Better attachment sync options

MattM
Hi

I'd like to be able to sync the attachments of all my references across devices. The Zotero service unfortunately doesn't offer enough space and running my own WebDAV server is too complicated.

It would be awesome if Zotero could use cloud storage like Dropbox, Skydrive or Google Drive for attachment synchronization. Might something along those lines become available in the future? I know that you can simply put the entire database into a synced Dropbox folder, but that's prone to synchronization conflicts.

Thanks,
Matthias
  • adamsmith
    don't put your database into dropbox under any circumstances - sync conflicts are the least of your problems with that set-up.

    You can symlink your storage directory to dropbox or the like
    https://zotpad.uservoice.com/knowledgebase/articles/103395-what-is-a-symbolic-link-and-why-should-i-use-one-w
    and don't get sync conflicts. That page also explains some limitations.

    You don't have to run your own webDAV, you can rely on 3rd party webDAV:
    http://www.zotero.org/support/kb/webdav_services

    Also, to be clear - Zotero offers standard subscription plans for up to 25GB, more on request - so the problem is that you don't want to pay for them, not that they're not available, correct?

    Because of the requirements of linking data and file syncing it is highly unlikely that Zotero will ever work with simple file syncling services like Dropbox.
  • MattM
    Sorry, I didn't know there's a 25GB offer (I had just looked briefly at http://www.zotero.org/blog/zotero-storage-subscriptions-upgraded/, which only shows 6 GB).

    So that's nice, but of course, it's even better to be able to make use of the large amount of free space on the cloud services that you can easily get as an academic, rather than paying separately for yet another storage service (that goes both for the Zotero service and for 3rd party WebDAV services).

    Therefore, thanks for the link about only syncing the storage folder, I'll try that!
  • mronkko2
    Dropbox is almost never the best option for you. If you value your time, but absolutely do not want to support Zotero development by subscribing to a storage plan, you should sign up for a free WebDAV service instead.
  • MattM
    As a grad student, I'm trying to save money where I can. However, your post made me realize that paying for storage supports Zotero development, so I decided to buy Zotero storage. Thanks!
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