Add Link to File in Group Libraries

tim.sockel

I read here: https://www.zotero.org/support/attaching_files#linked_files that linked files can't be used in group libraries, because they are probably not available to all group members. Now, in my case, this is exactly what I want to achieve. I want to link the file, so that members of my group library see that the file to an entry exists. But only people working at the computer where the file is actually stored can open it.

I didn't really get if ZotFile does give an opportunity to do that or not. If not, is there a workaround for this?

adamsmith

Definitely nothing with Zotfile, which just doesn't work for groups, and at least I'm not aware of any other workaround

nicolas.lienart

I support this suggestion to make Zotero support linked files within group library.
In my case people can download a copy of the PDF file and add annotations on it that would not be shared across the group.
Zotero should just warn about the fact that linked files "are probably not available to all group members".

jeltsch

Linked files in group libraries with per-library relative paths have been planned for more than ten years now. Has there been any progress on that front, or has the idea been abandoned?

adamsmith

I don't think they've ever been planned in the strict sense. Core devs have said they'd entertain a pull request, not that they're likely to work on it (and I suspect the amount of help requests for linked files that continues to come in -- and that's for the simpler personal library only set-up -- doesn't really encourage development on this).

dstillman

We're not going to support linked files in groups, sorry.

Related: https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/comment/468028/#Comment_468028