Merge Data Folders

lwnye

Sorry if this isn't the right place to ask this, but I have a quick question. In the past I have used a USB device to transfer my Zotero library over to another computer. It worked perfectly. Since then, updates have been made to the Zotero libraries on both computers. I now need to sync them. Can I use the USB device again and rely on Windows to appropriately merge the data folders? Or is there a better way?

Note: I am dealing with 2 different user accounts for Zotero - I am currently building my boss' library for him and he has started using it already on his computer.

adamsmith

the USB stick would only serve to replace one data folder with the other, so it's not very helpful if you've made changes on both.
Use the online sync functions, that's what it's for.

lwnye

Thank you for the quick feedback. According to this post below, the online sync only syncronizes data base content. Is that true? I need a way to sync PDF files as well.

http://forums.zotero.org/discussion/4624/newbie-multiple-users-share-one-zotero-library/

adamsmith

you can sync files -
http://www.zotero.org/support/sync#file_syncing
if you have more than 100MB of files you need to either pay for Zotero storage or find a WebDAV provider that works with Zotero.

The file part is probably also doable manually, but it's not intended to be and I'm hesitant to advise about that.

lwnye

How do I know how much Zotero storage I require? If I go to the Storage settings on my account it says that my library is 100 MB (100%). I am sure that it is more than that, as my Zotero standalone will not sync because it goes over the limit.

adamsmith

your standalone still syncs - it just doesn't sync the files. The two processes are separate.
You can get a pretty close estimate of the storage you'll need by looking at the "storage" folder in your Zotero data folder:
http://www.zotero.org/support/zotero_data
Zotero zips websites in the online storage, so the amount needed will be slightly lower.