hyperlinks back to zotero item

jerryk
Various applications allow for hyperlinks to specific items, which can be used in other applications. For instance, onenote creates onenote:// links that can be pasted into other apps, such as links in MIndmanager or Zoot.

Is there any chance that specific Zotero items could have such links? Sometimes greater "filing" or visualization would be helpful (I'm think of mindmapping here), and such hyperlinks would substantially extend the power of Zotero.

One final complication: in onenote, even changing the name and moving around the page or section does NOT break the hyperlink. That, would of course be superb.
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  • bjorn
    Hi,

    I am interested in the same feature, to be able to paste a hyperlink into another program that when I click on it would cause zotero to display that item.

    Did you solve this?

    Sincerly,
    bjorn
  • hugh
    I just wanted to second (third?) a request for this feature. I use OneNote for annotating PDFs and the ability to link to those annotations from Zotero using OneNote's built in hyperlinking function would be very useful.

    Thanks,
    Hugh
  • jonk
    I just want to add another request for this feature. I also find OneNote very helpful for taking and organizing notes while doing research. I would find it very helpful to be able to link to a specific reference in Zotero from within OneNote, as described above.
  • dsjolie
    I used zotero://report/ urls to integrate Zotero references into tiddlywiki as described here:

    http://forums.zotero.org/discussion/2628/tiddlywiki-as-a-zotero-database-presentation-layer/#Item_3
  • mark
    I also want to add my voice to this request. I use Data Notebook for field research notes currently, and if I could use hyperlinks to directly link to Zotero entries that would be fabulous.
  • dsjolie
    You can do the same using the web-interface to the synced server-side database if you're using syncing. Details here :
    http://forums.zotero.org/discussion/2628/tiddlywiki-as-a-zotero-database-presentation-layer/#Comment_22612
  • bjorn
    Hi,

    I think that it would be wonderful if it was possible to create hyperlinks back to zotero items that maximized zotero in the firefox window and showed the item selected in zotero.

    These links could be added to the style when making formatted bibliographies, so that if would be easy to go back and forth to re reference.

    Anyone else thinks it is a good idea?

    /bjorn
  • GrantRobertson
    I have been digging around in these forums for just this discussion so I can add my vote for features that will allow linking directly into Zotero items. I read the thread mentioned by dsjolie, above, and found the following:
    """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
    ZoteroRefTemplate
    ----
    !Report from Zotero
    <html>
    <iframe frameborder=0 height=300 width=100% marginwidth=0 scrolling=auto
    src="zotero://report/items/$1/html/report.html">
    IFrames are not supported by your browser.</iframe>
    </html>
    ----
    """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
    I am not completely familiar with the ability to customize Zotero but I have gathered that it is possible to specify how one wants their citations inserted into documents or the clipboard using these ZoteroRefTemplate things. Now, I see that included in the above ZoteroRefTemplate is what is called a "zotero:// URL." From this I gather, if the link were created properly, it would be possible to link in directly to a specific item in Zotero.

    Naturally, this begs the question: How do we properly construct this link? Where do I find information as to what codes to include in the link to ensure that the correct item is selected when I click the link? However, this does not go far enough. What is really needed is an easy way to quickly insert a properly constructed link into the clipboard for easy pasting elsewhere. I understand that it may be possible to create a reference format that creates this link just as I could create a reference format that creates any form of bibliographical citation I choose. I could then simply right click on the item and choose "Create Bibliography from Selected Item." But it still takes several clicks to switch from one format to another. If one is alternating between working on a final document and updating notes on how that document is to be written (as I assume many here work) this results in the need to continuously switch between the bibliography format for the document and the link format for the notes. Therefore, it would be very beneficial to have a specific menu item - just under "Create Bibliography from Selected Item" in the context menu - that says "Copy Link to Selected Item into Clipboard" which does just that.

    Since the link format would never change, I see no need to force every user of Zotero who wants to be able to create links to figure all this out for themselves. After all, the guiding principle of all good computer software is that the computer should do the tedious, repetitive work so we don't have to.

