Why can't you edit collection titles or merge a collection into a subcollection?

I can edit, rename, merge, and move, not to mention delete sub collections and sub-sub collecitions (light yellow folder) but I cannot do that with the collections (brown folder)? Can anyone explain why -- and step-by-step take me through this process? I have tried right-clicking. I know I can copy content and move it into new folders that have the right title, but how do i get rid of an entire collection? Thanks for the help.
  • Are you trying this in Zotero Standalone, or via Internet?
  • Brown folders aren't collections. There are libraries, i.e. either "My Library" or groups you're a member of. You can indeed not rename or remove "My Library". Groups can be renamed by their owner on the website, which is also where you can leave groups (at which point they'll disappear from Zotero after syncing).
  • Hi Adam, I am using the Firefox (online) version. So you go to the website and edit the titles of your groups, or delete them? That is very useful, but a bit complicated. I do not understand either the leaving the groups. As group owner, I cannot leave a group, right, I can just leave a group I am a part of? Thanks for your quick reply.
  • Maybe you can step back a bit and explain what more specifically you're trying to achieve -- starting with why you'd have a bunch of groups that you want to treat like collections. The reason you need to do this on the website is that groups are intended for collaboration, so this needs to happen in a central location.

    But it sounds like you may be misunderstanding how Zotero data works more generally. If you just want collections, why not use, well, collections for that purpose?

    FWIW, though, as a group owner you can delete a group, but note that you'll lose everything in that group.
  • Hi Adam, I admit, when I started using Zotero I created a collection per student, not understanding the collaboration thing. That is what I am now trying to undo: merge these collections into one big group. I guess I first have to copy all the material under each individual collection into my new comprehensive collection, then I can remove the individual collection?
  • yes, exactly.
    (And I don't mean to nitpick, but they're groups, not collections: that's important not because I care that you're using the right words, but so you can find the right place to see and delete them and if there are any problems, describe them accurately. Online they're all listed here: https://www.zotero.org/groups
    and you can delete them after clicking "Manage Profile" -- obviously only after you've transferred their contents)
  • Yes, right, they are groups, but there is also the term "Group Libraries" that are collections, so you cannot delete the "Group Libraries" or edit that term, but you can create collections under them (because the brown folders to me aren't groups, they are collections. I am not the only one to be confused. To sum it up, I think I will get the idea, soon, and adjust and learn. I want to thank you all for taking the time to talk with me this afternoon. It was very helpful.
  • Adam, I just saw your comments from a year and a half ago. Thank you so much for posting, and also for posting on how to remove groups (my new question today). I'll have to digest all this, especially now that Zotero has changed its format to standalone only (not sure, but something has changed). I am still learning how to transfer contents (export, CVS, save, reopen, and save with Excel workbook, then edit. I still cannot figure out how to export a bibliography in Chicago format to a Word document. I thought that was possible. . .
  • I’m not following what you are trying to do. It is certainly possible to make bibliographies and also to export to CSV. But can you take a step back and say generally what you are trying to accomplish?
  • I have a collection. Almost 300 entries (books, webpages, articles, pictures, posters, you name it). I want to remove it from Zotero (because apparently I cannot save new titles unless I buy more storage, which I am unwilling to do). So before deleting that collection, I want to save it in a recognizable bibliographic format, such as Chicago Humanities. The only thing I have been able to do thus far is to export my collection into a cvs format (no choice there; I went to "File" and "export"), save it on "Desktop;" then open it again and save it in Excel Workbook format (if you keep it saved in cvs, comma delineated, it opens up all jumbled). Does any of this makes sense?

    One of the reasons I want to export the collection is that a lot of its urls are dated and not working anymore, and I have lots of duplicates. Also, I am done with this particular research and want to post the result of the bibliography, organized, in Chicago Humanities format, online.
  • I want to remove it from Zotero (because apparently I cannot save new titles unless I buy more storage, which I am unwilling to do).
    Just to be clear, using Zotero on your own computer is entirely free and unlimited, as is data syncing. The storage subscription is solely if you want to sync more than 300 MB of files with your online library and with other computers. If you don't care about syncing files, you can just turn off file syncing in the Zotero Sync preferences, or you could delete the files under those items without removing the items themselves. In any case, this doesn't affect what you can add to Zotero.
    I'll have to digest all this, especially now that Zotero has changed its format to standalone only (not sure, but something has changed).
    I'm not sure what you're saying here, but the discontinuation of the full Firefox extension — which was also local to your computer, not "online" — doesn't have an effect on anything you're discussing.

