old_contents: zotero_dir = '/home/ben/Dropbox/Zotero/'
new_contents: import argparse
  import ConfigParser
  import os
  import sys
  
  
  def make_dir_if_not_exists(path):
      if not os.path.exists(path): os.makedirs(path)
  
  home_dir = os.path.expanduser('~/.zot/')
  make_dir_if_not_exists(home_dir)
  config_file_path = os.path.join(home_dir, 'settings')
  
  
  config = ConfigParser.SafeConfigParser()
  if not config.has_section('zot'): config.add_section('zot')
  config.read(config_file_path)
  try:
      zotero_dir = config.get('zot', 'zotero_dir')
  except ConfigParser.NoOptionError:
      print '''No Zotero directory defined. Run 'zotero path [zotero_dir]' to set your Zotero directory.'''
      sys.exit()
  
subject: Use ConfigParser in settings.py to get zotero directory.