Edited bibliography entries will not refresh

StephenHero
I searched the forums but couldn't quite find a discussion on this problem. I have a handful of journal references that include special formatting in their title (e.g. italics and subscripts). I used the "edit bibliography" button to select individual bibliography entries, select text within their titles, and add the necessary formatting. However, now those entries cannot be updated from the Zotero database by clicking the "Zotero refresh" button. I discovered this when I tried to update my bibliography with abbreviated journal names by filling in the "Journal Abbr" field in the database. Only the edited entries did not update with the new journal abbreviations. Removing the formatting from the bibliography does not restore refresh functionality. I only have a handful of references that are not refreshing, so I can just update them manually, but this is a bug that should be fixed at some point.

I am using a custom CSL style, but I don't see how that could affect this.

Zotero 1.0.10
Word plugin 1.0b3
Word 2007
Windows Vista Business SP1
  • dstillman
    This is more or less by design. Once you edit something, it's just a string of text as far as Zotero is concerned, and it can't refresh it without overwriting your edits.

    If you've only cited the entry in one or two places, you can remove the citations, refresh, and then add them back.

    If you don't want any custom edits at all, just delete and regenerate the bibliography.

    Otherwise, if you're feeling adventurous you can also right-click on the bibliography, Toggle Field Codes, and edit out the custom entry, though you shouldn't do this unless you understand the format of the field codes, since you risk corrupting the bibliography. (Worst case scenario, you'd need to delete the bibliography and regenerate it, losing all custom edits.)

    There should probably be a way to remove edits on a particular citation or reference. Maybe a button in the edit window?
  • StephenHero
    Thanks for the info. A button that deletes the edits and tells Zotero it can refresh the entries would be useful.

    I've discovered a quick workaround. Remove the entry from the bibliography and click OK. A popup will warn that citations will be removed, but then you'll get popups for each entry that will be removed. Just click "No" on those popups to keep the citations. Then refresh and the bibliography will be restored. Of course, then you'll have to redo the edits, but fortunately I only have to do that once when I finally submit the publication.
  • RintzeRintze
    If you have a lot of rich markup in your titles, you can also use this workaround:
    http://forums.zotero.org/discussion/3875/rich-text-in-titles/?Focus=26555#Comment_26555
  • aldo137
    I have a comment on the idea of manual edits. Doesn't it make sense to only allow the user to manually edit the actual reference, not the number? When I go to manually edit the reference, it sets the number to [1] and allows me to edit it. However, when I add other citations, it no longer updates that number, which makes it quite a nuisance to have to re-edit.

    I may be doing something wrong, but I guess I don't understand why the user would want to manually edit the numbering.
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