Questions and comments about switching to open source Qiqqa, for different users

[dvbphd]

After some efforts to switch from v79s to v82 of Qiqqa, I found some issues and stumbled across questions that may arise for new users and others. Some of these surely reveal my lack of understanding; some may call for documentation or programming changes. New users (starting with open source Qiqqa) will have different questions than older users transitioning from the commercial version -- as far as I can see, the Qiqqa manual doesn't address these users' different needs.

How do new users create libraries with a new copy of open source Qiqqa? As far as I can see (please correct me if this is wrong), we must create libraries at qiqqa.com, rather than locally within the desktop program, if we want more than the guest library. How can older users show open source Qiqqa where to find local copies of their (older commercial) libraries on the harddisk? And how can we avoid the lack of write privilages to our libraries (that I see in questions in Qiqqa community chat)?

When I installed v82 on a new laptop, it could not access my account at qiqqa.com (which still appears to be online). I've kept v79s on my older laptop (where existing libraries are), but haven't upgraded it to open source because I'm not clear how to turn my existing libraries into local (intranet) ones, and I'm afraid of losing them. Help on this issue will be most appreciated.

I did export my main library to dropbox, which eventually finished after seeming to choke on some files; I assume that worked since now dropbox says its not syncing anymore and wants more money for storage.

Apologies for my confusion, and hoping these questions and your answers may help other (new and old) users as well.

[GerHobbelt]

I'll try to answer these questions in the comments below; as I am considering how best to answer each, some of the issues you raise will be deferred to a later time/comment. Other issues will be referenced where these address the same issue or a part thereof, either from a user or engineering perspective.

In the comments for this issue itself, I'll try to address the matter from a user perspective only. The part which will be addressed in the comment will be quoted at the top of the comment.

[GerHobbelt]

How do new users create libraries with a new copy of open source Qiqqa? As far as I can see (please correct me if this is wrong), we must create libraries at qiqqa.com, rather than locally within the desktop program, if we want more than the guest library.

\(😭 computer crash right when I've written a partial answer and editing the accompanying video. Here's a quick&dirty re-do; to be cleaned up later.)\

See also #268. Technical stuff reported in there aside, you can achieve this using latest Qiqqa releases using the following process to recover from the mentioned bugs:

This process is showcased in the video below.

• Home > Libraries >Create/Join Intranet Library
• Pick a local directory as your "sync point". This can be any directory on your local computer, where you are fine with having a "synced" copy of your new Qiqqa library: that directory will receive all "sync" results, i.e. base metadata database + all PDFs you collect. (I choose to use a new created sub-directory in the User/Documents directory for the video example below.)
• Give the library a name and description. (The fields are gray, but you can edit them, no problem.)
• Create
• Surprise! Now the Home tab will not show ANY library any more: it looks like Qiqqa suddenly got total amnesia and lost all libraries. Fortunately it's only the UI going bonkers here, so don't panic 😉 and do this:
• quit/exit Qiqqa by closing it
• wait a while (about 15 seconds) for the background activities of Qiqqa to terminate as well, so that you can restart it cleanly.
• Restart Qiqqa as usual. No need to restart the computer. It's just exit app, then twiddle thumbs for a few secs, then start app.
• All your libraries appear in the Home tab as usual, including the new created library! 🥳
• Use like any other Qiqqa library.

https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/402462/103806481-690f8880-5055-11eb-82e5-3413845cce3d.mp4