User Feedback on Page Number Navigation in Zotero PDF Reader

wzh4464
Dear Zotero Developer Community,

I hope this message finds you all well.

I want to start by expressing my immense gratitude for your dedication and hard work on the Zotero project. Your efforts have greatly benefited users like myself. Recently, while exploring both the latest Zotero 7 beta release and the Zotero build from the GitHub main branch, I encountered a minor issue that I hope my feedback can assist in improving.

Here's what I've experienced: When navigating a PDF file with formatted page numbers (e.g., a, b, c, 1, 2, ..., where a page marked as '1' isn't the initial page of the document), there seems to be a small navigational quirk within the Zotero PDF reader. Specifically, upon typing a page number and pressing "Enter," the reader takes me to the physical page, not the logical page number. Further, if I click on the PDF file, shifting focus to it, the number in the navigation bar automatically jumps to the logical page number without any additional input on my part. If I keep switching focus between the navigation bar and the document, the file continues to scroll upwards, all the way to its beginning, on its own.

I understand that everyone is contributing their time voluntarily to this community, and I would be thrilled if my feedback could help enhance Zotero's user experience. Please feel free to reach out if you need a more detailed account of the issue or any other assistance from my end. I am more than willing to contribute.

Thank you for your commitment to making Zotero better, and for your attention to this matter. I look forward to any thoughts or guidance you may have.

Best regards,
Zihan
  • samvimes
    I would also greatly appreciate a fix for this issue!
  • samvimes
    I've also found that when scrolling quickly through a document by dragging the scroll bar on the right, it takes a few seconds for the page numbers to "catch up" - while and after dragging, the physical page number is displayed. Only after scrolling to a next or previous page via my mouse's scroll wheel the correct page number is displayed in the page navigation field on top of the reader pane.
  • martynas_b
    @samvimes Page number updates only when you finish scrolling. If scrollbar is constantly moving even a little bit, the page number won't be updated.
  • samvimes
    edited November 8, 2023
    Maybe my description wasn't so good (sorry!), but to me it seems that the beta's behaviour is not intended. The wrong (=physical) page number updates as long as I'm dragging the scroll bar, which is somewhat confusing when trying to scroll to a specific page - as soon as I stop, the wrong page number remains on display until I perform another action with the mouse. I've made a video to show what I mean and have uploaded it here: https://heibox.uni-heidelberg.de/f/28a879911831450f8059/

    This is why I thought it might be related to the problem described by wzh4464 above.

    In Zotero 6.0.30 the correct page number updates while using the scroll bar - it never shows the physical page number in the page navigation field.
  • martynas_b
    Are you sure that Zotero 6 shows the correct logical page for this specific PDF and page?

    The PDF file is OCRed, which means page labels can't be extracted from some pages.

    Could you send the PDF file to support@zotero.org with a link to this thread?
  • samvimes
    Yes, I've tested both versions with the same pdf.

    Zotero shouldn't need to extract page labels for the PDF, because it has correct embedded page labels. The PDF in the video is from here (https://marx-wirklich-studieren.net/marx-engels-werke-als-pdf-zum-download/), but both problems described here (entering page numbers to navigate pdf leads to wrong page and jumping/scrolling) occur for any PDF - OCRed or not - in which physical page number and embedded page label differ. Both problems do not occur in v6.

    If I can do more to assist, I'm happy to!
  • warwickmm
    I believe I am encountering this as well. I am trying to navigate to logical page 237 (physical page 251 of 298). When I type 237 into the page number box and hit enter, it brings me to logical page 223 (physical 237 of 298). Upon clicking in the PDF, I am then directed to logical page 209 (physical 223 of 298).

    Like wzh4464 describes, repeatedly clicking in the page number box and back to the PDF will continue to navigate backwards.

    Here is a video illustrating the issue:

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IQ2RKlIX_LHp7JVwsyuInaD2R6tHn1wh/view?usp=sharing

    This PDF is not OCRed.

    This is with version 7.0.0-beta.51+7c5600913 (64-bit).
  • martynas_b
    edited November 13, 2023
    Like wzh4464 describes, repeatedly clicking in the page number box and back to the PDF will continue to navigate backwards.
    This is weird. We'll fix it soon.
  • samvimes
    In 7.0.0-beta.52+2f8e536f2 the jumping problem seems to be fixed - thank you! It is still not possible to navigate to logical page numbers by entering them in the page number field, however, and the wrong page numbers are still displayed when scrolling through books.
  • samvimes
    Sorry to bother you again about this, but because I still stumble across the problem every couple of minutes I use the beta (currently: 7.0.0-beta.54+6b996d4f9), I'd be really, really grateful if navigation to page numbers was fixed.

    Happy new year to all of you!
  • martynas_b
    @samvimes Please send an example PDF to support@zotero.org with a link to this thread.
  • samvimes
    Thank you for your reply - I've just sent you an example file.
  • bennett.smith
    I am experiencing this issue as well; I started a new thread, having not seen this one: https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/113685/zotero-7-pdf-reader-page-number-issue#latest
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