ASN

Notes by Akhil Saji

My Zotero Sync Setup

Zotero is a free cross-platform research (journal articles, web pages, etc.) management tool. Click here to learn more if you're unfamiliar with how it works.

Zotero comes with a built-in file sync function which enables users to sync their Zotero libraries across platforms (such as iOS, android, Windows, etc.). Unfortunately, their "free" tier of sync service has a limit of 300Mb which can quickly get filled up if you archive lots of papers like myself. Lucky for us, Zotero comes with WebDAV support which can be utilized in place of their storage service. Most people including myself don't have a personal webDAV server; however, Box.net has a free tier of service with 5Gb of space that includes WebDAV support. Below are my sample settings to show you how to set this up for yourself.

  1. First navigate to the preferences menu and select the sync tab.
  2. Under the "Zotero Sync Server" section, enter your Zotero sync service username and password. Check off "sync full-context"
  3. Under "File Syncing" ensure that you check off the box for "Sync attachment files in My Library using" then select WebDAV.
  4. In the same section, for url select https:// from the dropdown and enter dav.box.com/dav in the adjacent textbox.
  5. Finally, in the same section enter your Box.net username and password.
  6. Click verify server to ensure the box sync is properly working. Assuming all goes well, you'll now be able to store 5Gb of content for free.