[5.0 beta] Zotero Connector unresponsive/doesn't work

tokeriis

I have installed the standalone 5.0 beta (5.0-beta.167+b732a82 to be exact) of Zotero and the Firefox Connector 4.999.13.

Clicking on the Z-button in Firefox does nothing. Zip.

I have tried to delete and reinstall the Connector extension, without luck.

adomasven

Which version of Firefox? If you type `about:addons` in the URL bar and go into Zotero Connector preferences, are there any errors under Advanced tab? If so, could you submit an error report and post the ID you're given here?

tokeriis

Upgrading from Firefox 45 to 52 helped out. I normally use Safari, so I hadn't noticed how old Firefox was. Everything works fine now, thanks.

adomasven

You can totally use the connector for safari available here. Do note that we are slightly limited on Safari extension development and some features (such as automatic institutional proxy detection) will not be available there, so if you want the best Zotero experience you should use Chrome or Firefox.

tokeriis

I was exactly looking into the autodetection proxy features of the Firefox plugin, which was inconveniently moved away from Zotero Standalone settings. I hope they will be incorporated into the Safari plugin someday, or back to the standalone.

Out of curiosity – is development for Safari hindered by technological limitations or just not a priority?

dstillman

which was inconveniently moved away from Zotero Standalone settings

They were never in the Standalone prefs, because they wouldn't make sense there. The connectors need to be able to handle proxies even when Standalone is closed.

Adomas is more familiar with the Safari issues, so I'll let him comment on that part. Note that there is a new version of the Safari connector with some of the other recent connector improvements — it's just not released yet.

The new Firefox connector should still work with Firefox 45 (which has an ESR period through June 2017), so we'll check that.

adomasven

Out of curiosity – is development for Safari hindered by technological limitations or just not a priority?

Safari uses a different extension framework than Firefox and Chrome, which does not support some advanced features, so yes, it is technological limitations. As Dan noted, updates for Safari and Chrome connectors are coming soon with much improved handling of saving behind proxies, but if you want proxy detection and automatic redirection then you will have to stick with Firefox for now.