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 Zotero Team
    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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