Can't delete local group library

jovanmaud

I played with a group library, decided not to use it but am having trouble getting rid of the thing. I've deleted it from the website, emptied the local references and synced but the group library is still there. I'm surprised that there is no option to remove the collection when you right click on the library name. Any suggestions on what I should do to fix this issue?

dstillman

There's no way to do this locally because you shouldn't ever need to—deleting the group from the website is enough—but there's currently a bug that in rare cases could cause a group to persist in the client even after it's been deleted.

Try a Full Sync from the Sync->Reset pane of the Zotero prefs.

jovanmaud

Many thanks for the quick response. The full sync solved the problem.

Arjan

Is this still the case?

I was a member of some groups, but I could not sync my library because of lack of write access. I've now left those groups, but they are still in my local client and I don't see a way to remove them.

I can't do a sync, because that would overwrite my local changes. I can't reset (Restore to Zotero Server), which is what I want to do, because then Zotero tries to write my local changes to a group where I don't have write access (and am now no longer a member of anyway).

Any way to resolve this?

adamsmith

Can you explain more why you can't sync? Typically sync wouldn't overwrite local changes.

Arjan

I hadn't used sync for years and wanted to give it another try, so I did a reset (Restore to Zotero Server), which did delete my (long outdated) remote library, but I cannot complete the process because I get this:

> You no longer have write access to the Zotero group 'Some Group', and items you've added or edited cannot be synced to the server.
> If you continue, your copy of the group will be reset to its state on the server, and local modifications to items and files will be lost.

With options Cancel or "Reset Group and Sync".

So I do not want to continue the sync when there's a chance I loose local changes. I just made a backup and tried a normal sync, but this gives the same message.

adamsmith

I thought you want to delete the groups? How does losing local changes matter? That refers to the groups, not your library.

adamsmith

(and I don't think you need to use Reset at all; normal sync is fine)

Arjan

I've unsubscribed from the groups on zotero.org, I'm not the group owner. But my removal from the groups doesn't propagate to the Zotero client, or not early enough in the process. The only way for me to continue is to use "Reset Group and Sync", even though I'm no longer a member of the group.

You say "That refers to the groups, not your library", but the dialog says "local modifications to items and files will be lost". Or are items that reside in a group but also in my own library completely separate? I took this message to mean that I could lose changes to items which I copied from a group to my library.

bwiernik

Items in different libraries (your own, separate libraries) are completely separate.

I'm not sure you actually need to use Reset though. Can you say exactly what happens when you just try to click the normal sync button?

Arjan

Thanks for clarifying. I'd just checked a few of the items both in my own library and in the group library and saw that they were not identical, so I went ahead and accepted the "Reset Group and Sync" option, and it looks OK now.

The reset was more because I wanted to do that anyway, and in that context the message was a bit confusing (to someone who didn't know the group vs library items are separate).

bwiernik

The Reset options are not intended for normal troubleshooting use—I’m still not following why you were resetting rather than just syncing. But glad that it’s working for you.

Arjan

I wanted a one-way sync, because I hadn't synced with zotero.org for years and didn't want any old stuff back.