Import from Zotero

If your references are in Zotero, you can copy them into a Pangur project in one import. Pangur copies your collections, items, notes, annotations and stored files. The import is a one-time copy: Pangur reads from Zotero and writes nothing back to it, and changes you make in Zotero afterwards do not reach Pangur.

There are two routes. From zotero.org, on the web or in the iPhone and iPad app, you give Pangur read-only access to your Zotero account and Pangur copies the library from Zotero's servers. This brings in your personal library and any group libraries you belong to. From the Zotero app on your Mac, in Pangur for Mac, Pangur reads the library straight from the app. This route also brings in files that were never synced to zotero.org.

Either way you need permission to change the project you import into, which means being its owner or an editor rather than a viewer.

Importing from zotero.orgCopy Anchor Link

You can start from the welcome screen when you first create an account, or from a project's settings at any time.

When you create your first projectCopy Anchor Link

1. On the Welcome to Pangur screen, give the project a name under Import from Zotero.
2. Choose Continue to zotero.org.
3. Sign in to zotero.org if asked, and approve Pangur's request for access.

Pangur creates the project first, then returns from zotero.org and starts the import into it. It then opens the project's settings page, where the import's progress is shown.

Into an existing projectCopy Anchor Link

1. Open the project, then Project settings.
2. Under Import from Zotero into …, choose + Import from zotero.org.
3. Approve Pangur's request on zotero.org. Pangur brings you back to the settings page.
4. Each Zotero library now has a card, marked as read-only. Choose Import into … on the card you want.

Pangur asks zotero.org for read access to your library, your notes and all your groups, and never for write access. It makes one card for your personal library and one for each group library, so each library is imported separately. A library connected for one project can only be imported into that project; to import it into another, connect it again from the other project's settings.

On iPhone and iPad, the welcome screen offers Import from Zotero with Continue with Zotero, which works the same way.

Importing from the Zotero app on a MacCopy Anchor Link

This route needs Pangur for Mac and Zotero 7 on the same Mac.

Before you start, turn on Zotero's local connection, which is off by default:

1. In Zotero, open Settings, then Advanced.
2. Tick Allow other applications on this computer to communicate with Zotero.
3. Leave Zotero open.

Then, in Pangur for Mac:

1. Open the project, then Project settings.
2. Under Zotero on this Mac, choose Import from this Mac. For a new account, the welcome screen offers Import the Zotero library on this Mac instead.
3. The Import from Zotero window opens and works through its steps, from finding the Zotero app and reading the library to sending it to Pangur and copying the references and files.

Pangur for Mac reads the library through Zotero's local connection and from Zotero's data folder, and sends it to Pangur's server, which imports it under the same rules as an import from zotero.org. Because the files come from your Mac, attachments that were never synced to zotero.org arrive too, and saved web-page snapshots arrive whole.

The references are imported all together, so if Pangur's server refuses any one of them the whole run fails, and you start it again once the problem is fixed. Files are then copied one by one. If some cannot be copied, the window ends by listing the files that need attention. A file Zotero has not downloaded yet must be opened in Zotero first, so that Zotero fetches it; then choose Try files needing attention again. Files already copied are not sent twice.

If the Mac import does not startCopy Anchor Link

What is copiedCopy Anchor Link

Pangur keeps each item's and collection's Zotero key, so an item has the same key in Pangur as it had in Zotero.

Following the importCopy Anchor Link

The import runs in the background on Pangur's server, so you can close the page. The project's settings page shows which step it is on, a count of references copied so far and a count of files. If a step has to be retried, the card says when the next attempt will be. The import also appears in Activity, as a move of your library when it comes from zotero.org or as a file import when it comes from the Mac.

When it finishes, the card says that the Zotero library has been imported. Pangur then deletes the access key it was given for zotero.org, and the library's card is no longer listed.

If the import stopsCopy Anchor Link

If an import stops with an error, the card says where it stopped and that importing again will resume it. Choose Import into … again (or Try again on the Mac). Pangur keeps everything it has already copied and carries on from there, so running an import twice does not create duplicates.

Stored files count towards your plan's storage (plans and limits). Pangur checks for room before it copies each file. If storage runs out during an import from zotero.org, the import stops and the card says how many files were copied before the limit was reached. From the Mac, each file there is no room for is listed among the files that need attention. In both cases, make room or move to a plan with more storage, then import again, and Pangur copies only the files still missing.

While an import is running, Pangur will not let you remove the project it is importing into.

After the importCopy Anchor Link

Your project's library is now separate from Zotero. You can go on adding to it in Pangur, and Pangur does not change your Zotero library. To bring later Zotero additions over, export them from Zotero as a file and import the file; Pangur skips the ones already in your library.