WebDav backup?

jacekg

I am using WebDav on a local server to store full text of articles I save in Zotero (PDFs). I have not set up WebDav myself. What do I need to know and do to backup what Zotero stored in WebDav? So that I could switch to using a different WebDav server?
thanks - Jacek

dstillman

I'm not really sure what you mean, but all Zotero uses is the 'zotero' folder on the WebDAV store.

jacekg

Right. But if I want to move my collection to another WebDav server or to a folder in the local file system, is a straight copy of that 'zotero' folder sufficient? That is, are all references to PDF paper going to work? thnx

adamsmith

your pdfs are already in a local folder. You can't sync anything to WebDav without a local copy.
http://www.zotero.org/support/zotero_data

I'd strongly recommend backing up the local Zotero data folder.

jacekg

Thanks for the link! So, all computers which I use for Zotero (configured for WebDav) will have a local copy of all PDF files, or is it just a cache for files that were accessed on that computer? If all files are replicated - that seems rather expensive in terms of storage (even if HDs are cheap now). I just checked local zotero folder on my computer and the "storage" subfolder is about 1GB. So, all computers where I use Zotero have this 1GB of data and the WebDav folder too. correct?

adamsmith

Thanks for the link! So, all computers which I use for Zotero (configured for WebDav) will have a local copy of all PDF files

this. The size on your WebDav may be a little less, because I believe files are compressed there (doesn't matter for pdfs, but does matter for snapshots). Also, the actual database - zotero.sqlite - (and it's automatic back-ups) aren't on the WebDav (the data is synced with a server at zotero, even if you use webdav).

I don't see a good alternative to having the files locally - you wouldn't want to wait each time you're opening a file until it has downloaded from the server and you certainly wouldn't want to download and cache 1GB of files every time you open Zotero.

jacekg

Coming back to this earlier discussion. Is there any way to specify the local folder use by Zotero for storing PDF attachments etc.? I cannot find anything like that in Zotero preferences. What I would like to do is to use a service like Dropbox and to point Zotero on multiple computers to the same Dropbox folder. thanks - Jacek

adamsmith

You can change the location of the Zotero data folder in the advanced tab of the Zotero preferences:
http://www.zotero.org/support/zotero_data
But it is _strongly_ discouraged to place the entire data folder into dropbox or similar syncing services, as that may cause database corruption.
You _can_ use symlinks to put the zotero/storage folder - i.e. the folder containing all of the attachments but not the zotero.sqlite database - into dropbox or you can use a service like spideroak that allows you to specify individual folders on your file system to sync and have it sync the storage (but not the data) folder.