Mac OS X: Quit when click on Close button

josephlee

Hi Zotero developing group

I am using a mac os x version of Zotero stand alone. One inconvenient feature on Zotero is when I click on the close button on the title bar, Zotero quit instead of minimize or hide to dock like other native Mac OS X programs. Is there any future plan to change the behavior of close button? thanks

dstillman

Note that what you're describing isn't universal, even among Apple's own programs. iPhoto, for example, which is also a one-window library-based program, quits when you close the window.

And nothing minimizes when you click the close button. You can minimize Zotero like any other program, and clicking the Zotero dock icon will unminimize it.

ajlyon

Still, though, is this an option? For something like Zotero Standalone, which has non-negligible startup time and which needs to be open to receive cites from browsers, this would be a reasonable behavior.

dstillman

Simon would have to comment on the technical feasibility. iTunes is obviously the counterexample here.

John_muccigrosso

One-window apps are supposed to quit when their one window is closed, though there are a few exceptions out there. Not really sure why hiding or minimizing the window wouldn't suffice though.

sirrahn

Hi,

I totally understand this request and it has been one thing that has been bugging me for the last couple of months - but I have only just tried to search the forums.

It is very common behaviour on a mac for programs to not close when the window is closed - itunes, mail, thunderbird, firefox, preview, etc. Anything that is regularly open and closed generally works like this.

So keeping the program running on the mac when users close the window would make sense for 2 reasons:

1) is that the habitual reaction for mac users is to hit the close window button when they want to clear the screen. If the program closes then this is really frustrating for the user because it is difficult to change the habit, especially given it is consistent with other applications. It is especially frustrating when one is using the word/libreoffice plugin and it wont work for the next cite because you've inadvertently close zotero! this is a new problem because it didn't happen with firefox.

2) Is that on the mac minimising a window adds it to the Dock. Most mac users try to limit the number of items on the dock because it doesn't really handle lots of items very well.

mronkko

2) Is that on the mac minimising a window adds it to the Dock. Most mac users try to limit the number of items on the dock because it doesn't really handle lots of items very well.

This can be disabled in the dock preferences by setting "Minimize windows into application icon"

But I agree that Zotero should not quit. There is a legitimate usecase for not having a window open and having the application running: If you are just writing a paper with the items that you already have, there is no need to have the Zotero application window around to clutter the desktop.

dstillman

sirrahn: I think you somewhat misstate the case—as noted above, single-window programs often quit on close, so it doesn't have anything to do with things being "regularly open". The distinction here is that, like (the single-window programs) iTunes and Mail, Zotero can have a background function, and in that regard it would make sense for it not to quit.

Again, I'll leave it to Simon to comment on whether this is possible technically. In the meantime, just use Cmd-H.

Simon

I think it's possible, but there are a surprisingly large number of changes necessary to make it work. This won't make it into 3.0, but we'll look into it for the next release.

sirrahn

Hi Dan and Simon, fair point - I had written background function myself and then deleted it. I guess when I thought about programs like preview they don't have a background function, but they are multi-window I guess. In anycase my point was that Apple seems to have trained us into habits which are jarring with the current behaviour of the stand-alone version of Zotero.

Anyway, thanks for your comments I think it is great that you're considering it - pity it requires a lot of work. The other option in the short term is to use the firefox plugin.

sirrahn

Oh and thanks mronkko, didn't know about that setting - its kind of good, I'll give it a go.

detful

I feel better now that I know I'm not the only one who need this improvement :-)
For mac users it is a critical point, simply because mac users are much more likely to work through keyboard shortcuts and it is frustrating to have it close 1/2 times because of habit. I think this should be accounted for.

Thank you

dstillman

detful: See above, though—it's not at all a given that Zotero should stay open on Cmd-W, and some of Apple's own similar programs (e.g., iPhoto) behave the same way Zotero does. You can certainly argue that Zotero should stay open without the window because of syncing or startup time (which, for what it's worth, apply to iPhoto too), but you can't argue that this is a universal thing that Mac users are accustomed to.

In any case, we're open to this, but we haven't yet looked into the technical feasibility.

detful

First, thanksfor prompt reply. I understand some programs behave the same as Zotero. However, I think that change would be generally appreciated by mac users.

Great to know you are open to this, thank you indeed for your work.

dstillman

In Zotero 5.0.8, now available, Zotero no longer quits on macOS when you click the close button. You can keep it open and still save to it from the browser connectors and cite from word processors.