Website doesn't have copies of the attached files?

swevrywhere · May 12, 2009

I reformatted my computer recently and used my online zotero library to back everything up. It looks like all of the entries have been restored on my computer, but the links to all the files don't have anything attached to them (I get the message: The attached file could not be found.It may have been moved or deleted outside of Zotero.) Does the online library not sync the attached files? If that's the case, what's the point of the online library?

FYI, I have 1.5b2.1.

adamsmith · May 12, 2009

no it doesn't.
you can sync your attachments with a DAV server - there are a gazillion threads on that in the forum, suggesting services, addressing issues etc.
Given the volume of libraries you didn't actually expect Zotero to host that all on their (bzw. GMUs) servers?

The point of the online library is to have your citation information on several computers, so that you can work in your office, on your laptop, on your home PC using the same library (and thus working on the same document etc.).
There are also several threads and a FAQ dealing with backups.

I can understand that you are upset for losing some of your files - but please don't blame the software for the fact that you didn't bother to read any documentation.

More constructively - before re-formatting - did you really not backup your hard-disk on a flash drive or something along those lines? Then you could just re-import your old Zotero library.

swevrywhere · May 12, 2009

Yes, it's true that I assumed that it would sync the files and store them on their servers, and I didn't read enough of the documentation to know that wasn't the case. I guess I've started to think too quickly that cloud storage has become ubiquitous.

Yes, I backed it up (exported to rdf) before reformatting. I now see that there's a better way of "backing up" since exporting and importing doesn't keep the original added dates.

In light of this new knowledge, I might humbly request one or two features to help make backing up and restoring more straight-forward.
1. Have "Backup" and "Restore" buttons in the menu to backup to and restore from a specified folder. Even better, have an option to backup to another folder automatically.
2. When you import from an rdf, have a checkbox that would allow you the option to keep the original "Date Added" information. That's how I used to back my data up, and I'm assuming I'm not the only one out there.

Thanks for your help

noksagt · May 12, 2009

Have "Backup" and "Restore" buttons in the menu

I'm neutral on this: enough people haven't read the documentation to know how to make backups, so it probably isn't a horrible idea. However, I trust automatic nightly backups much more than I trust myself to press these buttons & other extensions/apps don't come with backup buttons & maybe this wouldn't actually encourage people to "do the right thing" enough to justify added interface complexity.

When you import from an rdf, have a checkbox that would allow you the option to keep the original "Date Added" information.

Note that RDF import currently loses much more information than "date added." The date added is also consistent across all import routines now. I don't know if RDF will ever be recommended for backup & it doesn't seem like adjusting this information would really be useful for data exchange.

adamsmith · May 12, 2009

I'm with noksagt - the best Zotero backup is a harddisk backup - at a time when flash memory is very cheap and most OS have very comfortable backup features having a separate Zotero backup option seems a bit odd, no?

I wouldn't want Zotero to have a non-removable banner saying: "backup your hard-disk regularly" either.

Frustration can sometimes be a good guide to improve software functionality - but very often it isn't.

noksagt · May 12, 2009

Actually, note that I was mistaken. Firefox bookmarks do have an "import and backup" dropdown.

Such an interface could potentially be a good way to restore the automatic zotero.sqlite backups. (I don't know, off hand, whether this would be trivial: firfox's places.sqlite is actually backed up to JSON files automatically, rather than relying on duplicate sqlite databases.)

I still maintain the most prudent course for swevrywhere & other users would be to start to make automatic backups of at least their zotero data directory & probably also their whole firefox profile and/or home directories, though.