can't erase server data and overwrite with local and sync times
Good afternoon.
I want to erase all server data and overwrite my library (on zotero.org) with my local zotero library (on my pc). I have tried this several times and when I hover over the sync error see that it says "accepting local data". When sync is finished, I see that my server library has not changes (i.e. it has citations that are not in the local pc library). I have tried this several times and even restarted firefox a few times... no luck. I have read various feeds on sync and I can't seem to find one that helps.
Also, in trying these actions sync times were on the order of 2-4 hours e.g. on Sat morning (10AM) and Sat afternoon (10pm). This morning sync times were faster (only tried once) m aybe this has to do with your update of the server.
thanks for your assistance, Peggy Ostrom
I want to erase all server data and overwrite my library (on zotero.org) with my local zotero library (on my pc). I have tried this several times and when I hover over the sync error see that it says "accepting local data". When sync is finished, I see that my server library has not changes (i.e. it has citations that are not in the local pc library). I have tried this several times and even restarted firefox a few times... no luck. I have read various feeds on sync and I can't seem to find one that helps.
Also, in trying these actions sync times were on the order of 2-4 hours e.g. on Sat morning (10AM) and Sat afternoon (10pm). This morning sync times were faster (only tried once) m aybe this has to do with your update of the server.
thanks for your assistance, Peggy Ostrom
If the latter did you empty your Zotero trash after deleting the items (and before syncing)?
Ultimately, I would like to sync multiple computers to the same version of MY LIBRARY on the Zotero web site. If I can't get the correct version of MY LIBRARY on the Zotero web site, I won;t be able to do this.
By the way, I do not know anything about emptying Zotero trash. Do you mean on my PC or in my library on the Zotero web site. I don't see an option for it on either the Zotero log in page or on the Zotero screen (the one that comes up with ctrl alt z) Perhaps this is the issue
thanks!
I certainly would like to understand all of this but right now I am just happy its all working.
This all started because I ALWAYS was getting multiple copies of references
I suspect this arises when you auto sync. So, I am going to manually sync. Its not difficult and shouldn't take too long but deleting references and mucking around like I did this weekend took hours! Hope these comments are helpful to someone.
So, I tried to delete everything from my library and re-import. I was able to delete from my local library after a few false starts (delete, reinstate library from trash, delete all again, finally manage to clear all records from trash) which doubled the size of my library from about 7000 to about 14000--not sure how that happened-- but now I have a new problem. When I try to sync so I can start fresh, it appears to want me to INDIVIDUALLY choose which copy of each record to keep: the deleted or the old copy. Only the old copy has a button for "keep this". There is no way to do only part of the choosing at a time. When I cancel the sync, I find I have to start over again when I re-sync. I can find no way to "choose all old" or "choose all deleted" and get this over with. It's taking me about 2 seconds to go through each record. Even if I were confident that It's doing what I want each time (there's no button for choosing "deleted") it will still take me about 7 hours to clean the library out this way!
So, I tried going on the web. Unfortunately I seem to only be able to clean out 25 records at a time through that interface, and they're still in the trash, and I can't see a way to empty the trash (no right click available).
Help?
If that's correct (and really only if it is) - go into the Zotero preferences --> sync -->Reset --> Restore to Zotero server (careful! - the default is the opposite) and click the Reset button.
Edit: The reason to not allow "merge all duplicate" is that the duplicate feature is _much_ too imprecise for that. In a typical library that would merge a large number of items that aren't duplicates.
I started Zotero and switch off autosync. Then I shut Zotero down.
I deleted the empty local library directory, then I started local Zotero again. My library contained only the "Zotero Quick Start Guide".
Then I pressed "Restore to Zotero Server" from Preferences/Sync/ subtab "Reset", ignored the warning, and bingo! my library on the server was zapped down to just the "Zotero Quick Start Guide".
This may not always work - verify through the web interface that the libray data on the server are really gone.