Upgrade Storagehow to save work for dummies?
I am a researcher with at best middling computer literacy, Mac user. I just started using zotero 4 weeks ago and find it both useful and infuriating, particularly when it comes to backing up my work. When I follow the directions, both for saving to an external USB drive and for Exporting, I encounter 3 things that don't seem right: 1) the amount of time to save to a USB is outrageously long (and I have a fast new machine); I often end up interrupting it because it takes so long. 2) I have a profusion of files now with very similar names, and the files that look like they have my most recent work are binary files I can't open, or that won't open in zotero (I get lines of text). 3) as I go down that chain of files where my stuff is supposed to be (library/app support/firefox etc.), I end up in folders that just contain copies of whatever Word files I happen to have included in my Zotero library.
I am not tech-savvy enough to understand 90% of what is discussed in the forums, so I am really at a loss. I was hoping 1.5 would be out soon, promising online storage, but as if to mock me, my last 2 sessions - which I couldn't figure out how to back up - have now been lost.
I'm about to throw in the towel - why input all this data if I can't feel confident I can get it back? Can someone please explain to me in plain english how I might find my lost files, and how a normal idiot can save their work in a way that it's actually accessible later? Thanks.
I am not tech-savvy enough to understand 90% of what is discussed in the forums, so I am really at a loss. I was hoping 1.5 would be out soon, promising online storage, but as if to mock me, my last 2 sessions - which I couldn't figure out how to back up - have now been lost.
I'm about to throw in the towel - why input all this data if I can't feel confident I can get it back? Can someone please explain to me in plain english how I might find my lost files, and how a normal idiot can save their work in a way that it's actually accessible later? Thanks.
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Always be sure that you have quit Firefox before you copy the files. Failure to close Firefox can result in a variety of ugly errors.
Whenever you back up two items, zotero.sqlite and Storage, you should feel free to get rid of the previous files to keep clear of the clutter.
About finding your lost files, what happened? How did you lose the items in your Zotero collection. Was the database corrupted? When you open Zotero is your library just empty?
I guess I'm really not good at this because your comments make sense, but I don't know how to execute them. I just used 'show data directory' but it just sends me to Finder and shows the icons for network, my hard drive, and flash drive. What do I do then?
I wish I knew how I lost the items. The last time I used zotero on this computer, I shut down as normal; when I came back a few days later and turned on zotero, the library was just empty. I have zotero.sqlite and Storage files (that's the one that seems to only have copies of Word files found elsewhere on my machine). The .sqlite file tells me it's been updated today.
How can I copy the files after I quit Firefox? I don't know where my work is in order to be able to copy it (that's what's killing me - what looks like zotero only leads to further sub-files that just confuse me. The chain is too complex to follow). Maybe this is all just beyond me... Thanks for responding.