Sync standalone and firefox data?

erluck53

Mainly use firefox, but may start using chrome more and will need standalone, too. I thought the sync occurred automatically when one version or the other is opened, but am perhaps mistaken.

If the data can be be synched, how?

Thanks

aurimas

Technically, the data is not synced (which in Zotero terms would mean that it is uploaded and downloaded from zotero.org), but the two should share the same data directory and, thus, access the same database. A quick check to see if this is configured correctly (it should be done automatically) is to open up Zotero Standalone and then try to open Zotero in Firefox. If, instead of opening the Zotero pane in Firefox, the Zotero Standalone window comes into focus, you have this set up right.

erluck53

I understand about synch, as you said.

If I follow the procedure, will the standalone data, which is less than the firefox data, replace what is in firefox?

Thanks

aurimas

I'm not exactly sure what procedure you are referring to. I was under assumption that you do not have Zotero Standalone installed _yet_. If you do have it installed already and the two databases are different, then you can either have them merged (by first syncing via zotero.org) or have one replace the other. Depending on what you want to do, there are different steps to follow.

erluck53

i have both installed, which was why i was able to detect the difference in the data.

To synch via zotero won't work because i have too much data, so i want to replace the standalone with the firefox.

Will this be necessary periodically? I thought that zotero kept them up to date. or is all the data stored locally?

Thanks for the help.

aurimas

Once you have this set up correctly, you will not need to worry about keeping Zotero Standalone and Zotero for Firefox in sync.

Open Zotero in Firefox, under Preferences -> Advanced -> Files and Folders, click Show Data Directory. Note the path to this directory (you can keep the directory open).

Close Firefox. Open Zotero Standalone. Under Preferences -> Advanced -> Files and Folders, select Custom. Navigate to the directory you noted above. It should contain a zotero.sqlite file. Select that directory. Save the preferences. Zotero should ask you to restart the application.

Your libraries should now be in sync. You should no longer be able to open both Standalone and Zotero in Firefox at the same time.

erluck53

Thanks!!