Zotero Connector Feature Request: New Item to Clipboard

ryanwwest · August 24, 2023

95% when I use the Chrome Zotero Connector browser extension to save an article or paper, I follow this by going to the Zotero application only long enough to get a select link that opens the newly-saved item within the Zotero app, like this: zotero://select/library/items/J7YSXF03. I save things often enough that it is becoming tedious to always open Zotero just to get the same thing, and I was wondering if there could be an option in the Zotero Connector app to copy the link to your clipboard upon saving?

It could either be an opt-in setting to automatically populate the clipboard after the item has been created, or a temporary button that appears in the progress box appearing in the upper-right corner of the screen.

dstillman · August 25, 2023

Someone could create a plugin that automatically copied the zotero://select URL for any item saved from the Connector, but that's not something we'd build in.

ryanwwest · August 25, 2023

Thanks. Would you be open to a PR if I did the work adding this to the Connector? As it seems like a simpler addition (famous last words). Or is this too far away from the main intent and no matter would what need to be its own independent development? I'd like to improve an existing tool rather than create a new one if possible.

dstillman · August 26, 2023

Thanks, but no, sorry. As I say, this isn't a feature we would build in. It would be appropriate (and trivial to build) as a Zotero plugin.

(It also couldn't be implemented in the Connector, which has neither the necessary information nor permissions to copy to the clipboard.)

ryanwwest · 2024-12-11T16:46:13+00:00

@dstillman I still use the Connector like this regularly but also often go to add an additional field or some other Zotero small task that requires opening Zotero. I had an idea on how to generalize this—what if the Zotero Connector extension had an option to switch the OS focus to Zotero after the download is complete? Again, either a disabled default or perhaps a checkbox you click in the temporary "Saving to" popup that says "Open in Zotero when complete"? I think a 'select item' Zotero URL could do this. Thanks for considering.