    Thank you for a wonderful program. You are doing a great service to the academic community. I am just trying to do my part to help make it even better.
  • Alberto Molina
    I use TiddlyWiki to see my Zotero attached files (pdf, webpages...) even when I'm not online, using the method of dsjolie (http://forums.zotero.org/discussion/2628/tiddlywiki-as-a-zotero-database-presentation-layer/#Item_3):

    You just need to change:

    src="zotero://report/items/$1/html/report.html"

    by

    scr="zotero://attachment/$1/"

    where $1 is the id of an attachment.

    Or you can just create a tiddler with the id of the attachment you want to see. For instance:

    ----
    !Attachment from Zotero
    <html>
    <iframe frameborder=0 height=300 width=100% marginwidth=0 scrolling=auto
    src="zotero://attachment/5917/">
    IFrames are not supported by your browser.</iframe>
    </html>
    ----

    /Alberto
  • mmp997
    I would not consider transferring my files to Zotero unless I can hyperlink from OneNote to my Zotero files. Can that now be achieved? (this discussion stopped in 2009, i.e. 5 years ago!)

    I now have my pdfs arranged in Windows Explorer folders (synced via DropBox). I can hyperlink to these pdfs by using OneNote's 'Link' function to point to Dropbox's folder url.

    Can I do the equivalent for files in Zotero?
  • adamsmith
    edited September 27, 2014
    What exactly do you have in mind? In general the answer is yes, but there is no such thing as "Zotero files." There are files that are attached to Zotero items, which are still just regular files on your harddisk, so you can obviously link to them.

    There are also the Zotero items themselves, to which you can in general link via zotero://select links (search the forum for instructions), though the degree to which those links open from other programs may vary.

    edit: and if the question is just if you can add links to files in dropbox--yes you can do that via attach link to file.
  • mmp997
    Sorry, I didn't understand that. I have Zotero, with pdfs imported into it. I want to hyperlink to these pdfs, either locally, or (better) in a remote url, because I want to be able to access pdfs when I am not working from my local laptop.
  • mmp997
    I'm taking it for granted that you're not suggesting that I link to the files that Zotero stores in my local data directory, because they're not written in any humanly recognizable language and I wouldn't have any idea what to link to.
  • adamsmith
    OK, that's not what other people in this thread were writing about so that was a bit unclear.
    Are you syncing with Zotero file storage?
    In that case you can either just open the pdf on zotero.org and copy the URL or you can install and use the item URI translator, description and instructions here: http://zoteromusings.wordpress.com/2013/04/23/zotero-item-uris-from-client/

    If you're not using file sync, you can obviously only link to files locally. I think currently the easiest way would be to just use right-click --> Show file and copy the file path, but it would certainly be possible to hack together another solution. It's not something that gets requested much (basically I'm not aware of any requests for this up to now), though.
  • adamsmith
    because they're not written in any humanly recognizable language and I wouldn't have any idea what to link to.
    that doesn't make any sense, though. Why do links need to be human readable? The whole point is that they're something your computer can read. As long as you generate the link, your file system will open them.
  • mmp997
    edited September 28, 2014
    Maybe my comments have disappeared, or maybe there has been some kind of 'approval lag'. Anyway, I'll try again.

    In the comment I attempted to make yesterday I stressed that I'm just trialling Zotero so hadn't yet stumbled across the remote 'My Library', not entirely unsurprisingly, since it seems not to be linked to from Zotero's Firefox Add-On.

    My problem is this:

    When linking from OneNote to my DropBox Windows Explorer file collection, I hyperlink from OneNote to the pdf url in DropBox. Click on the link in OneNote, and the pdf opens in a local application immediately without further ado.

    With a similar link from OneNote to Zotero's remote 'My Library', clicking the link opens an interface. I then have to click on the attached pdf file. It downloads to my browser. I then click on the download, and it opens.

