How to sync data in Zotero(Firefox) using OneDrive or Google Drive?

zszhong
I installed the Zotero in Firefox and selected the data directory to "C:\Zotero_Firefox". And in that directory, there are several files and directories, e.g., storage, translator, styles, ... Then in another computer I also installed the Zotero(Firefox), now I want to let the files sync with an OneDrive or Google Drive. But I noticed that it seems there are several local files would be generated in local computer and that maybe destroy the local files generated in another computer. So is it possible to just sync the sqlite database and the storage directory? So the local files generated in each computer will not be synced and have effects on each other.

In addition, how would you guys sync the data for Zotero?

Any comments are greatly appreciated! Thanks a lot!
  • adamsmith
    You can't use OneDrive or GoogleDrive to sync your Zotero data safely. Do not, under any circumstances, move your Zotero data directory to a folder synced by a 3rd party sync services like Dropbox or the above.

    The only (reasonably feasible) way to sync your data is through Zotero. Data sync is free regardless of the size of your library.

    To sync your attachments, you can
    a) sync through Zotero file storage, free up to 300MB, with storage plans for pay above that
    b) find a webDAV provider and set Zotero up to sync attachments through that (sync tab of the preferences). It's relatively easy to find commercial providers with 2GB or more of free WebDAV space
    c) use the ZotFile add-on to move your files outside of Zotero (e.g. to a folders synced by Dropbox et al.) and link to them from Zotero.
  • zszhong
    Hi @adamsmith, thank you very much for your reply and so detail comments!

    I have a question, what you mean is to sync the sqlite database via Zotero official sync service and sync the huge attachments via the ZotFile service?

    Could you please consider move the sqlite database and the storage directory into an user-defined directory that are separated with the core files and directories for Zotero? After that I think we could easily sync the sqlite database and the attachments using 3rd party net disks.
  • adamsmith
    I have a question, what you mean is to sync the sqlite database via Zotero official sync service and sync the huge attachments via the ZotFile service?
    Basically, though ZotFile doesn't do any syncing. It just moves files for you which you can then sync with other services.
    After that I think we could easily sync the sqlite database and the attachments using 3rd party net disks.
    Just to re-iterate this: if you sync zotero.sqlite with a 3rd party app, you break Zotero. Don't do it. There's also no reason to.

    As you noted, you can move the data folder as you please. The default location makes sense as a default because for standard use, there is no reason to interact with the folder and doing so may break things.
  • zszhong
    @adamsmith, thanks very much for your further explanations.

    Maybe I didn't catch your idea completely. The following is my understanding. Please help check if it is right.
    The reference data are saved into a sqlite database (collections, paper information and the relative position for the attached pdf files or other files that may be real located in the 'storage' directory). Now I want to sync the sqlite database and the pdf files (located in the storage directory) to other 3rd party net disks. Why do I need to do this? It mainly because some papers can just be downloaded in the school and cannot be accessed at home. So I sync the pdf files downloaded at school into the net disk and then on the computer at my home, I could start to sync the data into my local computer, and then set the Zotero Firefox plugin to use the synced data directory, so I can view the papers at home.

  • adamsmith
    But why don't you want to sync the sqlite with Zotero? That's what Zotero sync is for.
  • zszhong
    @adamsmith Yeah, I want to sync the sqlite with Zotero sync service. That's very convenient.
    In fact, I really want to do that. The perfect solution is to sync the sqlite database via Zotero sync, and sync the storage(attachments) via 3rd party net disk.

    But I encountered a problem when using OneDrive. Initially I pub the whole Zotero_Firefox(including the storage, styles, translators, zotero.sqlite, and so on) directory to the OneDrive sync directory. But it seems to have a problem that when I opened a Zotero instance, the local zotero.sqlite will be modified. So if this file is synced by another computer, that computer will also modify this file, which may hurt the Zotero. So I resort to just sync the storage directory. But I couldn't just put the storage directory into the OneDrive sync directory because that Zotero will re-create another storage directory in his base directory, then Zotero cannot locate the real pdf files (or just no pdf files attached with the paper record). So I consider if Zotero could provide a functionality to set the storage in a user-defined separated position (not in the base directory).

    With your kind comments, I think the best solution is to sync the sqlite via Zotero sync and sync the directory that is processed after ZotFile.
  • zszhong
    Thank you @adamsmith, I found Zotero sync + 4shared WebDAV is very convenient.
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