Zotero 3.0 for Firefox vs. Zotero Standalone

dstillman

And, i have been seriously contemplating abandoning Firefox b/c it has slowed down SO much over time; i'm assuming this must've been b'/c of the Zotero plug-in

Zotero shouldn't slow down your Firefox usage at all. It looks like you're at your Zotero File Storage quota, which, given the way Zotero currently works, may mean that Zotero is performing extra file upload checks each time it tries to auto-sync. (It would also mean you'd be getting a warning telling you that you're at your quota.) If you turn off file syncing in the Sync pane of the preferences (or upgrade to a storage plan, of course), the performance issue may go away. In any case, start a new thread if you want to debug this further.

bhoconnor

Awesome Dan, thanks so much for this and i may touch base after a little test run!

I'll hope to upgrade for the record if i go onto a PhD, just don't know if i can justify it until then because of low funds (but i definitely think it is a service worth paying for as much as possible, it's such an amazing program!!)

Gillian Perrett

This thread is wonderfully useful. I should like to see the French flowchart but get a message that the image is private (yes I'm logged into Flickr). How can I see it?

rcandelario

Hi I'm brand new to Zotero and am still confused about ZFF vs ZSA, even after having read this thread (which seems to focus more on browser issues and not on usage across different computers). I've downloaded ZSA, and have added some sources. But now I'm thinking maybe I should stick with ZFF? My personal laptop is going to need to be replaced soon, and I'm trying to travel more with my iPad & keyboard. Also, I imagine I may come across sources while working on my office computer, which I'd want to add into Zotero. This all makes me think maybe I should use ZFF so that my sources can be accessible to me across different offices/cities. But now that I have sources in ZSA, do I have to re-enter all of them in ZFF?

adamsmith

As I say in my first post

Everything that's database related works exactly the same with the two. Neither works on a mobile app directly and using them with the existing apps like ZotPad and Zandy makes no difference. Word integration is the same, as are groups.

that includes syncing across computers
http://www.zotero.org/support/sync
whether you use ZFF or ZSA has no impact on accessibility across different computers. People get confused by the fact that one is a browser add-on, but Zotero for Firefox is in no way more "online" or "cloud-based" than the Standalone version.

Gurdas_Sandhu

adam, referring to your comment from Feb 16th 2012 "dtoy - yes, that works well. I use that strategy myself."

So, a year and a half later, any tips or warnings for someone who wants to do use the same strategy -> use Zotero Firefox (ZFF) when getting citations from online sources and then switch to Zotero Stand Alone (ZSA) when working on a Word document?

adamsmith

Nothing new - it's designed to work that way and it does & always has.
While it makes relatively little difference, it's recommended to keep ZSA closed when gathering citations in Firefox - on some few sites you'll get better results, mostly you're more likely to get PDFs attached.

aurimas

So just to be clear, the only reason to use ZFF (and close ZSA) when retrieving citations is if you are using a web-based proxy. This connector limitation is being actively worked on and should not be an issue for very long (hopefully).

The only reason to not use ZFF and use ZSA instead when working in Word is to make Firefox run smoother. This shouldn't be a problem anyway with relatively small libraries (probably < 5000 references) on a not-too-ancient computer.

Having said that, switching between ZSA and ZFF should be fairly seamless if you have them configured correctly (i.e. you cannot open Zotero in Firefox and Zotero Standalone at the same time). You would just need to either close or open ZSA.

There have been some reports of the URL bar icon not showing up in Firefox if ZSA or Firefox are started first (don't recall which), but we never got to the bottom of it, so if you encounter this, please report it and we can further troubleshoot it.

adamsmith

The only reason to not use ZFF and use ZSA instead when working in Word is to make Firefox run smoother.

oh no it ain't. Actually the main reason to do that is to not have your browser open while you write.
Jonathan Franzen actually tapes the ethernet port of his computer when he writes. Using Standalone instead of Firefox is the light version of that.

aurimas

Well, that would be the "self-control" reason I suppose. From a technical point of view though...