I just started to play with putting the Zotero library on a Dropbox folder (see 1). I connected to it from my Mac and from a PC (2) and it seems to be working pretty nicely, at least for the simple items I tried it with. I did not try any add-ins.
Although you can open the library on two or more computers at the same time, you can actually update it only on one of these computers. The changes can be seen on the second computer only when you open the library (start the browser).
So for the scenario of one computer in the office and one at home, this should works very well as long you close the browser when you leave the office/home.
(1) Dropbox is a neat service (in beta) where you can keep folders and files on the server and it syncs them constantly with the files on your computer (via a downloaded client of course). The files on your computer reside in a folder on your local file system so it is just another folder for Zotero. You can get a free account with 2GB at https://www.getdropbox.com.
To put the Zotero library on Dropbox, just copy the whole Zotero folder to the Dropbox folder.
(2) To change the location of Zotero's library to point to the folder in Dropbox, go to Preference on the action icon / advance and change the Storage Location to a Custom one, which would refer to the Zotero library folder in Dropbox folder.
Disclaimer... Obviously I can not vouch for the integrity of this concept, especially since I only started to play with it today.
Needless to say that you better take a separate backup of Zotero's library onto a hard/optical drive before you try this.
(Important: I'm learning English and Zotero. Please be pacient with me!!)
Hi, I¡m preparing a course about user education with Zotero reference manager and another information tools for teachers. Problem I'm afraid is that teachers will work with zotero Firefox aplication from computers that are not from them. Please, anybody could explain to me what are the applications necessaries in those computers to achieve that these people could send their work to their personal computer?
What happens when the firefox zotero application is installed in a a public computer? How can people clear information they have been working in there?
1. Have your users use Zotero 1.5, which allows them to sync their data through a free Zotero account from the computers you use to any other computer.
2. Have them zip up their Zotero storage directory and email it to themselves to replace into their own local copies of Zotero. (The Zotero data page should do a good job explaining the details of this process.)
As for your other questions:
Different public computers will treat Zotero differently. The issue at hand is if they erase the Firefox profile directory.
If your users want to be sure that their data is erased form public computers they should just delete the Zotero storage directory once they have sent a copy of it to themselves.
Upgrade Storage
Although you can open the library on two or more computers at the same time, you can actually update it only on one of these computers. The changes can be seen on the second computer only when you open the library (start the browser).
So for the scenario of one computer in the office and one at home, this should works very well as long you close the browser when you leave the office/home.
(1) Dropbox is a neat service (in beta) where you can keep folders and files on the server and it syncs them constantly with the files on your computer (via a downloaded client of course). The files on your computer reside in a folder on your local file system so it is just another folder for Zotero. You can get a free account with 2GB at https://www.getdropbox.com.
To put the Zotero library on Dropbox, just copy the whole Zotero folder to the Dropbox folder.
(2) To change the location of Zotero's library to point to the folder in Dropbox, go to Preference on the action icon / advance and change the Storage Location to a Custom one, which would refer to the Zotero library folder in Dropbox folder.
Disclaimer... Obviously I can not vouch for the integrity of this concept, especially since I only started to play with it today.
Needless to say that you better take a separate backup of Zotero's library onto a hard/optical drive before you try this.
hope this could be beneficial to some.
:)
shraga
Hi, I¡m preparing a course about user education with Zotero reference manager and another information tools for teachers. Problem I'm afraid is that teachers will work with zotero Firefox aplication from computers that are not from them. Please, anybody could explain to me what are the applications necessaries in those computers to achieve that these people could send their work to their personal computer?
What happens when the firefox zotero application is installed in a a public computer? How can people clear information they have been working in there?
You have a few different options:
1. Have your users use Zotero 1.5, which allows them to sync their data through a free Zotero account from the computers you use to any other computer.
2. Have them zip up their Zotero storage directory and email it to themselves to replace into their own local copies of Zotero. (The Zotero data page should do a good job explaining the details of this process.)
As for your other questions:
Different public computers will treat Zotero differently. The issue at hand is if they erase the Firefox profile directory.
If your users want to be sure that their data is erased form public computers they should just delete the Zotero storage directory once they have sent a copy of it to themselves.
and with this referral you can get a bonus 250 mb...
https://www.getdropbox.com/referrals/NTEzMTcxNTk
that's not an add, just a way for us both to get more free space!