Issues with page field showing in the bibliography on different versions of Windows

wrybenjamin

I am managing my lab's bibliography using Zotero on my personal computer (running Windows 10) and also on my lab's computer (Windows 7). Both computers are running the same version of Zotero (4.0.29.10).

My prof's bibliographical information includes unorthodox info formats in the page field like:

p. xiii + 579 pp., 3 pls.

(pls. meaning plates).
I've noticed this issue when working on my Windows 10 computer. When I export a reference to clipboard, it expresses as this:

Bingham CT (1897) Hymenoptera. —Vol. I. Wasps and bees. In: Blanford WT (ed.) The fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Taylor & Francis, London, p. xiii + 579 pp., 3 .

The last number 3 is supposed to be '3 pls.', but the 'pls.' goes missing. This error is also noticed in the Zotero style editor on the Windows 10 computer.

I thought it could have been an issue with the custom style I made myself using the visual CSL editor. However, the error is not replicated on the visual CSL editor website.

When I use Zotero on Windows 7, the 'pls.' appears and my bibliography has no issues.

I've no idea what could be the problem. The only obvious difference is the OS; Zotero settings on both computers should be the same. Anyone have any idea what I could do to resolve this?

adamsmith

I wouldn't be entirely surprised if this showed some odd behavior, since you're using the "page" field in a way that isn't intended. The pages field is intended for page ranges -- here of a chapter. You seem to want to use it for number of pages information. My guess would be that the problem arises from Zotero's attempts to parse this as a page range somehow.

I would enter this as
number-of-pages: p. xiii + 579 pp., 3 pls.
in the extra field and then use number-of-pages in citation style.

(You also seem to be using the book section for a volume in a multi-volume work, which is why you don't have numPages available for the item).

edit to fix Extra field.

wrybenjamin

I'll like to implement your suggestion. The problem is I don't know which variable will be using the Extra field. I visited this page http://docs.citationstyles.org/en/stable/specification.html#appendix-iv-variables but it doesn't seem to list the variable name to be selected to call the Extra field in the visual CSL editor.

adamsmith

The Extra field can contain any CSL variable written in the form:
csl-variable: value

It can contain multiple variables as long as each one starts on a new line.

so in your case you'd put
number-of-pages: p. xiii + 579 pp., 3 pls.
into the extra field and then use `number-of-pages` in CSL.

wrybenjamin

Thought I should conclude this thread. I tried your suggestion and it didn't work on the Windows 10 com but it worked on Windows 7. However I tried reinstalling Zotero on Windows 10 and now everything is running as expected. I'm not sure why this is the case as I could have sworn I saw the same version number, but I guess I must have been mistaken! Thanks for your help; I did learn something new about the Extra field at least.

bwiernik

It is almost certainly the case that you had an earlier version of Zotero on the Windows 10 machine that predated support for the format adamsmith mentioned.