Upgrade StorageInternally linked documents: Deleting and moving
I have previously seen discussion in this forum about dragging and dropping documents, explaining that by holding the shift key I can move the document, and by d&d without the shift key I create a link. I am happy with this arrangement, but some confusion arises.
I need to know which instance of a document is a link, and which is the original. If I delete the link, no problem. If I delete the original, what's the link linked to? Or have I merely created a second instance of the original document, And I can delete either without affecting the other?
In the first instance, I would like to know how to identify which is the original, and which is the child document. Otherwise, what if this is the only copy of the document? Maybe I don't want to delete it, I just don't want it in this folder. Knowing it's not the only instance would be very helpful!! Does such a flag exist that I could refer to? Does the storage library have information about where a document is listed?
Any clarification will be appreciated.
I need to know which instance of a document is a link, and which is the original. If I delete the link, no problem. If I delete the original, what's the link linked to? Or have I merely created a second instance of the original document, And I can delete either without affecting the other?
In the first instance, I would like to know how to identify which is the original, and which is the child document. Otherwise, what if this is the only copy of the document? Maybe I don't want to delete it, I just don't want it in this folder. Knowing it's not the only instance would be very helpful!! Does such a flag exist that I could refer to? Does the storage library have information about where a document is listed?
Any clarification will be appreciated.
https://www.zotero.org/support/collections_and_tags#the_zotero_collections_model
If you select Move Item to Bin, it is is removed from My Library and also every collection to which it belonged. If however you select Remove Item from Collection, it is only removed from that collection.
Drag and drop can move items from one collection to another, or copy them between collections.
"Linked" files are a whole other thing.
https://www.zotero.org/support/attaching_files#stored_files_and_linked_files
So from what you said, I am picturing the document in the zotero folder on my hard drive, and that every collection that refers to that document refers directly to the document. If I remove a document reference from the library (the root where all documents are listed), all references disappear, but if I remove from a collection, only that one reference disappears. I don't have to worry that if I delete the first instance of the document in one collection, the second "cloned" copy in another collection will be affected at all.
Thank you!
Remove from Collection, removes item from that specific collection, but not from other collections or the library root. It does not delete.
When you right-click on items that are not in any collection, you do not get a "Remove from Collection" option. Because they are not in any collection.
Move into Trash deletes the item entirely. A deleted item is simply gone. From everywhere (except Trash). There is no "cloned" copy. There is only one copy. One item is associated with multiple collections. You can either *remove* it from one or more collections, and delete it from the library entirely.
People sometimes accidentally add an item a second time, e.g., from the internet, without realizing they had a copy in their library. Then, they'll have duplicated items. But that's not what we are talking about at all.
I recently learned about items not in a collection. I have some cleaning to do!
Thanks again.