Zotero

If you are regularly using more than one computer in your research or go between Zotero 7 and Zotero Online, Zotero's sync feature can keep your library up to date across all platforms. Zotero can store a copy of your library on their server and check for updates whenever you open your library on a different computer.

To initially set up the sync feature in Zotero 7, complete the following steps:

1. Go to Preferences (under the Edit tab).
2. Select the Sync tab.
3. Enter your Zotero user name and password. 
4. Check the "Sync Automatically" box.
5. Check both boxes under File Syncing and choose Zotero storage for My Library. This will sync your PDF attachments as well as citations. 
6. Click OK.  The Preferences box will close.
7. In the main Zotero interface, click the green circular arrow button at the top right corner of the Zotero window.
8. Zotero will upload your library to the server.
9. Repeat this configuration on each of your computers. 

Any updates you make on one of your computers will be reflected on the others. This even works to synchronize your library among Windows, Mac and Linux computers.

For more details and help troubleshooting sync problems, check the Zotero site. 

When you make a Zotero account, you get 300MB of cloud storage for free. If you need to keep more than a few hundred citations or full-text PDFs in your library and still be able to back it up to the cloud or else sync it across multiple machines, you may find yourself needing additional storage. Zotero has several tiers of prices for this.

If you are affiliated with IU Bloomington and you have a research account, you may find yourself or your department are able to use IU funds to purchase higher storage tiers. At this time, the libraries do not have a site license for Zotero Storage as it is more cost effective to cover this cost across via research accounts.

ZotMoov

ZotMoov is a plugin for Zotero that makes it easier to manage your files when you connect Zotero to cloud storage. This plugin is only available for Zotero version 7, and it replaces the ZotFile plugin for previous versions of Zotero.

ZotMoov allows users to automatically save file attachments on the cloud storage service of their choosing and bypass Zotero storage. PDFs are linked to their corresponding items in Zotero for easy viewing via the Zotero PDF viewer.

Note: The ZotMoov plugin only works with the Zotero desktop version. Users who regularly work with the web version of Zotero will find that file attachments stored someplace other than Zotero cloud storage will not be accessible from the web version.

Before you start you should make a backup of your Zotero library.

Set Up Cloud Storage

Any cloud storage service that has a sync feature, such as Google Drive, Dropbox, or Microsoft OneDrive will work with ZotMoov. The example below demonstrates how to set up ZotMoov with Microsoft OneDrive.

If you are not familiar with Microsoft OneDrive at IU, this knowledge base article covers the basics. Before configuring ZotMoov, create a folder on OneDrive where you can store file attachments. Make sure you have OneDrive sync set up on each computer you plan to use Zotero with the ZotMoov plugin.

When you graduate or leave IU, you will need to move all files to saved in OneDrive to retain access to them. You can follow the steps below with another cloud storage service to continue using ZotMoov.

Download ZotMoov

1. Go to https://github.com/wileyyugioh/zotmoov  
2. Click "Download latest release here"
3. Download the latest release by clicking on the .xpi file. In Firefox, right click on the .xpi file and select "Save Link As…"

Install ZotMoov

1. Open Zotero and select Tools > Plugins from the menu
   
2. In the Plugins Manager, click on the gear wheel icon and choose "Install Plugin From File…"
   
3. Navigate to where you saved the .xpi file on your computer and select it to install the ZotMoov plugin

Configure ZotMoov

1. Go to Zotero > Settings
2. Select ZotMoov in the settings menu
3. Leave "File Behavior" set to Move
4. Under "Directory to Move/Copy Files To", click Choose Directory and select the folder you set up on OneDrive
5. Under "Other Settings" check the box next to "Automatically Move/Copy Files When Added" 
   
6. Go to "Sync" in the settings menu
7. Under "File Syncing" uncheck the box next to "Sync attachment files in My Library using Zotero" if you do not plan to use Zotero's cloud file storage

Using ZotMoov

When you save an article in Zotero and you have access to the full-text PDF, ZotMoov will automatically move the file attachment to the folder that you set up on OneDrive and link to it from Zotero:

You can double-click on the linked file to open it in the Zotero PDF viewer. You can annotate linked PDF files the same way you would a PDF file stored in your Zotero cloud storage. Note: Regardless of where you store PDF files, annotations are only visible in the Zotero PDF viewer.