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Setting up Zotero collections to mirror folders and subfolders on the hard drive to save to Zotero, an external SSD and Idrive cloud storage?
I am currently uploading all the hundreds of files from my computer into collections and subcollections in Zotero (and I am going to pay for Zotero storage so I can access from more than one computer). However, I still have another year of Idrive back up paid for and I also want to back everything up to an external SSD drive.
Ideally, what I would like, is to save the files on my hard drive (and thus Idrive and also transfer to the SSD drive) in folders organized the same way as the Zotero collections and subcollections. What is the quickest way to do this? Organize everything on my hard drive into the appropriately named folders and subfolders and then upload the files to Zotero collections and subcollections with the same names? Or create the collections and subcollections in Zotero and then resave them to my computer in the newly organized folders and subfolders? Or is there a simple way to do this? Exporting doesn't seem to export them as PDFs. And I read in the Zotero 7 guide I can not save my Zotero data storage in a folder synced to any cloud storage other than Zotero's. In other words, I want my Zotero collections and subcollections to mirror the folders and subfolders on my hard drive and have these folders saved on Idrive and an external SSD drive, as well as being saved on Zotero.
Hi, YB. I'm not familiar with iDrive, but hopefully I can help.
First thing to note, if you're going to use Zotero storage, which I HIGHLY recommend, now that I am reaping the benefits of that service, Zotero will be storing your attachments in folders of its own structure on your hard drive. When I was linking out to freestanding attachments, it was critical to keep the same folder structure as I used in Zotero, but letting Zotero do its own filing has made my work so much more efficient; no filing decisions to make, no browsing, no typing of filenames. All of my old linked attachments remain in their original structures for the present. Someday, I'll use Zotero's tool to convert everything to internal Zotero storage.
It would be ideal if you went ahead and used Zotero's storage, so you don't have to set up the folder structure on your hard drive. It will be some work to set up and links can break if you decide to correct something misspelled in your folder structure or move something to a new place, and the links into Zotero are broken. Zotero Storage would be the speediest setup, and most stable long-term arrangement.
It is true that things that are embedded in Zotero's database cannot be two-way synced to external storage while you are in Zotero, if you're also syncing out to Zotero's storage. The problem is that, in two-way syncing, there will come a time when your iDrive version is behind your Zotero version and will attempt to overwrite the older data on top of the newer data. It will corrupt your database--this learned from hard experience. External attachments, linked to rather than embedded in Zotero, can be two-way synced without a problem because they are not writing out to the Zotero database.
What I would encourage you to do with your iDrive is to have it back up the whole Zotero folder (C:\Users\Your Name\Zotero) on your hard drive to iDrive once a day. Treat it as a backup, rather than a sync. I do this every night. Using AOMEI Backupper, I schedule it to write the whole Zotero folder out to my Dropbox storage. I also back up all data I have linked to from Zotero--back when I was using the free version and keeping no attachments in Zotero's database. It is essentially everything in the Data Directory I chose in Zotero's settings. This means that I have the full Zotero data and my external attachments on my hard drive. The Zotero storage makes another full copy of the Zotero database--not my externally linked attachments. And my Dropbox has a full copy of both, never more than 24 hours old. You can also back up the same way to your SSD drive--moving a copy of all of it daily. Then iDrive and the SSD are purely used in the case of a data crash or lost computer or similar tragedy, replacing the original data and, at worst, redoing work lost in the last 24 hours.
If it is vital you keep every attachment in a folder structure of your own design, after you've purchased Zotero Storage, you will be keeping two copies of each attachment on your hard drive. The first will be in the Zotero storage folder at C:\Users\Your Name\Zotero, dropped there by Zotero as you add the attachment into the main database. You would then have to manually create another version in your external set of folders and link to them from Zotero--so an embedded and a linked attachment connected to the same citation record. Absolutely do-able, if you're OK with the duplication.
For what it's worth, I have loved only filing in Zotero's collections and letting Zotero deal with where it puts attachments. Well worth $10 a month and then some.
I fear I've been more confusing than helpful, but let me know if more information is needed.
Thanks,
Donna
WHEW!
Donna, that's a brain twister!
I think I will have to put your response into an AI bot and see if it can put it into a numbered list of steps at best, or at least a summary of your recommendations. 🙂
Linda Morgan Clark
Check this response from ChatGPT 4.o https://chatgpt.com/share/671e491e-ca3c-8003-8720-e38fc285e422
Does it look correct?
Check this out as well: https://chatgpt.com/share/671e4a51-49a4-8003-9ad0-e9bb8e852401
Remarkable summaries, Linda! These do a great job of the reasoning behind paid storage. There were two aspects of YP's question that added a complication I wasn't sure how to advise on. He/she wants attachments in a duplicate structure to the Zotero Collections structure in iDrive and the SSD. And YB plans to get Zotero Storage, presumably after the iDrive subscription ends? I wasn't clear on when the paid storage with Zotero would begin. In my book Zotero for Genealogy I was writing with the free version in mind, which I had used for many years. In that situation, users are strongly advised to keep a hard drive structure that mirrors the Collections in Zotero. But if you go to paid storage, from then on, everything you put into Zotero is stored on your hard drive in codenamed folders in Zotero's main storage folder. So the advice is different. My concern for YB in setting it all up with the free structure for a year, then going to paid, might be a lot of work that could be saved by paying for storage now.
YB, please let us know if all of this is making any sense for your plans. It's a complex question, as you see, but much needed to work through. Whew!
Thank you everyone. I have to admit I am a bit lost from the discussion.
I am purchasing Zotero storage now, so that may make it simpler to explain one plan of action. We can leave out linked files.
So these are my questions:
- Since I am purchasing Zotero storage now, I don't necessarily need to save the Zotero storage folder in Idrive. I don't think it overwrites anything as I sync, but would it be better not save the Zotero storage folder in Idrive? The files will be stored in Zotero as I upload them and in their old semi-organized folders on the Idrive in case something happens to my hard drive.
2. If I want to save the files in the same organization as Zotero collections on my hard drive is the only way manually creating a mirror folder system on my hard drive? (The Zotero storage file wont do that).
3. Is there a way to export my whole Zotero library or collections/subcollections to my hard drive in the format the files are in. For example, could I export a collection with all of its PDFs in PDF format at once to correctly named folders on my hard drive instead of having to do each individual PDF? I could upload all of my files to Zotero and then do quick download(s) to create the mirror image folder system on my hard drive. Now it seems I can only export the library and collections as Zoterp RDFS and other things I am not familiar with.
Thank you for your help. It is nice to finally really get organized in a way that matches the way my brain works:)
