Store downloaded files in manually chosen folder

blazey
Hi,

my problem is that I want the files I download to be stored in a certain folder. Is that possible somehow? I drives me nuts to download all files manually, create a zotero entry with the citation and then attach the file to the respective zotero entry.

The reason behind it is that I want to have my own folder structure, say for each research project, that contains for each project all related files. With zotero each file is hidden elsewhere, very inconveniant if you ask me.

thx for any help
  • bwiernik
    edited July 20, 2015
    Take a look at the Zotfile plugin.

    http://zotfile.com
  • blazey
    I did already. But it does not save the docs in the folder I suggest.
  • adamsmith
    could you specify that? ZotFile definitely works and it does exactly what you say you want. Either you didn't set it up correctly (which is more likely) or you discovered a bug.
  • blazey
    Thx for the reply, adam. It seems there was a problem because I haven't installed the plugin in zotero (standalone) as well. It didn't appear in the plugins list of zotero although it did in firefox. Now I manually installed the plugin in zotero as well and it works fine :)
  • blazey
    edited July 21, 2015
    Hm, too bad. It is quite unreliable. Some files are stored and renamed properly others aren't. I am downloading from science direct and use the download button from the firefox plugin "save to zotero with science direct".

    I just tried "Environmental norms, transport priorities and resistance to change associated with acceptance of push measures in transport" and it's not storing in the specified folder. The authors have scandinavian names (with an o crossed). Could that be an issue for zotfile?
  • blazey
    edited July 21, 2015
    Ok, found another document which is not working and written by a German author (Möser). Seems like zotfile cannot handle those kind of letters properly. However, sometimes it does. Another author with a turkish name and several funny signs in it has been stored and renamed. No clue....

    A little workaround is to right click the attachment, click show file, copy it to your specified folder. zotfile will then ask you whether it should attach and rename the file to the entry in zotero.

    Edit: It is actually unpredictable when it stores and renames downloaded files. Most of the time special letters do not work. Then all of a sudden it does. Really no clue what's the reason.
  • adamsmith
    @blazey -- could you link to a couple of such papers? Which operating system do you use?
  • blazey
    edited August 15, 2015
    Hi adam,

    I really see no rules when it is working and when not, it seems arbitrary. Maybe u can have a quick look at my preferences: http://1drv.ms/1IStQdA

    Could it be that it's not working because I have zotfile installed in firefox and zotero standalone?

    For illustration: this file just worked fine, was downloaded, moved to the defined folder and renamend: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886911004776

    To the contrary, with this file nothing happens (just downloading to zotero folder): http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272494410000289
  • blazey
    Allrighty, I guess I found the problem. You mustn't run both plugins, in firefox and standalone. Now I deactivated the plugin in firefox, zotfile still active in zotero standalone and it seems to work now.
  • adamsmith
    odd--that shouldn't be a problem.

    As for your preferences -- it makes no sense to have the source folder (which is sort of a watch folder) set to the same folder you're having ZotFile move files to. I'd disable that function or set it to your browser's download folder.

    The other idea I have -- could you add a screenshot of your Zotero files&folder settings from Zotero for Firefox?
  • blazey
    edited August 15, 2015
    thx for your efforts. I updated the doc. Figure 4 shows the Zotero Firefox prefs.

    Concerning the watch folder: I think it makes sense as I download files to that folder in case zotero cannot catch the file. Then I add the website by right-clicking and download the pdf manually, storing it in the watch folder. zotfile recognizes that perfectly and attaches the incoming file to the active entry (plus renaming the file according to the metadata).
  • adamsmith
    OK, that makes sense and the FF prefs look good. Well, I still don't think this _should_ be a problem, but if things are working for you now, I'd leave it at that. If we find other people with the same issue (i.e. ZotFile stops working reliably when installed on both FF and Standalone) I'll open a ticket for Joscha to look at.
  • blazey
    ok, thx again. As of now everything seems to run smoothly.
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