Upgrade StorageHow to isolate only most recent folders in Storage for (3rd party) backup and syncing
Hi,
So this is my problem. I have many pdfs stored in Zotero's storage (more than 10000). I need to back up and sync those pdfs to the cloud (a 3rd party backup program. But, I only need to back up and sync the most recently downloaded pdfs (say, the most recent 200 pdfs) AND all future pdf downloads. I wonder how that can be achieved.
In the Storage folder, I can of course sort the subfolders containing the pdfs according the date of creation. This will allow me to see which folders were most recently downloaded. But the question is how to best select them for backup AND syncing.
In fact, I CAN individually select them from the Storage folder and select them for backup and syncing to the cloud. But the problems are: 1) it will be too time-consuming - I have to do this individually for each folder, now and future 2) all the folders are then individually placed in the cloud (without being first placed in a parent folder), which is very messy.
Alternatively, I can copy [NOT MOVE] all the relevant folders to a separate parent folder (say, Zotero Backup), and then select that parent folder for backup/syncing. But the problem is that whenever I change the pdf files from Zetero (annotating pdfs, etc), I will have to do the copying and pasting/replacing so that the changes will also be synced to the cloud - this just does not sound feasible.
I put the words "not move" above in square brackets, because I assume, if I actually move the folders in Zotero Storage, I will have broken the directory and won't be able to open the pdf from the Zotero program.
Of course, the most painless way to do this is to simply select the entire Storage folder and backup/sync everything. But, as I explained, I have too many files there. Backing up the entire Storage folder will occupy too much of my cloud space. I am a little reluctant to do this.
So any idea whether and how I can do what I wanted.
Thanks a lot in advance!
So this is my problem. I have many pdfs stored in Zotero's storage (more than 10000). I need to back up and sync those pdfs to the cloud (a 3rd party backup program. But, I only need to back up and sync the most recently downloaded pdfs (say, the most recent 200 pdfs) AND all future pdf downloads. I wonder how that can be achieved.
In the Storage folder, I can of course sort the subfolders containing the pdfs according the date of creation. This will allow me to see which folders were most recently downloaded. But the question is how to best select them for backup AND syncing.
In fact, I CAN individually select them from the Storage folder and select them for backup and syncing to the cloud. But the problems are: 1) it will be too time-consuming - I have to do this individually for each folder, now and future 2) all the folders are then individually placed in the cloud (without being first placed in a parent folder), which is very messy.
Alternatively, I can copy [NOT MOVE] all the relevant folders to a separate parent folder (say, Zotero Backup), and then select that parent folder for backup/syncing. But the problem is that whenever I change the pdf files from Zetero (annotating pdfs, etc), I will have to do the copying and pasting/replacing so that the changes will also be synced to the cloud - this just does not sound feasible.
I put the words "not move" above in square brackets, because I assume, if I actually move the folders in Zotero Storage, I will have broken the directory and won't be able to open the pdf from the Zotero program.
Of course, the most painless way to do this is to simply select the entire Storage folder and backup/sync everything. But, as I explained, I have too many files there. Backing up the entire Storage folder will occupy too much of my cloud space. I am a little reluctant to do this.
So any idea whether and how I can do what I wanted.
Thanks a lot in advance!
The details on how to set that up depend on your operating system. If you can't figure it out yourself, you're probably better of asking about it at forum dedicated to your OS of choice.
Thanks for your reply. Actually, I had already done that. I am using Mac computer, and I had already generated a smartfolder on my desk top containing zotero PDFs. I CAN and already HAVE added this smartfolder to my backup program. But the only thing that gets backed up is a 2kb file for the virtual folder, not the PDFs in it :-(
Any other possible solutions?
Thanks