Codes lost when colleague edited in dropbox web

helen.lambert

Hiya i am working on a doc with a colleague using Dropbox Desktop Windows. She edited the doc on dropbox on the web (Mac computer) and all the field codes disappeared. I have managed to restore my version, but this isn't ideal so need to know what caused it and if there is a fix.

Was it because she used dropbox web to edit it? Or because she is using a Mac?
Tia

dstillman

What kind of document was it to begin with? If it was a .docx from Word and it was edited in Dropbox, that will almost certainly break the active citations. And Zotero's own Google Docs integration won't work in Dropbox's Google Docs mode.

If you have a Word document that you want to move to Google Docs, see Moving Documents with Zotero Citations Between Word Processors.

helen.lambert

Ah yes, it was a docx...
didnt use google docs, just word. So what do i save it in then? Thanks so much for you help. That article is super useful if we move things to google docs, but for now we just want to work in Word between us... me on desktop dropbox, and she downloads it from dropbox web i believe.
Thanks

dstillman

If you're using the Word plugin, you want to save it as .docx. The file just can't be edited online if there are active Zotero citations in it. I'd guess that she edited it directly in the Dropbox web interface instead of downloading it and opening it in Word on her computer.

helen.lambert

Ahhhh ok thats sooo helpful, thanks so much!!!