initializing author names in "Chicago notes" style?

swidgen

I'm new to the forum and to Zotero. I've been trying to figure out how to create a style based on the "Chicago notes" style (available from the Zotero website) that will initialize authors' first names. I tried the CSL initialize-with=". " command at various points in the Zotero Reference Test pane, but it did not produce the desired effect (actually, no effect at all). Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

adamsmith

the authors in notes are determinded by the "contributors-short" macro. You need to not just add initialize-with=". ", but also remove form="short" which reduces authors to last name only.
For the bibliography, adding initialize-with=". " in the "contributors" will work.

swidgen

That was fast! Actually I needed the initial for the first citation, so I figured I should make the change you suggested to the "contributors-note" macro. Well, what do you know, it worked. Middle name initial of course gets a space in front of it, some journals want no space between first and middle name initials, but I suspect it would take some pretty involved coding to address that.
Thank you for your valuable assistance.

fbennett

Middle name initial of course gets a space in front of it, some journals want no space between first and middle name initials, ...

Just delete the space (initialize-with=".").

swidgen

But if I did that I suppose I would get the following: W.M.F.Petrie, whereas what I want is W.M.F. Petrie. Maybe I should add another instruction to add a space before the author's last name?

Gracile

No. That should work.

swidgen

You're right, it did work.