Can't change the item type

uwemuegge

I have tried changing the item type in several of my library items from "journal article" to "interview" and from "journal article" to "blog post", and when I click the Save button, the website displays the moving clock symbol for ever and never actually updates the entry. I get this behavior across different browsers (Firefox, Chrome, Edge). Also, I am able to make other changes without any problem. I am using Windows 10. As you can imagine, this is a critical issue for me. Please help!

DWL-SDCA

Are you attempting the change of item type on the Zotero website library or on your Zotero standalone or on Zotero in Firefox? I don't think that it is currently possible to make the change on your online library. If you make the change using your local Zotero client the change will transfer to your online library when you next sync.

dstillman

I don't think that it is currently possible to make the change on your online library.

Not sure why you would say this. It's pretty clear from the interface that it's meant to work — there's a drop-down to change the type — and it works for me.

uwemuegge: Do you see this with all items, or just some? If you create a new empty item, can you then change its item type?

DWL-SDCA

My sincere apologies. I thought that I remembered that I tried to edit the item type online and couldn't. Clearly, I shouldn't rely on my memory and write without trying something first. Yes, changing item type on the website can be done.

uwemuegge

I just created a new item and was able to change that item type. But I still can't change any of the item types of existing items (I haven't tried all item types, but the ones I have tried I couldn't change).

dstillman

OK, I think this happens when there are fields in the old type that don't exist in the new one. I'm not sure if this is a new issue or has never worked on the website, but we'll investigate and figure out a way to make this match the client's behavior (i.e., converting fields that are mapped to be the same between item types and discarding the rest).

In the meantime, you can either manually remove fields that you know won't be valid in the other item type (though that won't work for all conversions) or do this in the client, which handles it properly in all cases.

uwemuegge

Thanks for the prompt response, Dan and DWL-SDCA. Understanding the cause of the problem helps me deal with the situation. I will proceed as suggested. Thanks again! And please let me know when the issue has been fixed.

tinhmoon

If you make the change using your local Zotero client the change will transfer to your online library when you next sync.