Can't use the "search bar" for adding citations

linnalthinekman
Hi! This is my first time using Zotero, and after looking at instruction-videos it seems it should be quite easy. However, when I click "add citation" I get redirected to the Zotero app and the search bar is just completely red without the opportunity to enter any search word.
Saving the sources and references to the system is no problem, but using it in text is a no go. I've tried with both word and google doc. How can I solve this?
  • dstillman
    If you're clicking Add/Edit Citation in a new document, the Document Preferences window should be popping up. Check for that behind your other Zotero windows.
  • linnalthinekman
    Is it red and shaped like a rectangular? On the videos i've seen you just search in one of those, but this one is solid red and and you cannot write in it
  • adamsmith
    Try with all 3rd party add-ons disabled. If that doesn't help, can you take a screenshot, upload it to a 3rd part site and link to it from here?
  • dstillman
    edited December 1, 2023
    That’s just a progress bar. Again, you should check for the Document Preferences window, which pops up when you try to cite in a new document and lets you choose a citation style, behind your main Zotero window. It’s supposed to come to the front but that doesn’t always happen.
  • linnalthinekman
    How do you disable add-ons? I feel really lost I'm sorry, just trying to replicate how-to videos.

    Yes, I've looked behind and all I can find is the main window and this red bar.. If I copy one of the sources from Zotero to my document, it translates to a ref (1), but if I do another it becomes (1) as well. So it's connected somehow but it doesn't work the way it's supposed to
  • dstillman
    edited December 1, 2023
    Restart Zotero and try Add/Edit Citation again in a new, empty Word document. If you’re not seeing the Document Preferences window, restart Zotero again and provide a Debug ID for reproducing this.

    Dragging or copying an item to the document isn’t what you want to do here (and for a numeric style will always show “1”), so don’t worry about that.
  • linnalthinekman
    Thank you so much for taking your time to help, it started working after I started a new document :)
Sign In or Register to comment.