Linking to PDFs

mikez
In V1.x when I clicked on the "Create New Item From Current Page" button Zotero would add the URL of a PDF being viewed in Firefox to the database.

In V2.x Zotero adds the content of the PDF, rather than the reference.

Am I missing an option to get the old behavior?

I'm referencing a lot of very large PDFs whose URL is unlikely to change over time. (And which presumably would create problems if I tried to sync them between machines using my Zotero account).

Note that I don't have the "Automatically Take Snapshots" option selected (and I'd argue this option should not be selected by default)
  • adamsmith
    no I don't think what you want is currently easily possible -it's not a usage scenario Zotero has envisioned I guess, but it would probably still be nice to have a way to get there without too much hassle.

    The default for snapshots is a different topic, but I think since searchability and the like are key features of Zotero the default should keep this on.
  • dstillman
    Mike: I believe you mean "web page item" rather than "URL" and "snapshot" rather than "content of the PDF", but here's an explanation of the current behavior:

    http://forums.zotero.org/discussion/7044/snapshot-button/#Item_6

    But even before the changes mentioned there are made, it probably makes sense to change it such that clicking the button on an open PDF with the snapshot pref off (or using Shift-click to toggle) should just save a web page item.
  • adamsmith
    edited October 28, 2009
    But even before the changes mentioned there are made, it probably makes sense to change it such that clicking the button on an open PDF with the snapshot pref off (or using Shift-click to toggle) should just save a web page item.
    I like that. And it would allow Mike to get the behavior he used to have in 1.0 back.
    (which was technically a webpage item, yes, but it had the URL in it and doubleclicking on it opened the URL.)
  • mikez
    "But even before the changes mentioned there are made, it probably makes sense to change it such that clicking the button on an open PDF with the snapshot pref off (or using Shift-click to toggle) should just save a web page item."

    That's precisely the behavior I'd expect / like to see. The default should be lightweight (rather than automatically downloading a 300 page document), but with an easy (single button) method of subsequently deciding to add the snapshot.

    As an aside, working around the current behavior is more difficult than it should be because there is no (easy) way to Add a "Web Page" item except by browsing to the page. It's not one of the "New Item" set of options. (Or perhaps I missed it)
  • dstillman
    there is no (easy) way to Add a "Web Page" item except by browsing to the page
    This is by design, since most people trying to add web page items via the menu shouldn't be. But the workaround is trivial: create any other item type and change the item type.
  • zisoffice
    I really like z, but with 2.0 i can not handle pdf files on an ski and easy way (more than that ... i start to hate to work with pdfs), maybe it is just me.

    We ve the same problem like mikez. We use a lot of web-based pdf. We just want to store them as web page items and sometimes additional local as original pdf-file. These files do not have any usefull metadata (published quick and dirty). So I would like:

    With the snapshot pref off (or using Shift-click to toggle) should just save a web page item and ... then the user could click to make a snapshot or download the pdf contant to the library (for index) as child of the web-page-item.

    thanx
  • dstillman
    OK, in the latest dev build, saving an open PDF via Create New Item from Current Page will save just a web page item if the snapshot pref is off or toggled off via Shift-click. This will be in 2.0b7.5
Sign In or Register to comment.