two quick questions: sqlite and search

Hi all,

I have used Zotero over the years but Endnotes used to be my primary software. With the new storage options, I am moving to Zotero hopefully for good. I am still learning and I tried to find the answer for these two questions on the forums but I am not sure I have the right path.

1. Is there an advanced/hidden option to turn off "search as you type"? It freezes Zotero constantly and I would like to lessen the burden on it until I have finished typing at least.

2. Much more important question: when I used Zotero casually, I had ZotFile put my files in a specific folder and I very much would like to keep that folder where it is. I don't recall when/how I did this but the sqlite is in the same folder. Before it didn't bother me because it was a small file. Now it is huge.

Is there a way to move everything EXCEPT the "storage" folder somewhere else? I read the articles on moving Zotero but I don't want to move the storage folder.

I thought about moving everything and again using Zotfile to point to that folder but I am hesitant to experiment. My library is way too big and as it is it has taken over a week to import the files and I don't want to mess up the process and restart.

many thanks
  • 1. Is there an advanced/hidden option to turn off "search as you type"? It freezes Zotero constantly and I would like to lessen the burden on it until I have finished typing at least.
    A straight quote (") at the beginning of the field disables search while you type until you press enter.
    Is there a way to move everything EXCEPT the "storage" folder somewhere else? I read the articles on moving Zotero but I don't want to move the storage folder.
    Not if you want to use Zotero file sync, no. I'm not quite sure I understand why it bothers you that the sqlite and the storage folder are in the same folder? What's the actual problem with this—the idea is that you'd never touch that folder manually, only via Zotero.

    If you don't want to use Zotero for file sync, then yes, moving attached files via ZotFile is what you want to do.
  • Thank you greatly for your prompt reply! It's very helpful.

    1. Thanks. I will make a habit to do that.

    2. The only reason I don't want them in the same folder is that I use dropbox and the sqlite and its bak files are a) large and slows down dropbox sync b) I am well aware that using dropbox for sqlite is not recommended as it has risks of messing up sqlite.

    I also realize that dropbox seems useless since I am using Zotero sync already and I know that using dropbox - based on what I have read around here - is not recommended. No doubt that there are good technical reasons for it but dropbox has the packrat (version saves/restore) feature that I cannot afford to lose. I rely on that function to retrieve files deleted or modified etc and I don't want to lose that. That's why I would like the "storage" folder to remain in dropbox. I hope that makes sense.
  • The best solution would be to symlink the storage folder to the Dropbox directory: https://zotpad.uservoice.com/knowledgebase/articles/103395-what-is-a-symbolic-link-and-why-should-i-use-one-w
    Other sync services such as SpiderOak do, I believe, allow you to not sync specific files, but I don't think that's the case for Dropbox (the selective sync option is only for folders and I believe only affects what'd downloaded, not what is uploaded), so symlink is the only option with Dropbox (if you want to use Zotero sync).

    And to clarify - there are no objections here against using Dropbox in general, the issue is specifically placing the sqlite in Dropbox..
  • It's also probably a good idea to have versioned backups of your sqlite file, since that's where all of your metadata is. Yes, it's large and gets modified frequently, but, at least with SpiderOak, the backups are incremental and can be set to occur at arbitrary intervals (say 1hr). Unfortunately, you can't set different intervals for different directories. You could also use local backup software with similar effect.
Sign In or Register to comment.