Snapshot and pdf alternatives for linking references?

prooney
Is there a workaround for linking a journal article to the page it *originally* came from if one does not include .pdfs or web snapshots? I'm mostly concerned with those that do not have DOI or any link information in their info.

I've got an ever-growing group library being introduced to many new folks next week. We'd like to have zero attachments on references for the sake of storage/sync, and be able to tell them just to check the preferences for not automatically including .pdfs and snapshots.

Thank you for your help!
  • dstillman
    Right-click on the parent, Attach Link to Current Page.

    When the original URL is the canonical location for an item (generally speaking, when the URL might be cited, such as on a news article page), the translator saves that to the URL field. When that's not the case, some translators save attached links automatically, but not all (and obviously when there's identifying information such as DOIs that's not necessary).
  • dstillman
    And you shouldn't need to tell them to adjust their preferences. Just turn off file editing for the group, and Zotero won't save attachments.
  • adamsmith
    you might be able to used "attach link to current page" - links will look like attachments, but not use any relevant (if any) storage space.
    Otherwise, the URL field will do - styles will only print URLs when articles don't have a page range.
  • prooney
    Ah, thank you. This is a HUGE help.
  • prooney
    Hello and thanks again.

    After navigating to the several journal articles we've got in our group library, I tried the "Attach link to current page" for each and didn't get a result.

    I haven't yet turned off file editing for the group... will turning off file editing for the group make attached links unavailable (once I'm able to get them working)?
  • dstillman
    No, attached links should work with file editing off, since there's no file involved.

    Can you elaborate on "didn't get a result", though?

    http://www.zotero.org/support/reporting_bugs#provide_steps_to_reproduce
  • prooney
    Sorry about that.

    Within Zotero standalone (3.0.1):

    1. Located reference with no link or DOI information
    2. With Chrome, searched for and located article—in JSTOR, Elsevier, etc.
    3. Left that page open, went back to Zotero, right-clicked on the reference, and selected "Attach link to current page."
    4. Closed the open database window (JSTOR, Elsevier, etc.)
    6. Double clicked on reference in Zotero, nothing happened

    Additional info: attempted this with many references and several article databases—both in personal library and two group libraries.

    Thank you for your help!
  • dstillman
    Are you sure nothing happened? Did you expand the parent item to see if there was a new child attachment there? Did you see a Saving popup in the bottom-right? Double-clicking wouldn't do anything for an attached link.
  • prooney
    I'm sure nothing happened. No saving popup in the bottom-right. There is nothing to click on to expand the parent—no child to be found.

    I have Zotero Firefox installed as well... tried it there just now and it worked.

    Is this a Standalone/Chrome issue? Is there a new version of the connector that I need?
  • dstillman
    edited February 6, 2012
    Oh, wait, if you're using Standalone, that certainly won't work. That shouldn't even be a menu option in Standalone itself, since Standalone has no way of knowing what browser window you're referring to. It would need to be an option in Chrome via the connector (though having an option in Chrome depend on what's selected in Standalone is a little iffy—the menu option might need to say what item it would attach to, if that's actually possible).

    We'll remove that option from Standalone for 3.0.2.
  • dstillman
    You should be able to do this manually with "Attach Link to URI…", though.
  • prooney
    Ok, cool. We'll go that route.

    One last question: when I turn off file editing for the group, will the snapshots and .pdfs already in the group disappear or will they need to be manually removed?
  • dstillman
    I forget, actually, but if you don't want them, you should delete them first. You should be able it in one go with a saved search (Attachment Type is PDF or similar)—once you're viewing the search, Select All will highlight just the matching (black, not gray) rows.
  • prooney
    Thank you for all of this info, Dan—and my student workers thank you for that search tip!
  • dstillman
    Sure. (Also, you create saved searches in a group via right-click on the group name.)
Sign In or Register to comment.