Can't purge library

infopro

Hi, I first tried to sync my Zotero library before I had purchased extra storage, when I hadn't realized the limited size of the free storage. Possibly for that reason, the sync stopped in the middle, and what wound up in storage on this website is not only incomplete but doesn't reproduce my folder hierarchy - it just shows a bunch of folders named Added, apparently organized by the date items were downloaded. I would like to purge my files on here and start the sync fresh, and I have clicked the purge button many times. Each time it says the data has been purged, but when I go to the My Library tab, the hundreds of Added folders and their contents are still there. Could someone purge them for me or tell me if I'm doing anything wrong? Thanks.

dstillman

1) Metadata is different from files ("storage"). It's not clear to me what you're referring to.

2) You don't need to purge anything after purchasing additional storage. It should automatically continue uploading files that didn't fit before. This has nothing to do with metadata, though.

3) The storage purging option on the website is almost certainly not what you want.

4) If for some reason you'd like to clear everything on the server and replace it with your local library, you can use Restore to Server. You shouldn't need to do this, however, and it's generally not recommended.

I'm not really following you in general, though—in particular, I don't know what the "Added folders" are that you're referring to.

infopro

I'm referring to what I see when I log onto the Zotero website and click the My Library tab. There's a long list of folders there, and most of them have the label "Added" to the right of the folder. I have no idea whether that's considered metadata or files. And when I try to sync from Zotero on my desktop, it's still stopping in the middle (actually closer to the start). I thought that might be caused by the original incomplete sync. Sorry I can't explain it any better.

adamsmith

make sure you're syncing to the same profile you're looking at online:
I see three similar profiles:

infopro
#
infoprofessor
#
infopro247

If you're syncing to one and looking at the other you'd obviously see no effect of your actions.

Also, you should probably try to troubleshoot your sync - it might just not complete and thus look strange - what exactly happens, what error message do you get when you hover over the sync button, can you produce an Error ID (gears menu)?

infopro

I'm fairly sure that my only profile is Infopro. I have not created multiple profiles - infoprofessor and infopro247 are most likely different people.

The error log is as follows. None of the messages appear to be Zotero-related. I get no error message when I attempt to sync - it just stops or never starts.

[unrelated errors removed — D.S.]

adamsmith

which Zotero version do you have? I think 2.0.3 shouldn't show the CVE vulnerabilities in the error reports anymore.
If you haven't already, upgrade.

infopro

Just checked and I do in fact have 2.03.

ajlyon

which Zotero version do you have? I think 2.0.3 shouldn't show the CVE vulnerabilities in the error reports anymore.

Actually, I'm still getting them too. I think that Dan was going to blacklist them in error reports, but that might still be just in the nightlies.

adamsmith

ok, sorry about that - I stopped getting them about the same type I noticed the change in trac so I figured it was part of the most recent update.

infopro - Dan will have to troubleshoot the sync with you

dstillman

The "Added" collections—if that's what you mean—are presumably in your library. Zotero doesn't just create data on its own.

Are you actually getting a sync error?

http://www.zotero.org/support/kb/changes_not_syncing

infopro

Here's what I'm seeing:

My library in Zotero on my desktop.

The My Library tab on Zotero.org. The content below the screenshot consists of about 50 more folders labeled Added.

And no, I'm not getting a sync error. At this point when I click sync, the green arrow icon spins around for a few seconds and stops. No syncing is happening at all anymore. I'm using FF 3.6.3, Zotero 2.03 and Windows XP SP3.

infopro

Just wanted to add that there are NO subfolders named Added in my actual desktop library.

adamsmith

at this point I would try "Restore to Server", as Dan suggests above - or did you already do that?
And to be safe I'd turn off automatic syncing for the time being.

dstillman

You have a huge number of identical collections on the server (not just "Added"), all created on February 18th and uploaded February 25th. So I suspect you did something at that time to create these, though I couldn't tell you what.

If your local library is what you want, just use Restore to Server.

infopro

I just went in and checked Restore to Server. I then clicked the Sync icon (I don't have automatic syncing turned on) and I'm getting the same result - it starts the Sync process and then stops and nothing changes. And the unwanted stuff is still visible on the My Library tab. What should I have done after checking restore to server? Also, when I go back into preferences, Restore to Server is no longer selected - it goes back to Full Sync with Zotero Server.

dstillman

You need to click Reset.

infopro

I did that.

dstillman

Doesn't sound like it from your description above. You need to select Restore to Server and click Reset.

infopro

Here is what I did. The Warning box popped up when I clicked Reset. I then clicked "Replace Server Data." Sorry I didn't make that clearer before.

dstillman

OK, well you successfully reset your library, which means those collections exist. It looks like a bug in the website code—triggered by your having a very large number of nested collections—that they're displaying as top-level collections, but if you click in the collections list and press "+", you should see them.

dstillman

That bug might be fixed now. Check again. If not then a library with that number of collections isn't yet supported on the website.

infopro

Still not working. But I realized you're right, those Added folders do exist several levels down in my library, and they didn't look familiar to me on the website because the rest of the folder hierarchy isn't there. So it must be the nested collections that it can't handle yet. Thanks for looking into this. I may try deleting the most nested of my collections and see if it syncs after that.