Reference PDF from Original Location, Don't Copy to Directory?

dgjoyner
I'm new to Zotero so I'm still learning its features (and limitations?).

I have Zotero on a laptop and desktop (PCs). I have a reasonably sized collection of articles in PDF on my OneDrive (which syncs across both computers). Since the files themselves are already synced I have tried to setup Linked files (since the Zotero website states "With linked files, Zotero only stores a link to the location of the original file on your computer.")

I have set the Linked Attachment Base Directories on each computer. Yet despite all these options when I add an item to Zotero it still copies the PDF to its data directory, rather than just referencing it as the description of Linked Files makes it sound like it would (which is what I need).

To troubleshoot, I have turned off both options under Sync > File Syncing. And under Sync > Data Syncing I have unchecked "Sync full-text content." I have tried installing Zotfile as this allegedly can "help with an efficient linked-file workflow," though I didn't see any particular options in its settings that seemed helpful in this instance.

Can someone please help me with this? Or is this just how Zotero does things and there's no way around it? (In which case I will have to look for other software options)

Thanks in advance.
  • adamsmith
    And under Sync > Data Syncing I have unchecked "Sync full-text content."
    Don't do that -- that's just for indexing and full text search. The only reason you may want to disable that is if you have very, very strong privacy/security requirement for the full text content of your attachments.
    I have tried installing Zotfile as this allegedly can "help with an efficient linked-file workflow," though I didn't see any particular options in its settings that seemed helpful in this instance.
    Yes, that's what you want -- the relevant option is the custom file location in the ZotFile preferences set to the relevant Zotero folder.
  • dgjoyner
    When you say "set to the relevant Zotero folder", do you mean that in Zotfile I should set the Location of Files > Custom Location to the folder I chose in Zotero's Linked Attachment Base Directory or its Data Directory Location?
  • adamsmith
    The Linked Attachment Base Directory, yes
  • dgjoyner
    Hi Adam, thanks for the reply. So, as it turns out ZotFile is not needed for what I am trying to do after all.

    The trick was, rather than just dragging and dropping PDFs into Zotero, I have to hit the green + and choose "Link to File". Luckily multiple files in a subfolder can be selected at once (though I might try selecting whole folders and see if that is possible). Since I had already set my Linked Attachment Base Directory on each computer, Zotero found the PDFs on the other computer with no problem (once the renamed versions synced over that is).

    By default when you Link to File, Zotero is not set to automatically rename the original file based on metadata (which could be a good thing). But it IS possible to make it do so. I had to Edit>Preferences>Advanced>Config Editor, there I searched "rename" and then toggled autoRenameFiles.linked to "True". There might be a time when I toggle this off, but for most of my files (many of which have names like tp2013112a.pdf) it will be extremely useful.

    Hope this helps someone!
  • dstillman
    If you'll be adding files to Zotero going forward and want to use a linked-file workflow, you want ZotFile — that's why it's mentioned in that section. Link to File allows you add existing files on disk to Zotero, but that's not how you want to use Zotero normally. You want to save items from the web with attached files, and ZotFile is what will convert the stored files Zotero creates by default to linked files in the folder you've configured. You don't want to download files directly to that folder, tediously add each one as a linked file, and hope that Zotero is able to retrieve metadata. I'd strongly encourage you to read through the linked page to better understand how Zotero is intended to be used.
    But it IS possible to make it do so. I had to Edit>Preferences>Advanced>Config Editor, there I searched "rename" and then toggled autoRenameFiles.linked to "True".
    You don't need to go into the Config Editor. That's just a visible preference in the General pane of the preferences. And it's not necessary when saving files normally via Zotero.
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