Difference between WebDAV and Zotero Storage

jkr
The documentation and my search results from the forum only yield rather vague information in regard to the difference between WebDAV storage and Zotero storage. The documentation at one points states "many reasons" why the Zotero storage would be advantages over WebDAV. Is it possible to list them somewhere? The only difference from a user-perspective I found so far was the ability to sync docs for groups (which can be done by using your 100MB even if you use WebDAV) and the ability to download attachments if you use the library through a browser (in one discussion I saw that they are planning to do make this available for WebDAV as well).

So what exactly ARE these "many reasons"? I am just curious. I am a happy Dropbox user and have access to a good WebDAV service from my university. But I could be convinced if one would tell me what the advantages are.
  • dstillman
    Where does it say "many", exactly? The sync page says "a number of advantages". The two you mention are the primary ones. In addition, Zotero File Storage is easier to set up (a single checkbox), it's guaranteed to be compatible (whereas people occasionally run into issues with third-party WebDAV services), it can be faster (if a file is on the server it's not uploaded again), and we're better able to provide support if something goes wrong. There may be additional functionality available only via Zotero File Storage in the future, as there are technical limitations on what we can provide via WebDAV.
  • jkr
    Thanks for clearing that up.
  • SPbibKN
    Are there plans to make the server side of Zotero available for Apache or other webservers, so that one could set up his own file storage.
    Would be handy if you got your own Server anyway or dont want to give away your literature files.
  • anders_royce
    It looks like that is planned for the future. There are a couple of threads on the topic. Here is one: http://forums.zotero.org/discussion/11254/local-zotero-server/
  • Bionatsci
    http://forums.zotero.org/discussion/5292/is-the-server-code-available-for-download/

    Short answer: Yes, release of the server code is planned, although it will almost certainly be an unsupported release.
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