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Zotero: ZotMoov

This guide will help you use the free online citation and research management tool Zotero to organize citations from Library catalogs and databases.

NOTE

ZotMoov is a third-party plugin for managing attachments in Zotero 7.  Note that Zotfile is no longer being developed and is not compatible with Zotero 7

To install:

1. On the ZotMoov GitHub site, look in the README file to find the link to the download page and then download the xpi file
2. In the Zotero application, go to Tools > Plugins.
3. Click on the gear icon and choose Install plugin from file
4. Locate your downloaded xpi file and click Open

Manage & Sync attachments with ZotMoov

An alternative to syncing files using Zotero's storage is to use ZotMoov along with a cloud storage service, such as Google Drive, Dropbox, Box, MEGA, or Sync. Your first step is to choose a service and download its desktop sync app. (The example below uses Dropbox.)

If you are not a Zotfile user and this is the first time you are using a plugin to manage attachments, then do the following:

1. Make a local backup of your library before moving it.
2. Create a folder on your cloud server client that other applications will not alter. (I named mine Zotmoov.)
3. Uncheck Sync attachment files in My Library using Zotero in the Sync section in Zotero settings. 
4. If you plan to sync across multiple devices, set the Linked Attachment Base Directory to the synced folder on each computer (in my case, this is C:\Users\Jennifer\Dropbox\Zotmoov). 

After installing the plugin, Zotero settings includes a new ZotMoov section.

zotmoov plugin options

Directory to move files to: This should be the folder you have created in the cloud server client.

context menu showiing attach new file optionSource folder for attaching new files: If you have checked in your Zotero settings Automatically attach associated PDFs and other files when saving items, then this will rarely be needed. But in some cases you may find that an attachment won't automatically be added to your Library. If you download the attachment, and have the that source folder identified in this option, then an option in the context menu will be added that allows you to attach new file. This will attachto the selected item the last modified file in the source folder with an allowed file extension.

 

 

 

To move files that reside in your Zotero storage folder to your ZotMoov directory, select the files with attachments choose form the context menu Move Selected to Directory. This will move them to the directory you have set as the default. 

options to move files in context menu

Zotfile user

If you are a Zotfile user, just point ZotMoov to the directory you were previously using for Zotfile, and do the same for the Linked Attachment Base Directory. ZotMoov should not break any existing links, but to be sure you should make a backup of your library and the folder you store your attachments in before making the change.