Attachment sync setup

daiti

Hi, sorry for the (probably) noob question, but I'm having problems setting up attachment sync. On my main pc I use Zotero 7, and I wanted to set up sync using zotero.org or WebDAV to my other devices to simplify my workflow. I initially tried using WebDAV via Koofr, the setup in Zotero (PC) worked fine, I got the verification and the items synced with no problem (even if hovering the mouse on the sync button says "Sync with zotero.org", don't know if that is supposed to say WebDAV or not). That said, if I open zotero on my android tablet and setup the WebDAV I can't open a single PDF, if I click on one nothing happen. Even in the Web Library the PDFs are not available. I tried switching to zotero.org as sync method (since I'm rebuilding my library and I don't have that many files) but the same happens: sync is ok, but no PDFs in either the tablet or the web library.
I should add that on Koofr I actually see a folder named "zotero" full of zips and props files, so I guess the sync is ok.
I don't know if it changes something, but I'm also using ZotMoov to move all PDFs in a separate folder.
Is it just a matter of time or is there something missing in my setup?
Thank you everyone in advance for the help.

tim820

Zotero or WebDAV syncing don't work with 'linked' PDF attachment files (that is, what you have Zotmoov set up to create). In order to sync, PDF attachments have to be 'stored' files, under Zotero\storage. If not, your data can be synced, but not your PDF attachments.
https://www.zotero.org/support/attaching_files#stored_files_and_linked_files

daiti

Oh ok, is there a way to move the linked files with all the annotations to the stored folder in order to sync them?
Edit: better question, if I copy the content of both the present data directory and the directory where the PDFs are stored to a common directory and then I change the data directory inside Zotero (PC), disabling ZotMoov, do I get to keep the annotations? What if I move just the base data directory to the new location and then use the 'Convert linked files to stored files' command?

tim820

You can use Tools\Manage Attachments\Convert Linked Files to Stored Files to move the linked PDF attachment files of the selected items back under Zotero\storage. Zotero will move each PDF, creating arbitrarily-named folders under Zotero\storage for each PDF.

Annotations created in Zotero are stored in the Zotero database. So they are preserved.

You can't move the linked PDF files folder yourself to convert those files back to stored files. Nor should you move the data folder.

And yes, you would disable Zotmoov, so that it doesn't convert future downloaded PDFs to linked files.

If you use Zotero file syncing moving forward, you will need to remain under your online file storage quota for PDFs to sync online (and thus be available in the web library and the mobile apps). That file quota does not apply for WebDAV syncing (but PDFs are not available in the web library).

daiti

Perfect, thank you for the clarification. Have a nice day!