Standalone dropbox sync
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(edit: move storage symlink - not the script! - duh)
It's very hard to do this blind, we need you to both read closely and describe with some care what you're seeing and what not - remember we don't see your screen.
Also, note that you can move the entire Zotero folder anywhere you want on your harddisk that _doesn't_ sync dropbox-style - there is no risk involved with that (change the location of the folder in the advanced tab of the Zotero preferences, you need to manually move the contents of the Zotero folder to the new location).
So now if I open a pdf from the "storage" and annotate with a third party app the changes will be automatically synced to the Zotero library simultaneously.
I wonder if I have understood this correctly now.
I just starting "importing" the "storage" folder when I think I should have "indexed" the "storage" folder. Perhaps it doesn't matter. I would like the annotations I make on pdfs in DevonThink or elsewhere to be visible in Zotero... is this possible?
Also, does the "storage" folder double the size of the "original" zotero pdf library - in otherwords... if I had 1 gb of pdfs will this method now give me 2 gb?
Also, do you recommend creating an alias of the "storage" symlink for importing/indexing with DevonThink, or simly import the same "storage" symlink?
That means any file you change - delete, annotate, etc. - in the folder on dropbox will change in exactly the same way in Zotero storage.
Deleting PDFs from Zotero's storage folder (and hence its symlink in dropbox) isn't recommended as that leaves you with dead links to that file from within Zotero - but it does not corrupt your database beyond that. Whether Zotero is running or not while you do that is irrelevant.
edit: that also means that you shouldn't rename the file except through Zotero - that, too, will lead to a dead link.
Any annotations that you make to PDFs in either of those two locations will appear when you open them from Zotero as well, yes. (Provided the annotations are written to the pdf directly as most pdf readers - including adobe, pdfxchange etc. do - I don't know about DT, but I'd expect it follows the standard, best to try it out.).
edit: no, this does not double the size of the folder. How you handle this with DT I have no advice. I don't think it matters much.
I understand that the symlink produces to essentially the same file in two different locations so if one version is changed both are changed.
Do you have any advice for indexing vs importing into DevonThink? I was advised elsewhere to "index" via an alias which provides DevonThink with the path to the pdf folder without moving the actual folder into DevonThink. What do you recommend with this method using the symlink? It warps my brain a bit.
(edit: I will have to experiment a bit.)
To confirm, it doesn't matter whatsoever if Zotero is running while I'm working with the pdfs in different apps..
Hopefully someone can confirm the symlink delete issue but for now I'll assume that deleting the symlink just deletes the "container" not the contents.
It looks that the only way Zotero works with (external)storage is:
a) I create a link targeting /Zotero/storage to path Dropbox/Articles "ln -s xxx/Zotero/storage yyy/Dropbox/Articles"
b) this so far creates "link to folder" /Dropbox/Articles/storage though my articles are in Articles
c) if I copy/move one PDF from Articles to Articles/storage then it also appears in /Zotero/storage
d) however Zotero does not see this file as I still have to either drag and drop it to Zotero application or use Save a copy?
e) which basically means I have to copy all my PDFs into a new folder /Articles/storage
f) and mannually add every pdf one by one through Zotero interface so it can build its library
Did I get it correctly?
edit: and here http://www.zotero.org/support/retrieve_pdf_metadata it says " Begin by dragging your existing PDFs into your Zotero library (currently broken on linux) or use the “Store Copy of File” option from the add new item menu (green plus sign)." though I haven't tried it yes since I try to get my storage folder fixed first.
You just do f) and the files appear both in Zotero and in Zotero/storage. Again, though, you don't have to do that "one by one" - you can do that in pretty large chunks.
You can _then_ do a) to place a symlink of Zotero/storage to dropbox or anywhere else.
I'd recommend to just try out some things rather than doing this all on paper.
And yes re: your edit - those instructions from the documentation are correct. It's what I've been telling you all along -
also, note that the entire discussion I have here with Peter100 is almost completely irrelevant for your situation - Peter already has his PDFs in Zotero.
I'm dragging existing PDFs to Zotero so it builds its library. It will double my collection before the whole transfer is done (something I wanted to avoid) then I can delete the one I'm copying from.
Using Dropbox to synchronize Zotero files is a bad idea. You should almost always use WebDAV instead.
Even if you set it up using a symbolic link, there are in general no advantages over WebDAV. Let's compare Dropbox with symlink to using cloudme.com WebDAV:
- It is easier to register a free account at cloudme.com and configuring the WebDAV URL in Zotero than it is to set up a symbolic link
- You get more free space in WebDAV and this is dedicated to Zotero leaving your full Dropbox quota for other uses.
- With Dropbox, you are using two different servers (Dropbox and Zotero) to coordinate synchronization, where as with WebDAV all synchronization logic is performed by a single server (Zotero) resulting in more robust synchronization
- Many tablet software that support Dropbox as file storage solution also support WebDAV
- Symbolic links may confuse some disk space analyzer software to incorrectly report the disk usage
Will check the WebDav and cloud.me option.
Thanks
http://forum.cloudme.com/viewtopic.php?id=416
many thanks
Zed
You can also sync via a WebDAV service such as cloudme - see a list here:
http://www.zotero.org/support/kb/webdav_services
While it's possible to use Dropbox, that does require more set-up. If you really want to do that start a new thread and describe what you've done so far.
Many thank for your rapid reply.
I have been trying to follow these http://libguides.princeton.edu/content.php?pid=31604&sid=3799749
instructions in zotero standalone.
I got to the point of "change directory location" when I changed it to this C:\Users\**\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox etc in "custom" but didn't go any further in case I lost all the pdfs that I currently have saved in zotero.
Best
Zed
Edit: If you're at Princeton, go to the library and ask for help there - this is much easier in person.
Unfortunately I'm in rainy London!
You can use Zotfile to help with doing this automatically,
http://www.jlegewie.com/zotfile.html
but you'll have to do most of the legwork of reading documentation and trying things out.
As I say above, if you want a simple, one-click solution, use zotero's own file storage.
You may see me back here...
Best
Zed
It's unreasonable to expect that all the people in a zotero 'group' will necessarily know how to jump through the hoops to make zotero work with systems like dropbox. Therefore not making such an option available is in essence 'forcing' those who use zotero for group collaboration to use either a WebDAV service or Zotero's storage service.
Is such a configuration option option in the works?
1) The problem that you describe is already well addressed with Zotero storage. There are other, important problems that do not have solutions yet and these are therefore prioritized.
2) Zotero is funded by selling storage subscription and it is not in the interest of the project or the users that this funding is removed.
3) Technical difficulties. Take for example Dropbox conflict management. Files that are marked as conflicted by Dropbox would need to somehow be processed with Zotero and I can see how this can be problematic.
As far as I know, not in the works and very unlikely to ever be.