Data directory location --> Dropbox?

pedramk
Hi,

I'm using Zotero 5.0 beta on macOS Sierra. I recently moved the data directory location to my Dropbox sync folder, and received an error message warning that this may corrupt my library.

I only use one computer, and do not share my library with anyone. I'm just hoping for a live backup version of my library, in case of catastrophe. Given this, I haven't been able to find any documentation on why moving my Zotero directory to Dropbox is a bad idea. From my (limited) understanding, the Dropbox folder on my mac is just like any other folder, except it syncs to Dropbox servers whenever a file is edited/saved. What am I missing?

Thank you!

P.S. I would buy the Zotero storage plan, but it's not affordable for me. I have ~6GB of attachments, and that's after only 2 years of grad school.
  • adamsmith
    Dropbox will sync the sqlite database that stores the actual data in Zotero -- it will do so no matter the state of that database, which is quite likely to lead to database corruption. Best case scenario, you just find weird stuff happening (like items not saving properly). Worst case, you're stuck with a corrupted database you aren't able to open anymore at all. Don't do it. There's a reason Zotero devs went through the trouble of putting an explicit warning there.

    There are enough free-ish alternatives available (webDAV e.g. using box.com or Dropbox by using linked files using ZotFile) if you can't use Zotero's own file storage.
  • DWL-SDCA
    Remember Zotero offers free unlimited storage of your _data_ and only charges for file (PDFs, etc.) storage. There are several options if you wish to store your files elsewhere.
  • pedramk
    Thanks for the quick replies! I trust your advice... instead of moving the whole data directory to Dropbox, I moved only the 'storage' folder to Dropbox, and made a symbolic link to /Users/rickba/Zotero. Seems to work fine, and everything is backed up live.
  • adamsmith
    yes, that works
  • dstillman
    Just to expand on this, in theory, of course, if you really are using Zotero and Dropbox on only one computer, having the database sync in one direction shouldn't cause problems locally (though some of the uploaded files would probably be corrupted), but we've seen enough problems with Dropbox to just discourage having the database there in all cases.
  • arash.amirkhany
    Thanks everyone, especially rickba!
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