Zotero item selector renders off page in two-screen setup

benifex

I usually run a two-screen setup; a laptop and an extra display. I find that if I am using Chrome on the second display, the Zotero item selector renders mostly off the page, i.e. I can only see the bottom part of it, and I can't drag it down. The problem disappears if I go to one screen, though.

Possibly not the highest priority bug, but I thought I'd report it. I should add here that Zotero is great -- I keep being pleasantly surprised by new (to me) functions that I wish I'd known about before. So much so that I am reading the online documentation now! (Yes, I am RTFM ..)

cheers

Anton

adamsmith

Are those screens with similar/identical or with very different resolutions? And on which OS?

benifex

It's Windows 10 (Pro).

The screens are different resolutions: the laptop is 3000 x 2000 while the second screen is 1920 x 1080. So they are not even the same aspect ratio.

dstillman

What do you mean by item selector?

benifex

dstillman, if you have the Zotero Connector browser extension installed, and you are on, say, Google Scholar with a page of 10 search hits, you click on the Zotero Connector icon (aka Save to Zotero). This brings up a dialogue box with the 10 results on the page and a checkbox beside each so you can select which you want to save to Zotero. It's a lot quicker than saving each individually.

dstillman

(I'm a Zotero developer. I was just trying to make sure we understood what you were referring to, not asking about a feature.)

The item selector should appear in the center of the browser window you trigger it from — if you move the window around or change its size, if you then open the popup it should still be in the center. Is that the behavior you're seeing on your laptop screen? If you move the browser window horizontally on the second monitor, does the popup open shifted over accordingly? (In other words, is it seemingly still trying to center the popup but just calculating the position wrong based on the different resolution?)

DWL-SDCA

@dstillman I use a Mac and I've had this (minor) issue ever since I updated from Z4 to early 5 betas. (I don't recall if it existed with Z-4 versions but it likely did.) This issue is not unique to Zotero. It occurs with the local client of Quick Books Online, and it occurs when I use a browser link to the administration portion of my website (using Firefox or Chrome). The same behavior occurs tiwh GoToMeeting and similar software. The issue existed for me with browser popup windows (for my website and othewise) for as long as I can remember -- certainly for as long as I've used two monitors with a Mac. [edit: I've grown accustomed to popups appearing on a different monitor and I like it that way.]

If the active program is displayed on the primary screen (in this case my iMac screen) the select list opens in a small window on my second monitor. If I have the main program open on my second monitor the select list window opens on my primary (iMac) screen.

I've never felt that this behavior is a problem -- I thought it was normal, proper behavior -- but I would be glad to work with you to help fix the issue if you cannot reproduce it. Is there a way to record a screen capture of both screens at the same time without using an over-the-shoulder camera?

dstillman

This wouldn't have anything to do with Zotero 4 vs. 5 — this is about the Zotero Connector's item selector for multiple results, which is a browser window. The popup shouldn't appear anywhere other than the center of the window in which it was triggered. If it does, that's a bug.

For me on macOS and Windows 10, Chrome seems to get this perfectly right, no matter the window size or position and no matter which display the window is on.

In Firefox it's buggier, in weird ways. On my primary display, if the window is in the left half of the screen, the popup appears centered to the screen rather than the window. If the window is in the right half of the screen, the popup is centered horizontally with the window but not vertically. If the window is on the second display, the popup appears briefly on the primary display and then moves to being centered horizontally (but not vertically) with the window on the second display.

benifex

Sorry dstillman, I managed to miss the email alerts that there were new posts .. also I didn't know you were a dev! :-) I don't have access to a second screen now, but I will on Tuesday so I'll post again then re your questions. However, using my laptop by itself the item selector does indeed appear bang in the middle of the screen.

From memory, I was running Zotero on the laptop screen (3000 x 2000) and Chrome on the second screen (1920 x 1080). The item selector was appearing off the top right of the second screen. So -- *maybe* -- if the position of the popup was being calculated by counting pixels from the bottom left of the screen, but the resolution of the laptop screen was being used in the calculation, then this might produce the behaviour (??).

Anyway, on Tues. I'll post again. Do you want a screenshot, as a starting point?

benifex

Hi again,
I have replicated the error. It happens when the apps are organised across the two screens as follows:

Zotero - 1st screen OR 2nd screen
Chrome (with Google Scholar open) - 2nd screen
Word, in case that makes a difference - 1st screen OR 2nd screen

1st screen = laptop screen
2nd screen = desktop monitor

So, in short, it only seems to happen when Chrome is open on the second screen.

I can email you a screenshot if you want, but I don't have your email address so you'll have to ping me initially: alpha tango dutoit at the mail provided free by Google.