will automatically compress files (gZip) to and from the server. This feature is transparent to you, but saves valuable bandwidth and server space.

Versioning
MagicCarpet manages version files called "MagicCarpet files." When a user "checks-in" a file, they are prompted to create a new version number, as well as add their own change notes. This record is concatenated with the existing transaction log for that file, and written to the server along with the new file. At any time, a user can view the transaction log for a file, and see who checked in/out the file, when it happened and the change notes for each version. If the file was to be archived, the archive version is also noted.

Archiving
Another great feature of MagicCarpet is it's ability to archive files. When a file is checked-in, and the archive flag is set, a sequential number is added to the end of the archive file. In this way, each freshly uploaded document creates a copy of itself along with a historical trail which can later be traced-- and accessed if necessary. MagicCarpet allows users to download copies of archived documents simply.

Backup
MagicCarpet can also backup all it's version files and control files from the server to any local folder. Files can be downloaded as is, or decompressed when downloaded.

Synchronization
Groups of users may wish to keep a local project folder and synchronize it with only those files changed on the server. This powerful tool helps make sure users always have the latest versions to work on.

What if I don't have access to an FTP server?
You can easily install a free FTP server on your PC or MAC.  Simple setup instructions for your Mac
We have an online video which shows you how to setup FTP on the PC

Can MagicCarpet work with only one user?
Certainly, in fact many people use it to version control and archive local files using a local FTP server (see above links). A nice feature of MagicCarpet is it can connect to multiple FTP servers, so team projects can be setup on a remote server at the same time an individual project resides locally. MagicCarpet works well for both groups and individuals.

How does MagicCarpet work?

MagicCarpet requires absolutely NO SERVER CONFIGURATION!

MagicCarpet is a desktop application, requiring absolutely no customization of a server. As users choose to upload files to an FTP server, MagicCarpet automatically tracks each time a files is accessed, checked-in and checked-out by storing a special file on the FTP server. In addition, MagicCarpet creates an 'Archive' folder on the FTP server which stores any and all archived files. MagicCarpet is easy to setup and deploy. The MagicCarpet interface is simple and straightforward, and any user will be up and running in only minutes. No large manual or technical documentation necessary.