Zotero Broken in OO

rodgerbird · January 9, 2011

I'm using OpenOffice 3.2.1 with Mac OS X 10.6.6. Here's my problem. Once a file with Zotero citations is closed and reopened, the plug-in wont recognize existing citations. I can insert new citations but can no longer edit old ones. When I put the cursor in an old citation and click the "Edit Citation" box in the Zotero toolbar, I get a message saying "You must place the cursor in a Zotero citation to edit it."

This is very frustrating and I would appreciate any advice about how to fix this.

Thank you in advance.

adamsmith · January 9, 2011

The likely reason is that you're saving the file as a .doc and using reference marks instead of bookmarks (see "Set Document Preferences" in the Zotero Ooo plugin)

rodgerbird · January 9, 2011

Thanks so much. I think you're right. The plug-in doesn't seem to want to work in a .doc format. I was unable to change to bookmarks from reference marks-- the plug-in wouldn't let me do that. I guess I have to do all my documents in .odt format and then convert to .doc at the last stage. A little cumbersome, but doable.

Just curious: what's the difference between reference marks and bookmarks anyway? I don't really understand.

Thanks again.

adamsmith · January 9, 2011

bookmarks work in .doc and .odt. Reference marks only in .odt (there is an analogous "fields" function for .doc, which works in Word but not in Ooo). Reference marks are more stable and harder to corrupt, so wherever possible they're preferable. Also, due to current Ooo limitations, you can't use note-based styles with bookmarks, which is what I guess is going on for you.

rodgerbird · January 9, 2011

I appreciate your taking the time to explain. I had visions of reinstalling everything, and (heaven forbid) having to move to a Microsoft product on my now, Microsoft-free MAC.