    So the process is considerably different from hyperlinking to a pdf Windows Explorer file in DropBox.

    To return to to my original question: I would not consider transferring my files to Zotero unless I can hyperlink from OneNote to my Zotero files. Can that be achieved? From my experience no, since there is no direct hyperlink to a pdf in Zotero.

    Probably pdf storage is different in Zotero from in DropBox? In my DropBox Windows Explorer, what I see is the pdf. In Zotero, what I see looks like a pdf but is actually a record, to which the pdf is attached. Hence the difference in the hyperlinking behavior?
  • fbennett
    edited September 28, 2014
    @mmp997:
    Maybe my comments have disappeared, or maybe there has been some kind of 'approval lag'. Anyway, I'll try again.
    Nope. There isn't an approval process on these forums.
    In the comment I attempted to make yesterday I stressed that I'm just trialling Zotero so hadn't yet stumbled across 'My Library', not entirely unsurprisingly, since 'My Library' seems not to be linked to from Zotero's Firefox Add-On.
    I'm not quite sure what you mean here. "My Library" is the top folder in the left-hand column of the Zotero pane, in both Zotero for Firefox and in Standalone Zotero. It's pretty hard to miss; but on the other hand, its existence is not immediately relevant to this particular issue as far as I can tell.
    When linking from OneNote to my DropBox ... I hyperlink from OneNote to the pdf ... [c]lick on the link ... and the pdf opens....

    With a similar link from OneNote to [a stored Zotero attachment] ... clicking the link opens an interface. I then have to click on the attached pdf file. It downloads to my browser. I then click on the download, and it opens.

    So the process is considerably different....
    If you explore the Zotero user interface a little, you will see that there are several ways of attaching items. What you describe above is the way "stored attachments" behave. These are synced through Zotero itself; up to 300 megabytes of total storage is free, with subscription plans available for larger libraries (the limit applies only to PDFs and other attachments -- item metadata storage is unlimited for all users).

    You can also link an attachment to Zotero. In that case, the file will exist outside of Zotero somewhere. It could reside in Dropbox, in which case there would be no change to OneNote behavior (obviously).

    It really depends on what sort of workflow you are trying to set up. If you have a concrete idea of how materials will be collected, and what information needs to be linked from OneNote (for example: links to PDF files only, links to items in the Zotero library, or dynamic citations for final document production), it will be easier to advise.
  • mmp997
    You got the first edit of my comment. The second edit, i.e., the edit now on site, speaks of there not being a link from the Zotero interface to the remote 'My Library'. I think that should make things clearer for you, the relevance to the discussion is then obvious.

    I am simply trying to replicate the hyperlinking behavior that I previously set up, linking my OneNote comments to DropBox Windows Explorer so that I click and a pdf stored in DropBox Windows Explorer opens. Can the equivalent be achieved in Zotero, or can it not be achieved? And if it can be achieved, how, and where is the documentation? It is simple using DropBox, it doesn't seem to be simple in Zotero
  • mmp997
    I think the problem is that I am trying to use Zotero as a kind of souped-up Windows Explorer, with bibliographic capacities. That's not what it is. It is primarily a set of bibliographic records, and any attachments are kept off-stage. Certainly pdfs in the remote 'My Library' (which you seem to call the 'Zotero attachment store') cannot be linked to from programs like OneNote, as DropBox Windows Explorer and other collections of files and folders like pdfs in Amazon S3 can be linked to.

    The result is a considerable limitation in Zotero's functionality, and I think it would be helpful to be upfront about this, by describing more clearly in the introductory videos how Zotero works.
  • fbennett
    edited September 28, 2014
    In the Documentation page on zotero.org, there is a link to the Adding Files page that explains things, with some screenshots.

    My response above was a little too long: the short answer is that yes, you can achieve the same behavior that you describe using Zotero.
  • mmp997
    I am not trying to add files! Sigh.
  • mmp997
    I think I'm on the point of giving up, I don't seem to be getting any illumination here.

