Trouble(s) editing CSL file

vailetdelmit

I'm new to Zotero (been using Mendeley for many years, but recently had compatibility troubles with Word, which Zotero does not seem to have). But one thing I liked about Mendeley was the simplicity of editing/loading styles. I'm having two problems: 1) I almost always use the Nature style, and the CSL file provided is not publication-quality because it always overwrites the Word format of my Bibliography by producing a double-spaced output in Times New Roman, whereas I'd like it to respect my choice of document font and spacing. 2) When I thought I had found the line(s) in the code where I could edit #1, and I see that I can Save As ... (e.g. Nature-2.csl), that is saved into a local directory. The next time I fire up Zotero, it does not know that Nature-2.csl exists and there is not "Open" function to load it up. What am I doing wrong?
Thanks! Albert.

dstillman

But one thing I liked about Mendeley was the simplicity of editing/loading styles.

Zotero and Mendeley use the exact same CSL styles. There's no difference here, other than Zotero getting more frequent style updates and having more up-to-date support for some CSL features.

Zotero doesn't control fonts in any way (and I don't think Mendeley does either). To modify that, you can modify the "Bibliography" style in Word.

Line spacing is determined by the CSL style, which should follow the style guidelines. If you want to override that for some reason, see Editing CSL Styles. You have to change the id if you don't want it to be overwritten, and you install it from the Cite pane of the preferences where you manage all styles.

vailetdelmit

Thanks a lot! I am now able to save because I started from your "Editing CSL Styles" link, which took me to the online (web) CLS editor. Something different happened this time when I loaded the Zotero app: the app asked me if I wanted to load the new style (as expected), and I finally see it in the available list of CSL styles. (FYI -- Previously, when I was trying to access the editor from within Zotero, that did not occur -- there was no way to know where the modified style was being saved, I had no control. I think it would be nice to include either better CSL editing functionality from within the Zotero app, or eliminate it to reduce confusions.)

I have only been able to resolve the second issue partially. You say that all formatting resides within Word. I don't have a "Bibliography" style in Word, I simply have my whole document in one style called "Normal" which includes Arial 11 pt & Paragraph Single Space (with 3 pt before the paragraph). When I apply that style to the Bibliography section, Zotero indeed picks up the font type and size from the Normal style ... but overwrites the paragraph spacing and sets it to Double Spacing (no pt before the paragraph). Is this a bug?

vailetdelmit

P.S. I now read that you said that CSL style determines the line spacing -- it's just that the online viewer shows the line spacing as single for the style I'm trying to edit (as one would expect -- it's the Nature style!). So something is amiss. Thanks.

enozkan

Did you try turning on the Styles pane from the ribbon? Only some styles are shown in the ribbon above (and Bibliography is not there), but I can see Bibliography when I look at a list of all styles in the Styles Pane, and modify Bibliography as I like.

vailetdelmit

P.S.2: Ah, I found where I had to edit ... Not very user-friendly this CSL script! But thanks anyways!

dstillman

Previously, when I was trying to access the editor from within Zotero, that did not occur -- there was no way to know where the modified style was being saved, I had no control.

The "Save As…" button in the built-in style editor opens a standard OS file picker. It most certainly lets you choose where to save.

Different people prefer different editors — for many quick edits, the code-based editor in Zotero is much more straightforward — but whichever one you use, you end up with a CSL file on disk that you can add to Zotero through the preferences.