Manage more than one database

jmmontenegro
Hello all,

First of all, sorry if this topic has been previously posted.

What I want to know is if is it possible to manage several databases in the same computer (Firefox plugin and Zotero Standalone).

The idea is to have my own references database and to create a database for my working group, that will be used during the creation of new research papers.

As any member of the group could add new references but it is possible that many of them will not be interesting for my personal database, it would be great to have two databases to manage independently.

Thanks a lot.
  • adamsmith
    you can use separate Firefox profiles.
    These instructions:
    https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profile-manager-create-and-remove-firefox-profiles
    will also work for Standalone.
  • mronkko
    You should also consider using a group library for the working group. This way everyone has their own library and can share things with the group library.
  • jmmontenegro
    What I was thinking was the following:

    - Create a common username/password to synchronize between the whole group.

    - Create the library in a dropbox common folder.

    - Link the articles via "link to the article" instead of the automatic download.

    A few questions more:

    - Do the use of several firefox profiles permit to change the usernames/password?

    - Does this have application for several databases. I would manage two, my personal database and the common one.

    - Will Zotero have any problems with the use of the dropbox folder? Will it correctly create the links to the pdf files?
  • adamsmith
    I'm not clear what you mean by "create the library in a dropbox common folder" - if you're just referring the the pdfs that you'll then link that would be fine. Just never place a Zotero database into dropbox.

    I believe you can attach passwords to Firefox profiles and you can have entirely separate Zotero accounts on each profile. Not sure to which of the two you are referring. The point of having two Firefox profiles is that you'd have two entirely separate databases, yes.

    But I'm a little confused by your questions - mronkko is right that if you just want a personal and a working group library, just use Zotero groups and be done with it.
  • jmmontenegro
    Hello Adam,

    Yes, when I talk about the library I mean the pdf's collection. I guess I did a bad translation about the spanish meaning of library to the actual zotero library meaning.

    Yes, that was my idea, to create two groups and have two libraries. What I'm not sure and I must try is to have two different pdfs collection for each library/database.

    I will try and I will comment how it works.
  • mronkko
    The easiest way to set up this is just to start a group, then purchase Zotero storage space for the group owner and things will just work.

    You can use Zotero just for data syncing and then Dropbox to sync the files in the group. But if you value your time, this is not for you as it can be difficult to set up. Also with this setup all the private PDFs would be synchronized with all the other group members as well. I know one person with this kind of setup, and he is happy about it, but probably an exception.
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