Add folders to Zotero Standalone.

MManmathan

I couldnot figure out a way to add a folder(and its sub-folders) to Zotero standalone. Is the feature not available or am I missing something.

dstillman

1) They're collections, not folders. (Think of them more like playlists or photo albums, with items being able to exist in more than one.)

2) The "New Collection…" button is the first button in the Zotero toolbar.

MManmathan

Thanks. What I was refering to is: I have a folder of several files on my disk. Can I put them into a collection, in one go. When I drag that folder and put into collections, it doesnt show in the zotero at all.

bwiernik

Dragging folders into Zotero isn't currently supported, but you can open the folder, select all the files and drag them into Zotero together.

csrams

I am having 100 pdf files in my local directory. But I can't drag and drop in bulk manner.. Also import option not support in bulk manner, it import only one file at a time.. Any option to bulk move local directory pdf files to zotero?

adamsmith

Import is for something different, but you'd have to say why you can't use drag&drop on multiple files. That certainly works in ZOtero in general

csrams

Yes.. Its working now.. Initially, the quick drag and drop not working.. After several trials I found that drag and drop with hold some times it shows one + symbol in zotero.. then if I drop it means its move now.. Thanks for your guidelines sir.. thanks..

lmarsili91

Oh man this is not pratical at all

dstillman

@lmarsili91: I don't know what you're referring to, but adding files on disk to Zotero is literally as simple as dragging them in. If you're trying to do something else, you'd have to take the time to explain what you're having trouble with.

lmarsili91

@dstillman well yes of course it is easy, but it's time consuming as well. With Mendeley you can actually "watch a folder" and it automatically sync the folder AND all the subfolders. With Zotero the only possibility you have is to open every single folder and drag all the files. It's way less practical. This morning this operation took me more than one hour, with Mendeley it was done in less than 5 minutes.

dstillman

If you want to add all PDFs within a folder, you can just do a search with your OS for all PDFs within the folder and drag them to Zotero. It takes a few seconds.

As for a watch folder, Zotero just doesn't work that way, by design. It's not designed around downloading individual PDFs to disk. In a normal Zotero workflow, you save from your browser, ideally from the abstract page, and it automatically attaches the PDF when available. Read through Adding Items to Zotero to understand how this is meant to work, and start a new thread with other questions.

dstillman

And just for a general point here, if you're new to Zotero and finding something difficult, you should just post here (politely, not with a snarky comment like you did) instead of just deciding something is difficult and struggling with it. We're happy to help and explain faster ways to do things, but we can't do so unless you ask.