Emailing Word docs to others for review

cricketbird

I'm finally at the stage of sending my documents out to other people for review. What do I need to be aware of? For instance:

Do I need to remove field codes first? If so, will I ever get my Zotero links back into it?
If not, will the field codes survive the trip across platforms and MS Word versions and back to my computer intact? Will the other people see gibberish where my field codes are?

If other folks make edits/comments (Track Changes, etc.), will I still be able to work with my document?

Is there anything else I should check/worry about/consider before sending off my files?

dstillman

We're working on support for multi-user document editing, which will at least solve the problem of someone else with the Zotero plugin installed but a different Zotero library inadvertently deleting all your fields. In the meantime, you're probably better off flattening the fields first with Select All and Ctrl-Shift-F9 (Cmd-Shift-F9 on Macs) and manually applying any edits to the unflattened original when you get the revised document back.

cricketbird

Thanks Dan :) Speedy and helpful as always!

kmarr

If the other person is only going to read the document, there should not be any problem (just send it). The references in the fields should not be changed. If the other person does have Zotero and updates the fields (i.e. not just adding comments etc.), there is a risk that the references end up mixed up; although I'd suspect if you updated the document again on your PC, this should be "fixed"?

If you're worried, follow the instructions above. To save you some work when getting the document back, you could "compare documents" on the unflattened original.

adamsmith

just as a note (though this doesn't seem to apply here) - if both Open Office and MS Word are involved at some point of the process (and btw. I've made good experiences co-editing with one word and one OOo user), remember to use bookmarks, not fields/reference marks.

dstillman

If the other person does have Zotero and updates the fields (i.e. not just adding comments etc.), there is a risk that the references end up mixed up; although I'd suspect if you updated the document again on your PC, this should be "fixed"?

At the moment, if the other person had the Zotero word processor plugin and updated the fields, Zotero would likely offer to delete many of the citations (or all of them in 1.5). We're working on this.

bdarcus

Aside: I've for awhile been wondering if something like Google Docs doesn't provide a better way to gather feedback on work than the email-the-doc-around approach. Reason: it's collaborative, so that reviewers can see each others comments.