backup isolated collection/share selected items

marinatmendes
Hi

I manage multiple folders (A, B, and C) corresponding to different projects. I finished Project A and would like to get rid of the collection to free up some space in the Zotero cloud storage.

What I would like to do is:

1) a backup of folder A with the PDFs, the sqlite file, etc. Like an isolated folder A and not the entire library. The only way I see is to share only this folder with a _ghost_ user and have a clean folder A.

2) My coordinator also asked me to understand if I can select specific items and only share the PDFs, e.g. via email. Is there an alternative to storing a particular collection OR selecting items with v7 instead of using the solution Export collection>Zotero RDF and separating the PDFs with the * quick search? I saw this post, "Zotero backup specific to collection," at https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/75492/zotero-backup-specific-to-collection, but I couldn't reply and revive it. After I logged in, the post disappeared.
  • marinatmendes
    Could you please have a look at this post? I am sorry if it is a repeated question. In that case, point me to the solution.

    Thanks
  • damnation
    2)
    Mark all items in your collection with Ctrl+A, then go to File > Export PDFs...
  • marinatmendes
    so simple, thanks damnation

    What about 1), can someone help me with that?
  • adamsmith
    Can't be done in the way you describe.
  • marinatmendes
    @adamsmith, can you tell if it is possible and how to do it?
  • adamsmith
    No, I mean -- it's not possible to do what you ask, i.e. create a fully functional back-up of an individual collection. You can export to Zotero RDF, but that's not entirely lossless and, more importantly, won't maintain links to items cited in Word/LO documents.
  • marinatmendes
    Does it work if I create a Zotero profile to cover folder A?
  • adamsmith
    I'm not entirely clear what you mean, but you'd still have to move it to a different library, so citations would get disconnected.
  • marinatmendes
    Sorry, I know some things, but I am pretty basic at programming.

    1- create a profile A
    2 - duplicate the Zotero directory folder and name it as Zotero_A
    3 - change the data directory location of profile A from the default to Zotero_A folder: it will have the entire library but with profile A I can delete the collections I don't want to keep and only keep collection A. Will the directory folder of profile A have only collection A, and this way, I have a backup of collection A?

    Is there any problem with sync, and is there a possibility of losing collections?
  • adamsmith
    edited March 19, 2025
    Yeah, there's so much that can go wrong with this (yes, including losing your entire library due to an incorrect sync) that I won't be party to this beyond my advice not to do it.
    You can turn attachments into links for folders you want to back-up (e.g. using ZotMoov), you can look if you can find a cheap WebDAV, or you can pay for Zotero Storage, but engaging in elaborate, extremely risky & error prone workarounds for the purpose of backing up something is a terrible, terrible idea.
  • marinatmendes
    Thanks for your support and clarity, @adamsmith.
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