    If all you want to do is generate a bibliography, you can just right-click on the collection and choose "Create Bibliography from Collection…". If you have nested collections, this would be a couple other ways to do this, which we can explain if necessary.
  • Hi dstillman, thank you for all your help, I really do appreciate it.

    First point, I don't even know if the Zotero icon is standalone or Firefox-linked. There is absolutely no indication. . . I know I installed both. . . I heard you about syncing. I will remember that. I probably need to watch an intro video rather than trying to reinvent the wheel. . . If the full Firefox extension is discontinued, then how do we save new items?

    Generating a bibliography. . . I right-clicked on the collection's title and the only option was to "export" (hence, cvs, Excel, etc.)
  • And how about the yellow triangle that says, "You have reached your Zotero file storage quota. Some files were not uploaded etc. and it prompts me to buy more storage? That's why I want to delete stuff.
    I don't even know how to empty a trash can. . . will try to find a basic video and learn then practice. . .
  • OH, and this shows up in my library's box: "Zotero groups" (3 of them) and "Zotero settings" -- what should I do with them? Delete?
  • I can of course create a bibliography from single items; but not from an entire collection.
  • OK I think I understand. All you have to do is highlight the entire list of titles. I'll try this with my 309 titles. . .
  • No doing. It does not save it in any readable format. . .
  • It saved in an unrecognizable format. had to open it with Word, only to find that this is NOT the format I need. I need Chicago Humanities, and this is not an option. . .
  • OK, the "Full note" is the format I need. Why cant Zotero say "Chicago Humanities"? The word "note" is confusing -- (footnote, endnote)

    Little by little. . .
  • I would strongly recommend spending some time reading through our documentation to start. There seems to be a huge amount here that you're misunderstanding.
    If the full Firefox extension is discontinued, then how do we save new items?
    https://www.zotero.org/blog/zotero-5-and-firefox-faq/
    Generating a bibliography. . . I right-clicked on the collection's title and the only option was to "export" (hence, cvs, Excel, etc.)
    If you right-click on a collection in Zotero, "Create Bibliography from Collection…" is an option. But I think the problem is that you keep referring to group libraries as "collections". As adamsmith explained to you above, those aren't the same thing, and if you keep doing that that's going to keep resulting in a lot of confusion.

    If you want to generate a bibliography from all items in a group library, you can only do so by selecting all items and using right-click → "Create Bibliography from Items…".
    And how about the yellow triangle that says, "You have reached your Zotero file storage quota. Some files were not uploaded etc. and it prompts me to buy more storage? That's why I want to delete stuff.
    As I say, that's for syncing files to your online library and other computers. You can still use Zotero locally without limits.
    OH, and this shows up in my library's box: "Zotero groups" (3 of them) and "Zotero settings"
    I don't know what this is referring to. Are you looking on the Zotero website? Everything we're talking about here is in the Zotero program on your computer, not on the website.
    It saved in an unrecognizable format. had to open it with Word, only to find that this is NOT the format I need. I need Chicago Humanities, and this is not an option. . .
    "Chicago Humanities" isn't a citation style. The style guide is called the Chicago Manual of Style, and that's what Zotero calls the various Chicago-based styles, of which there are various subformats.
  • edited September 8, 2018
    I guess some sources refer to the note-based Chicago styles as "Humanities" styles. I'm not sure if the guide itself uses that term as a proper noun, but as far as I know it's not common usage — only a couple other people have called it that in these forums in over 10 years. In any case, Zotero uses the specific terms to describe what each style is actually producing: author-date, note, full note, etc.
  • Phew. I am done creating bibliographies and putting collections in order, deleting groups. Next stop: a training video.
  • FWIW at my university Chicago style has always been called "standard humanities style" by anthropologists and sociologists. When I first encountered this I was more than puzzled until one prof pointed to the CMS book on my bookshelf. At first, she gave me a withering "look" as though I was an uneducated nincompoop. This was a couple of years ago. When I showed her Zotero's implementation of Chicago she became enthralled with the ease of writing and citing it provides. She is an advocate of Zotero but still refers it to "standard humanities style".
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