References unlinking in Google docs when moving text around

evajenkins
Hi there,
I have been successfully using google docs with Zotero for a few months now. I have the chrome extension installed and everything was working normally. However, in one of my documents, every time I move text around the references now become unlinked which makes it really difficult to keep track of everything. This has not happened before and I'm not collaborating with anyone so my document is not shared with anyone else.

The process is - copy text containing a reference. Paste somewhere new. Refresh document via Zotero. Zotero says that the reference is now unlinked.

Would appreciate some advice on how to fix this. Should I move the document to Microsoft Word?
Thanks
  • dstillman
    What browser? What version of the Zotero Connector do you have in your browser's extensions pane?
  • evajenkins
    I'm using Chrome and the version is 5.0.81
  • evajenkins
    I have also tried firefox and having the same issue. I'm drafting a manuscript so I need to move a lot of writing around
  • dstillman
    Can you provide a Debug ID from the Zotero Connector for this happening? Make sure you can refresh and see that the citation is still linked before you copy, and keep the debug output running until you refresh after and get the notification.
  • evajenkins
    I am having trouble doing the debug output and getting an error.

    I have worked out that when i copy and paste as normal the references are okay and will update. But I was dragging and dropping text around, which is when they became unlinked! So i will make sure to properly copy and paste
  • dstillman
    Yeah, it looks like dragging will break the citations. I'm not sure if that's always been case or if we can do anything about it — @adomasven would know.

    But yes, cutting and pasting should definitely work. Note that, when it's working, you'll see a brief popup as Zotero processes the change.
  • evajenkins
    Thanks for your help!
  • adomasven
    Yeah, sorry, to confirm, dragging text does indeed break citations. Unfortunately we don't have a way to work around that.
Sign In or Register to comment.