Can (or will) Zotero save webpage snapshots as MHT or MAF?

Gurdas_Sandhu
A similar topic has been discussed in a thread with last activity in Sep. 2010:
https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/919/

So, can (or will) Zotero save webpage snapshots as a MIME HTML (MHT) or Mozilla Archive Format (MAF) file type? Since these formats save the complete webpage as a single file, I imagine they make backup and maintenance easier. Firefox has a two plugins (both highly rated) that provide such ability and if they are installed in a user's Firefox, can't Zotero tag along?

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/mozilla-archive-format/ (I use this)

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/unmht/
  • aurimas
    I don't think this will happen. Neither of these formats are natively supported by all popular browsers (Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera, IE), which means that a good portion of users would be confused about how to view these files.

    I could see Zotero moving towards a PDF-based capture where natively available (currently only in Chrome, but others may follow), or perhaps there's a JS library (haven't looked).
  • Gurdas_Sandhu
    Hmmm... how about providing an option in Preferences between using current scheme, MHT, and MAF?
  • aurimas
    Implementing MHTML and MAF support would be a good amount of work. Adding additional options to Zotero Preferences is also not accepted lightly (adding a hidden preference is easier to get through but is also somewhat frowned upon).

    What is the benefit for you, the end user, in saving snapshots using these formats?
  • Gurdas_Sandhu
    aurimas, the benefits to me are consistency with my file system and (probably) less issues when backing up and restoring the database.

    I save all my web pages as .mht and thus having the same system within Zotero is desirable. I also back up my data on two external drives. I've had no problems so far, but simply based on common sense, I want the fewest number of files to handle in case I have to intervene manually or the backup software does not like the long or cryptic file names that any one or more of the hundreds of small components of a page could have.

    Maybe I am worrying needlessly, but my own experience so far has been that fewer files is better.

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