Renaming, Updating, etc

asterionae
Hi, I'm new to Zotero and transitioning from Mendeley. I've encountered a few issues that I'm hoping some of you might be able to help me with.

1. Updating is stuck: I'm having trouble with the update process. Could you please provide guidance on what might be causing this issue?
https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u14862426/8drc8te00ubiapul9s4k.png

2. Renaming PDF files in Zotero: I'm not sure if I'm looking in the right place, but I can't figure out how to make Zotero change the name of a PDF file on a folder. For example, I want to rename the file "fettiplace2006" in my folder to its full name, "Fettiplace and Hackney - 2006 - The sensory and motor roles of auditory hair cells.pdf," as suggested by Zotero. When I click on "Rename File from Parent Metadata," nothing happens. How should I proceed to make this work?
https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u14862426/9cmqxz9uuvkm9t2c5kn5.png

3. Viewing PDFs directly. Is there a way to remove the top section (the one that has the title and looks like a text note icon) so that I can see just the PDF? I'm not sure why it's split into two parts. In this example I just want to see the pdf part with the title "Fettiplace and Hackney - 2006 - The sensory and motor roles of auditory hair cells.pdf", not the top section with the text note icon that reads "The sensory and motor roles of auditory hair cells"
https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u14862426/138hxz3w2ntet9qsp7cv.png
  • tnajdek
    1. You can try downloading the latest version from zotero.org to do the upgrade
    2. The generated file name seems correct. You can configure it in preferences, see: https://www.zotero.org/support/file_renaming
    3. You can collapse the the item so that the attachment (PDF) is not visible. In Zotero you generally want to work with items not files directly. See https://www.zotero.org/support/kb/library_items
  • asterionae
    1. I understand, but that's not really the point, right? The app's update feature should be working properly.

    2. I think there’s been a misunderstanding. While the name displayed in Zotero is correct, I want the actual PDF file in my folder to match that name. Currently, the PDF in my folder is still named "fettiplace2006," but I want it to be renamed to the full name shown in Zotero.

    What I’ve noticed is that Zotero creates a copy of the PDF with the complete name in its Zotero/storage folder, but it doesn’t update the name of the original PDF in my folder. I’d prefer not to have this duplication. Instead, I just want to change the name of the PDF in my original folder without Zotero creating a new copy elsewhere. Is this possible?

    https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u14862426/sr1lf7w3l04kqbplq5rj.png
  • adamsmith
    1. It generally does. When it doesn't, there's typically some file that's not released by the operating system and it's faster to just re-install then to try to go through file locks and permissions.

    2. You can do that with linked as opposed to stored files, see the documentation here: https://www.zotero.org/support/attaching_files#stored_files_and_linked_files
    linked files are, imo, a lot less convenient to manage, so I generally recommend using stored files and not worrying about Zotero's internal folder structure.
  • tim820
    edited October 10, 2024
    Re 2, when you add a PDF attachment file to an item in Zotero, it is copied to an arbitrarily-named folder you see under Zotero\storage. That's the only PDF Zotero then knows about, so the only one that is renamed.

    If you want to maintain PDFs *only* in your own folder somewhere on your computer, you can use "linked" files. But they have limitations - Zotero doesn't sync them online, so they are not accessible across devices (unless you sync the folder yourself, using a cloud service). Also, they are not accessible in the web library, the mobiles apps, nor in Groups.
    https://www.zotero.org/support/attaching_files#stored_files_and_linked_files

    People generally use a plugin to manage linked files (Zotfile for Zotero v6, Zotmoov or attanger for v7). They rename linked files as needed.


  • asterionae
    Thank you for all the replies. This approach seems more complicated than my usual method with Mendeley. I think I'll stick with Mendeley for now—just drag and drop, rename, and it's done (plus, the web library stays synced). I already use Box, so I don't need an app to handle syncing. I wanted to switch to Zotero because I really dislike Elsevier's publishing prices, paywalls, etc.
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