Set up sync with Dropbox

rutyggi
Hello,

I want to sync articles metadata to the Zotero server, and attached PDF files to Dropbox.

I have installed ZotFile to do so.

In Tools -> ZotFile preferences, under "General settings" tab and "Location of files" header, I selected the option "Custom location" and put a sub-folder of my DropBox folder. Then I click Close.

But when I sync, I still receive the error "You have reached your Zotero file storage quota" and the DropBox folder is empty.

Please help
  • rutyggi
    Hello,

    I am following the guide here: https://guides.lib.berkeley.edu/c.php?g=4472&p=6647803

    but I am not getting it. What is the difference between:

    Tools > ZotFile preferences > General Settings > Location of File

    and

    Edit > Preferences > Advanced > Files and Folders > Linked Attachment Base Directory

    ?

    Why do I have to set the path to my Dropbox folder twice?
  • johnmy
    edited February 1, 2021
    I think you should uncheck the Sync full-text content and Sync attachment files in My Library using ... option in Settings of Sync tab in Zotero Preferences
  • rutyggi
    @johnmy yes I did that. Please see my second message. Thanks
  • johnmy
    The first setting is the location where ZotFlie moved the attachments to.
    The second one to tell Zotero where to find the attachments.
  • johnmy
    And you should set Sync through Edit > Preferences-Sync in Zotero instead of Advanced.
  • rutyggi
    > And you should set Sync through Edit > Preferences-Sync in Zotero instead of Advanced.

    I don't get this.

    In Edit > Preferences > Sync I have de-selected:

    "Sync attachment files in my library"

    and

    "Sync attachment files in group libraries"

    In

    Tools > Preferences > Advanced > Files and Folder > Linked attachment base directory

    I have the Dropbox folder

    > The first setting is the location where ZotFlie moved the attachments to.
    > The second one to tell Zotero where to find the attachments.

    So if I set the first but not the second, ZotFile will move my files but Zotero will not find them anymore?



  • johnmy
    edited February 1, 2021
    >In Edit > Preferences > Sync I have de-selected
    Then you did what I meant

    >So if I set the first but not the second, ZotFile will move my files but Zotero will not find them anymore?
    I think it is, if not the second when you double click the item, Zotero maybe can not open the attachment.

    You can try rename and move the attachment manually through right click the item and select Manage Attachment-Rename Attachments, then check if the attachment has been renamed and moved to the location you set.
  • dstillman
    I think you should uncheck the Sync full-text content
    You don't need to uncheck that. That's full-text content for searching — it's not the files themselves, and it doesn't count against your quota. The whole point of that feature is to let you search through your files even if you don't have them locally (or on the web library if you don't use Zotero file storage).
    The second one to tell Zotero where to find the attachments.
    While you should set it if you're using linked files, the Linked Attachment Base Directory setting doesn't help Zotero find files on the computer where you added them. It's to have it store the files with relative paths so you can use the same folder on another computer even if it's at a different path.
  • johnmy
    @dstillman Got it, thanks.

    BTW, how to show the text with the preceding blue bar.
  • dstillman
    BTW, how to show the text with the preceding blue bar.
    <blockquote></blockquote>
  • johnmy
    blockquote /blockquote
    Thanks
  • rutyggi
    @dstillman I am a bit confused.

    So I set

    Tools > ZotFile preferences > General Settings > Location of File

    to a Dropbox folder.

    This will move my PDFs to that Dropbox folder, right?

    If I don't do anything else, will Zotero find my PDFs?

    While you should set it if you're using linked files, the Linked Attachment Base Directory setting doesn't help Zotero find files on the computer where you added them. It's to have it store the files with relative paths so you can use the same folder on another computer even if it's at a different path.
    So if I set "Linked Attachment Base Directory", the path of the PDFs inside the sqllite database will use relative rather than absolute paths?

    What will happen if I set a "Linked Attachment Base Directory" different than the Dropbox folder Zotfile is moving my PDFs into?
  • dstillman
    If I don't do anything else, will Zotero find my PDFs?
    Yes. ZotFile just creates linked-file attachments, as you can do yourself manually.
    So if I set "Linked Attachment Base Directory", the path of the PDFs inside the sqllite database will use relative rather than absolute paths?
    Yes.
    What will happen if I set a "Linked Attachment Base Directory" different than the Dropbox folder Zotfile is moving my PDFs into?
    Then those files would be stored with absolute paths.
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