ZoteroBib not exporting to Zotero

swingo

I'm a librarian and I use Zotero regularly. One of the faculty I work with was trying to export zoterobib citations to zotero using, but when she clicks on "save to zotero" from the drop down menu she gets the following message.

"Once you’ve installed Zotero and the Zotero Connector, you can export your bibliography to Zotero by clicking the “Save to Zotero” button in your browser’s toolbar."

I tried and had the same issue. I was able to download a BibTex file and upload that, but I thought you should know that feature isn't working.

adamsmith

Right, that's on purpose. The "Save to Zotero" button of the browser connector is the standard way of importing to Zotero. Using in-app options is always a second best.

swingo

It not working is on purpose?

I'm talking about ZoteroBib (zbib.org), the tool that allows you to create quick bibliographies. There are clear instructions for how to import bibliographies from Zbib to your main zotero account however, when you try to follow them it does not work.

When I click on "save to zotero" I get the following message:

"Once you’ve installed Zotero and the Zotero Connector, you can export your bibliography to Zotero by clicking the “Save to Zotero” button in your browser’s toolbar."

But I have Zotero fully installed and use it regularly.

dstillman

You're misreading the message. It means exactly what it says: to save to Zotero, you click the "Save to Zotero" button in your browser toolbar. The "Save to Zotero" option in the drop-down menu on the page just shows you that message.

You save from ZoteroBib to Zotero the exact same way you save from any website:

https://www.zotero.org/support/adding_items_to_zotero#via_your_web_browser

swingo

Ah, that is extremely bad wording, but I see. The instructions I found were on the zotero website and did not make that at all clear.

dstillman

How is that possibly bad wording? It means literally what it says. The "toolbar" refers to a specific part of the browser, and the button says "Save to Zotero" when you hover over it. Anyone who uses Zotero should be familiar with that button, since it's the main way to save to Zotero.

I don't know what instructions "on the zotero website" you're referring to. There are no ZoteroBib instructions on the Zotero website. The documentation I just linked to is for Zotero and the Zotero Connector, and that explains exactly how to save from any webpage — i.e., by clicking the Save to Zotero button in your browser toolbar. Saving from ZoteroBib is no different.

swingo

It's bad because it has caused a great deal of confusion for several faculty and students, if users get confused it's bad.

adamsmith

I'm sorry this caused confusion for you and your patrons. The confusion here is prior to the message though: if your first instinct in saving to Zotero from any website is not to check the browser icon, you're not using Zotero the way it's intended to be used and missing out on features and possibly improved quality metadata import. Zotero goes out of its way -- using first-run guidance, quick start guidance, etc. -- to make that point.

The message on zbib.org really just reinforces that. FWIW, Zbib has been around for some years now, I'm pretty sure you're the first person to ever post about this as an issue, so while there may be some others, it's certainly not a cause of widespread confusion (or we'd here about this regularly).