file syncing not working

choi0836
Hello,

I have been using Zotero app on my laptop and trying to find articles in my web library. In my web library, I can see all the folders that I created with my laptop, but I cannot find any articles within the folder. In the preferences tab, I checked that all the libraries were selected correctly for syncing.

One thing that I noted is that there has been always an error message like this: "The creator name “Al Otaiba, Alfonso, Balu, Bannatyne, Bateman, Beau…” in one of your items is too long to sync. Shorten the field and sync again. If you receive this message repeatedly for items saved from a particular site, you can report this issue in the Zotero Forums." This error message does not disappear even when I deleted the article.

Any ideas? The same issue happens when I am trying to use the zotero app with my iPad.

Thank you so much for your help in advance!
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    It just means what it says. Shorten the field or delete the item and empty the trash. If you're seeing the message, an item with that creator still exists, either in your library or in the trash.
  • choi0836
    Thanks for the reply. I have been deleting the items with that error messages so far(approximately 50 articles), which is very time-consuming, but I always see the same message for different articles. I wonder if there is any way to check the exact number of remaining articles that I would need to delete. Since there are thousands of articles in total in my folder, I just want to get a sense of how long this task may take.
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    How exactly did you import the items? What appears in the Library Catalog field for these items?

    You're getting these errors because there was a problem with the import — the names are obviously not supposed to be in a single field separated by commas. If you imported these recently from a file and haven't worked much with them (added them to collections, used them in word processor documents), we can help you correct the file and you can delete the entire batch and reimport. You shouldn't delete items that you actually want in your library.
  • choi0836
    Actually, I don't want to delete them since I downloaded them to read sometime in the future. I am not sure what you exactly mean by import, but I usually save the article directly from the website (e.g., google scholar) to zotero. I see nothing written in the library catalog field.
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    edited July 5, 2022
    Save directly from the website how? Using the Save to Zotero button in your browser toolbar, or something else?

    This generally doesn't happen when you use the Save to Zotero button, and if you have nothing in Library Catalog, that's not what you used here. An empty Library Catalog would mean that you imported these from a file, which could include clicking a download link for a RIS or BibTeX file rather than using the Save to Zotero button. The save button will automatically correct bad data in the data files that sites provide, whereas if you import those files directly, you're more likely to see these errors.

    If you can tell us exactly how you imported these specific items, we can see if we can adjust the importer to better handle the invalid data.
  • choi0836
    Oh, I see. I used the Save to Zotero button in most cases, but in some cases, I moved the file saved on my laptop directly to Zotero, which I guess caused the errors. In this case, do you think deleting individually would be the only possible option?
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    I moved the file saved on my laptop directly to Zotero
    No, adding a PDF wouldn't do it either — Zotero will retrieve metadata in that case and correct it as necessary. This is from importing an actual metadata file (BibTeX, RIS, etc.), including clicking on such a link in the browser and telling Zotero to import it.

    There's no automated way of correcting these (without writing a script to do that), but again, if you can tell us how exactly you got them into your library, we might be able to say more. This shouldn't really be a mystery. You can just sort your library by Date Added and look at all the items added at the same time.
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    edited July 5, 2022
    (Based on the items with similarly incorrect but not too-long-to-sync names already synced to your online library, these were all added on a specific day in February.)
  • choi0836
    I hope I could remember how I imported each article, but I cannot. What I am sure of is that I imported most of the articles using the Save to Zotero button. I sorted the library by date added, and could you please let me know what the next step would be like?
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    I'm telling you you didn't use Save to Zotero for these. Otherwise there would be a value in Library Catalog. You're going to have to take my word for that.

    This is bad data in your library, and you'll need to resolve this yourself in order to sync. Once you've sorted by Date Added, you can see all the items you added on that day in February and either delete them or correct them as you see fit. (I don't know what these names are or how important it is to you to separate them into individual creators vs. just deleting the creator line. Entirely up to you and your requirements.)
  • choi0836
    I appreciate your help. I deleted all the items added in February, and it seems that the issue with syncing is resolved. I am just seeing the message that I have reached my Zotero File Storage quota, which is a completely different issue. Thanks.
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