I just upgraded to the paid version of Zotero and all my pdf attachments have disappeared. I'm really frustrated. Who can I complain to? How can I get them back?
This is some sort of misunderstanding. Upgrading your storage subscription would never cause files to disappear. It simply allows you to upload additional files to Zotero servers.
Nothing has been deleted recently in your online library.
Unless you deleted files outside of Zotero, all files you added would still exist on the computer where you added them.
Note that you're using exactly 300 MB, which is the free quota. That means additional files weren't being uploaded from the computer where you were adding them. Simply upgrading storage now wouldn't immediately make those files available on other devices, since those files were never on our servers to begin with. You'd have to actually sync the computer where the files were added, now that you have online storage space to upload them to, and then they'll be available on other devices. See Files Not Syncing if you're having trouble with that.
If you are on the computer where you added these files, you may have accidentally deleted your Zotero data directory (e.g., while trying to clear disk space), and then redownloaded only the 300 MB of files that were on our servers. That wouldn't be related to adding a storage plan, and adding a storage plan now wouldn't help. Zotero can only download the files that were on our servers to begin with. Locating Missing Zotero Data explains the information you can provide from the data directory to help us determine whether it's a newly created folder.
I'm sorry, I'm confused. I work with 2 different computers. Some of the files were added on one and some on another. But now all have disappeared. In fact they faded out before my eyes after I upgraded.
The page where I entered my credit card details has a red button saying 'Purge'. I initially clicked on it because it seemed to be inviting me to do that (and because there was no other way of continuing the purchase), but when I received a message saying that this would get rid of stuff, I didn't go any further (or was there no going back?)
Basically, I need to know how to recover all those attachments now. I am at present away from home until mid August, so have no access to the other computer.
No, we didn't do anything, but there's a lot of confusion here.
1) Clicking "Purge Storage in My Library" is just an unrelated button at the bottom of the storage settings page. You certainly don't need to click that to continue a storage purchase. The reason for using that button is explained below it: "Use this to free up space for group libraries you own after disabling file syncing for My Library or switching to WebDAV storage."
2) You don't appear to have actually clicked that button. You're still using 300 MB, nearly all files you added in 2017.
3) All other files in your library are linked files. Those don't sync to Zotero servers to begin with, so your storage subscription has no effect on those and you don't need a storage subscription to use them.
4) Your linked files are all in Dropbox. It's possible your Dropbox folder temporarily disappeared, changed paths, purged and repopulated, etc.
5) Your linked files are stored using absolute paths, with multiple different Windows usernames, meaning each set will only work on the computer where you added them. You can fix that by setting up a linked attachment base directory on all computers.
6) None of this has to do with adding a storage subscription in any way. If you'd like to start using your storage subscription, you'll want to use Tools → Manage Attachments → Convert Linked Files to Stored Files and stop creating linked files going forward.
Upgrade Storage
Nothing has been deleted recently in your online library.
Unless you deleted files outside of Zotero, all files you added would still exist on the computer where you added them.
Note that you're using exactly 300 MB, which is the free quota. That means additional files weren't being uploaded from the computer where you were adding them. Simply upgrading storage now wouldn't immediately make those files available on other devices, since those files were never on our servers to begin with. You'd have to actually sync the computer where the files were added, now that you have online storage space to upload them to, and then they'll be available on other devices. See Files Not Syncing if you're having trouble with that.
If you are on the computer where you added these files, you may have accidentally deleted your Zotero data directory (e.g., while trying to clear disk space), and then redownloaded only the 300 MB of files that were on our servers. That wouldn't be related to adding a storage plan, and adding a storage plan now wouldn't help. Zotero can only download the files that were on our servers to begin with. Locating Missing Zotero Data explains the information you can provide from the data directory to help us determine whether it's a newly created folder.
The page where I entered my credit card details has a red button saying 'Purge'. I initially clicked on it because it seemed to be inviting me to do that (and because there was no other way of continuing the purchase), but when I received a message saying that this would get rid of stuff, I didn't go any further (or was there no going back?)
Basically, I need to know how to recover all those attachments now. I am at present away from home until mid August, so have no access to the other computer.
1) Clicking "Purge Storage in My Library" is just an unrelated button at the bottom of the storage settings page. You certainly don't need to click that to continue a storage purchase. The reason for using that button is explained below it: "Use this to free up space for group libraries you own after disabling file syncing for My Library or switching to WebDAV storage."
2) You don't appear to have actually clicked that button. You're still using 300 MB, nearly all files you added in 2017.
3) All other files in your library are linked files. Those don't sync to Zotero servers to begin with, so your storage subscription has no effect on those and you don't need a storage subscription to use them.
4) Your linked files are all in Dropbox. It's possible your Dropbox folder temporarily disappeared, changed paths, purged and repopulated, etc.
5) Your linked files are stored using absolute paths, with multiple different Windows usernames, meaning each set will only work on the computer where you added them. You can fix that by setting up a linked attachment base directory on all computers.
6) None of this has to do with adding a storage subscription in any way. If you'd like to start using your storage subscription, you'll want to use Tools → Manage Attachments → Convert Linked Files to Stored Files and stop creating linked files going forward.