One-click import from Download folder

drjpayne

Zotero gives you a one-click option for importing citations from the Clipboard. However, *many, if not most* journal websites will put citations in the Downloads folder, not the Clipboard, when you click on something like "Download citation". Can we please get a one-click option for importing from Downloads?

I asked this about a year ago and was told that Zotero's automatic "Save to Zotero" option would do the trick. But at least on a Mac, it very often doesn't. For example, here's an article that was highlighted in today's NYTimes. The NYTimes link leads you to the website:

http://www.eneuro.org/content/early/2018/05/14/ENEURO.0038-18.2018

where a) the "Save to Zotero" option doesn't work properly, and b) the "Citation Tools--Zotero" link puts the citation in the Downloads folder, not the clipboard. That's very common, in my experience.

adamsmith

Something isn't right about your Zotero installation.
Zotero
a) correctly downloads the article, including PDF, when using the "Save to Zotero" option.
b) automatically recognizes the Citation tools --> Zotero option and offers to import the metadata.

Which browser, which Zotero version?

I believe double-clicking a .ris file in any folder, including Download, should also import it into Zotero.

drjpayne

Ah, it seems that the problem is with Safari. Firefox worked correctly. I'm using Zotero version 5.0.47

drjpayne

It remains true that on most websites if you click on the "Save Citation" link, it puts the result in Downloads, not in the Clipboard, so it still makes more sense to me to have a one-click option for importing from the Downloads folder.

adamsmith

I don't think that's feasible in technical terms without some rather ugly hacks, so I doubt it's going to happen, but just to reiterate, the scenario where you download an RIS file should be vanishingly small. I use and test Zotero on hundreds of sites and I actually cannot remember the last time looking at a site where there's a) an RIS export option b) no Zotero translator and c) Zotero doesn't recognize the RIS export via its connector.

Option c) is designed to effectively work like the one-click from download option you're envisioning.

drjpayne

So is the example I gave just a problem with Safari?

adamsmith

Right, it definitely works on Firefox and Chrome. I don't have Safari to test so I can't say if this is a general problem there or if it's something more specific to your set-up. Generally Safari should behave the same way as the other browsers. Someone else will likely take a look.

drjpayne

OK, thanks for your help tracking it down. I'll try reinstalling.

dstillman

That page works for me in Safari, including saving the PDF.

If you're still having trouble, see Troubleshooting Translator Errors.