Feature Request: Sync Customized Citation Styles and Improve Style Repository Updates

yjbo

Dear Zotero Development Team,

I'd like to propose two interconnected features that would greatly enhance the user experience for those of us working across multiple devices:

1. The ability to sync customized citation styles across all computers linked to a single Zotero account.

2. A more robust system for updating and maintaining citation styles in the Zotero Style Repository.

Current Situation

Currently, when we modify or create a custom citation style on one device, this change is not reflected on other computers associated with the same Zotero account. Additionally, many styles in the Zotero Style Repository are outdated and no longer match current journal formatting requirements58.
Proposed Features

1. Implement a function that automatically syncs customized citation styles across all devices linked to a user's Zotero account.

2. Develop a more efficient system for updating and maintaining citation styles in the repository, possibly involving user contributions and regular reviews.

Benefits

1. Consistency: Ensures all devices have access to the same customized and up-to-date citation styles.

2. Time-saving: Eliminates the need for manual installation or transfer of custom styles to each device.

3. Improved accuracy: Keeps citation styles current with journal requirements, reducing the need for manual updates by users.

4. Community engagement: Allows users to contribute to style updates, fostering a more dynamic and responsive system.

Implementation Suggestions

1. Store customized citation styles in the user's cloud storage along with other synced data.

2. Provide options in settings to choose which custom styles to sync.

3. Implement version control to manage conflicts if a style is edited on multiple devices.

4. Create a streamlined process for users to submit style updates for review and integration into the repository5.

5. Establish a regular review cycle for citation styles to ensure they remain current with journal requirements.

I believe these features would significantly improve Zotero's functionality and user experience. They would streamline the research and writing process for users who frequently work across multiple devices and rely on accurate, up-to-date citation styles.

Thank you for considering these suggestions. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the feasibility of implementing such features.

adamsmith

I don't have much of an opinion on syncing custom styles -- my sense is it's a pretty niche demand, but the style repository is crowd sourced with more than 1k different contributors. Yes, we're badly behind with reviewing contributions, but that's a pure resource question, nothing about the setup. A regular review cycle for 2k styles,.I'm afraid, is not realistic. Reported issues in styles do generally get fixed pretty quickly though

yjbo

Thank you for replying my previous suggestion. I'd like to follow up on the discussion about syncing citation styles in Zotero, specifically focusing on syncing the style folder. This approach could address the issue without significant resource consumption compared to syncing PDF files.

Syncing the style folder would be a relatively lightweight solution that could greatly benefit users who work across multiple devices. It would ensure consistency in citation styles without requiring extensive development resources. 

While the style repository on GitHub is crowd-sourced with over 1,000 contributors, it appears that updates have been infrequent in recent years. This lack of regular updates can lead to outdated styles that no longer match current journal requirements.

I understand the developer's perspective that syncing custom styles might be a niche demand. However, considering the challenges with keeping the style repository up-to-date, allowing users to sync their personally modified styles could be a valuable workaround. The sync feature could be optional, addressing the developer's concern about users who might want to disable style syncing.

By implementing this feature, Zotero could provide a more seamless experience for users working across multiple devices while also addressing the challenges of maintaining an up-to-date style repository.

I appreciate your consideration of this suggestion and look forward to your thoughts on its feasibility.

adamsmith

I mean -- the point is just that adding sync infrastructure from a different folder with a bunch of additional factors to consider is real work. It's going to benefit only the fairly small group of users who uses custom styles and even for them provide limited time-saving. If you sync your styles via any other sync service, you can just double-click to install the most recent version: not as smooth, but hardly a major obstacle. There have been other people requesting profile sync (which would also include plugins and their preferences) and I could see Zotero implementing that, in which case adding custom styles and translators would be reasonable.

As for the journal styles that aren't up to date -- why don't you just report them if you see them; it doesn't look like you ever have? That's how they get fixed. Having people manage custom styles seems like a poor workaround for this. (And while I readily admit we're behind with PR reviews, the idea that updates have been 'infrequent' is odd. We've had an average of about 1 every 2 days since the beginning of the calendar year)

damnation

We have 10,000 + styles. We're s rather small team of maintainers that do this in our free time.
Note that Zotero is NOT the same as the "Citation Style Language " project. We collaborate a lot, but in the end they are two separate entities. We don't get paid for this and do it for the love of academic research. We are volunteers.

I welcome you to join the CSL team and work on bug fixes and style requests.

Nobody has time to go through the styles and check if they're still up to date. We rely on the community to let us know. Fixes usually get done by one of us when we see them and we check the forum many times a day as you would be able to see if you're a frequent user of the forum.
Style request... Well, they take a while, especially now since there is a bit of a backlog with reviewing them. But again, you can help!