Upgrade StorageFile linking, storage & moving to new computer
Hi there,
I'm a total newbie in Zotero, so excuse my ignorance. What I'd like to be able to do might be simple and mentioned somewhere already, but in a quick browse, I failed to find it.
So here it goes: my understanding of how Zotero works is that when you attach pdf's to a reference (whether downloaded or attached from a local file), then the pdf's are copied to Zotero's program library (in my case, as a Windows 7 user C:>Users>AppData>Roaming>Zotero>Profiles...>storage). However, I have partitioned my disk in such a way, so that C is basically for programs and D for docs, movies, and generally bulkier material. In the current setting, if I attach pdf's to every single ref (and they will be a lot!), then my C partition will soon fill up. I have some refs already added (with pdf's), so is there a quick way to move these to D and from now on, have everything stored there?
The second thing has to do with linked attachments: again, my understanding is that Zotero creates a link with my stored document locally, but does not add the file per se in its storage. Is that correct? If so, I imagine it won't count towards my free storage, right? Now, I suppose the problem with linked files is that if you use Zotero from another machine, you won't be able to see the linked documents unless the folders containing them are also copied to the new computer and use identical paths for retrieval. Assuming that all this is correct, is there nonetheless a trick to manage links quickly (and perhaps globally), should something go wrong?
Sorry for the long message. Thanks for reading and looking forward to your feedback!
I'm a total newbie in Zotero, so excuse my ignorance. What I'd like to be able to do might be simple and mentioned somewhere already, but in a quick browse, I failed to find it.
So here it goes: my understanding of how Zotero works is that when you attach pdf's to a reference (whether downloaded or attached from a local file), then the pdf's are copied to Zotero's program library (in my case, as a Windows 7 user C:>Users>AppData>Roaming>Zotero>Profiles...>storage). However, I have partitioned my disk in such a way, so that C is basically for programs and D for docs, movies, and generally bulkier material. In the current setting, if I attach pdf's to every single ref (and they will be a lot!), then my C partition will soon fill up. I have some refs already added (with pdf's), so is there a quick way to move these to D and from now on, have everything stored there?
The second thing has to do with linked attachments: again, my understanding is that Zotero creates a link with my stored document locally, but does not add the file per se in its storage. Is that correct? If so, I imagine it won't count towards my free storage, right? Now, I suppose the problem with linked files is that if you use Zotero from another machine, you won't be able to see the linked documents unless the folders containing them are also copied to the new computer and use identical paths for retrieval. Assuming that all this is correct, is there nonetheless a trick to manage links quickly (and perhaps globally), should something go wrong?
Sorry for the long message. Thanks for reading and looking forward to your feedback!
This is an old discussion that has not been active in a long time. Before commenting here, you should strongly consider starting a new discussion instead. If you think the content of this discussion is still relevant, you can link to it from your new discussion.
For linked files, you can set a base directory (under Preferences -> Advanced -> Files and Folders -> [something about base directory]). Your links will then become relative to that directory. The directory can be set differently on different computers.
Thanks for the clear answer!!