Can someone explain the Quick Copy settings to me?

Greg

Hi,

Quick Copy is a great feature and I have a couple of questions about it:

- What exactly does "Copy as HTML" do? Doesn't seem to make a different for me.
- There are "Site-Specific settings". Does that mean that I can change the format depending on which website I drag and drop citations to?
- Can "Site-Specific settings" also be used as "App-specific settings" so that the format changes depending on which Application I copy too?
- I would like to copy as a markdown link with an zotero url pointing to the citation. Something like ([Author 2016](zotero://...)). I guess that would require creating my own format?

Thanks!

dstillman

- What exactly does "Copy as HTML" do? Doesn't seem to make a different for me.

It copies raw HTML markup instead of rich text. It only applies to bibliographic output.

There are "Site-Specific settings". Does that mean that I can change the format depending on which website I drag and drop citations to?

Yes. (Technically, the last site that you navigated or switched to in any browser with the Zotero Connector installed, not the site you drag to.)

Can "Site-Specific settings" also be used as "App-specific settings" so that the format changes depending on which Application I copy too?

Unfortunately not. We don't actually have any way of knowing where the drag is going (hence the distinction about the site-specific settings above).

I would like to copy as a markdown link with an zotero url pointing to the citation. Something like ([Author 2016](zotero://...)). I guess that would require creating my own format?

Probably, yes, though it's possible someone else knows of an existing third-party translator that does that. The Scannable Cite export translator from the Zotero RTF/ODF-Scan plugin is probably a good model.

Gracile

https://www.zotero.org/support/preferences/export (maybe out-of-date)

What exactly does "Copy as HTML" do? Doesn't seem to make a different for me.

You're right. This is actually broken for me in 5.0 (Source.a6564e92d). It should export a citation or bibliography with HTML tags (you can read this very old blog post: https://www.zotero.org/blog/zotero-103-web-bibliography-gets-a-little-easier/ )

- There are "Site-Specific settings". Does that mean that I can change the format depending on which website I drag and drop citations to?

Not exactly.
It requires the Zotero Connector and uses the last active tab regardless of drag destination.

Can "Site-Specific settings" also be used as "App-specific settings" so that the format changes depending on which Application I copy too?

No.

- I would like to copy as a markdown link with an zotero url pointing to the citation. Something like ([Author 2016](zotero://...)). I guess that would require creating my own format?

Yes, with an export translator I think (Better Bib(La)TeX is doing something similar for example - and many other things).

bwiernik

1. Does it copy the citation as HTML (suitable for pasting into web page code or in forums/text boxes that support HTML markup) or does it copy it using rich text formatting features used by word processors? When pasting into Word, it won't make a difference, but if you paste into a text editor or other programmers, you may the HTML code pasted when using that mode.

2. Yes, that is what it means. This feature was originally built for sites like Wikipedia that have their own specific citation formatting needs.

3. Not at this time, and not I'm not sure whether Zotero would ever be able to support such a feature (it gets the necessary information for the site-specific settings from the browser connector plugins).

4. Yes, but you can modify the Zotero Select script available here: https://zoteromusings.wordpress.com/2013/04/23/zotero-item-uris-from-client/ to add the Markdown part at the front.

Gracile

@dstillman : at least on Windows, "copy as html" seems broken : Zotero doesn't retain the checkbox status when I close the Prefs (with OK).

bwiernik

I am noticing the same thing. It did eventually switch for me after trying a few times and changing which item was selected, but now it is stuck in Copy as HTML mode and won't switch back.

EDIT: Changing styles, along with changing the HTML checkbox, appears to get it to change consistently.

dstillman

"Copy as HTML" is fixed in the latest beta — thanks.