Functionality: Firefox v. Chrome and other Browsers, aka Standalone v. "Integrated"

dme · February 27, 2014

Is there a chart or a table that shows the differences in functionality between Zotero for Firefox and Zotero Standalone--I mean everything else?

I am not a Prof nor Grad Student, nevertheless I'd love to better understand Zotero and be able to advocate for it with my kids and for wikipedia use; but the docs aren't as clear as they once were and I miss--I mean I'm missing functionality in Chrome.

Specifically, I want to see the citations in Wikipedia (in Chrome).

I'd also like to better understand all of the fields and the best practices for annotating web resources.

Finally a request:
Outreach, demos, how about a MeetUp in NYC?

aurimas · February 27, 2014

The differences between Zotero for Firefox and Zotero Standalone are outlined here. There really are not that many and they are slowly disappearing.

Specifically, I want to see the citations in Wikipedia (in Chrome).

What do you mean by "see"?

I guess one difference that is not mentioned on the page I linked to and that you may be getting at is that in Firefox you are able to right-click the URL bar icon and choose a lower preference translator to import citations. This functionality is not yet available on Chrome/Opera/Safari. This would come in handy if you want to import cited references from Wikipedia using COinS metadata.

Edit:

I'd also like to better understand all of the fields and the best practices for annotating web resources.

I think you'll have to ask more specific questions here. IMO, most fields are quite self-explanatory, so if something is missing or not clear, you'll have to point it out specifically.

adamsmith · February 27, 2014

FWIW, Rintze and I are still, in general, writing a book/manual on this, which includes a table: http://zotero-manual.github.io/zotero-manual/installing-zotero
but as you'll see we didn't include the right-click functionality Aurimas mentions, so we might be missing other things.

edit: as for outreach - I fear that's unlikely to happen outside of universities. In NYC there are strong support communities at CUNY and Columbia, e.g. There just aren't enough people not affiliated with a school who are interested in Ref management.

dme · February 27, 2014

@adamsmith love your table;
yes, it can always be improved but it's infinitely better than the "table" that's not present on @aurimas page.

I know it's not my place, and this is hardly a perfect table, but it's my suggestion for a guide:
http://www.zotero.org/support/installation#where_and_what_do_i_download

as for importing references from a wikipedia article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisphenol_A

why do I get:
165 items when I save to zotero with COinS
110 items with I save to zotero with DOI

I know Zotero is complex and complicated, and my desire for Zotero and its functions to be Self Evident is very difficult, if not unlikely, but sheeze can't this be simplified and/or improved?

IMO (as if I could be writing anything but) not being able to limit searches of Zotero docs to a specific version further clouds and confuses as many many things have changed from:
Zotero 1.0
Zotero 2.0
Zotero 2.1
Zotero Standalone
Zotero 3.0
Zotero 4.0

NB: I'm not saying that I've found a good resource that actually does this--Adobe in particular is abysmal, I'm just putting this out there for thought and discussion.

adamsmith · February 27, 2014

you're a bit all over the place, so I'm not sure if you have a specific question —in which case I'd be happy to answer. The general discussion I'm a lot less interested in.

dme · February 28, 2014

you're right...these comments are all over the place.
They reflect my frustration--as a casual user--with Zotero.

So let me get back to the differences between COinS and DOI.
Can you please show me a page that describes the functional differences between these?

Also, is is possible with the Zotero Stand Alone--is it possible in Chrome to save as COinS or DOI via Chrome or is this function limited to FF? Or is there a plug in or extension that I need to install to Chrome or Zotero to achieve this functionality.

--- and ---
why I get slightly different results when I "save to Zotero using Wikipedia" in Chrome and FireFox; yes the differences are slight, but the fact that they're different: why is there _any_ difference?

Title in Chrome: Bisphenol A, [edit]
Title in FF: Bisphenol A

Date in Chrome: <null>
Date in FF: 2014-02-28T01:27:53Z

adamsmith · February 28, 2014

Can you please show me a page that describes the functional differences between these?

http://zotero-manual.github.io/zotero-manual/adding-items#generic_translators

Also, is is possible with the Zotero Stand Alone--is it possible in Chrome to save as COinS or DOI via Chrome or is this function limited to FF?

while it's possible to save DOI or COinS from Chrome, it is only possible where they are the default translator, i.e. the only (or at least top) option available - that's not the case for Wikipedia. The option to pick a translator to use is currently FF only and there's no way to get it in Chrome.

why I get slightly different results when I "save to Zotero using Wikipedia" in Chrome and FireFox;

I can't replicate that, I get a full date and no ", [edit]" from Chrome. Try again, make sure you're on the exact same page.