    So far as I can understand, you don't understand what I am trying to do, and I really cannot think of how to explain it more clearly.

    It is, after all, a very simple function - linking to a pdf file which is classified by Zotero. You direct me to 'adding files' page, but I never said anything about adding files, I already know how to add files.

    You direct me to the folder where Zotero stores its data, I comment that it doesn't store it in humanly understandable language, you ask why does that matter, I explain that it is not going to be easy, on the fly, to link to something which isn't in humanly understandable language.

    Frustration at every turn!

    You tell me that the behavior that I am looking for can be replicated in Zotero. But still, after endless hours, we are no nearer to an explanation of how this (very very VERY simple) function can be achieved.
  • fbennett
    I did my best, sorry I wasn't able to help. Good luck in your research!
  • mmp997
    I think I will transfer the request to another forum folder and see whether someone else can shed some light. This is not a complicated question, after all, we must be able to find someone who can speak English.
  • fbennett
    edited September 28, 2014
    I could get all riled up at them fightin' words as you just writ there ... but instead I'll just point you to the forum guidelines on etiquette and leave it at that.
  • mmp997
    Haha, touche. Maybe I am wrong, but I seemed to be getting the passive-aggressive treatment. We'll not actually insult the dude, we'll just do our darnest not to understand what he is saying and give him the runaround.
  • fbennett
    No one is trying to give you the runaround. Two of us have carefully studied your use case, and independently suggested alternative methods of addressing it. Your response has been to accuse both of us of being incapable of understanding the English language. Joking aside, you really should review those guidelines on etiquette.

    I do hope you are able to sort things out, but this will be the last post on this issue from my end.
  • mmp997
    I am sorry, but I was simply trying to explain why the interaction was frustrating, which maybe I did over-spicily (and I thought your initial response was well-tuned). I appreciate your time and attention. But to repeat, this was a very simple use case, which must be incredibly common. I don't believe that if you took 100 typical Zotero users, that 1 out of that 100 would be able to make any sense of the answers that I got. Forum Etiquette, to be realistic, must surely include a section on when and where frustration can justifiably expressed, because at present it is simply assumed that the forum contributor is liable to be at fault, which is generally right, but not always the correct assumption. There is such a thing as lack of clarity, and to point out a lack of clarity is surely a useful contribution.
  • dstillman
    This is not a complicated question, after all, we must be able to find someone who can speak English.
    I think you can assume from now on that, if people don't respond to you further, it's a choice.

    If you're actually interested in learning how Zotero works, I'd recommend finding someone to help you in person. Best of luck.
  • aurimas
    Let me give this a shot.

    I'm not entirely sure how you copy the link to a DropBox file that would make it open up locally, but I'm probably just overlooking something. I also don't use OneNote, so I'm not sure about what the possibilities are of inserting a link to a local file (are you just pasting a URI? is there some sort of dialog where you select a file? can you drag-drop files to link to them?)

    In terms of getting some sort of link to an attached file, there are a couple options. Note that, unless stated otherwise, we assume that you are using the Zotero client, not zotero.org website.

    1. Drag-drop the attachment might work. There are a number of entries placed in the clipboard when you do this that make it possible to copy attachments to other folder or attach them to emails. Whether you can create a link using drag and drop depends mostly on the application you are dragging to.

    2. There is no way to copy a file path to an attachment from within Zotero. There probably should be (say Ctrl/Cmd + C when a file attachment is selected should probably do the same as drag-drop). You can, however, right-click the attachment in Zotero and select show file. Then obtain a path to the file as you normally would from within File Explorer.

    3. You can link to an online copy of the PDF attachment (one synced to zotero.org), but this will have restricted access (don't expect to share this link with others) and you will have to download the file. Adamsmith described this above:
    you can either just open the pdf on zotero.org and copy the URL or you can install and use the item URI translator, description and instructions here: http://zoteromusings.wordpress.com/2013/04/23/zotero-item-uris-from-client/
    Those are the options that currently exist. As I say above, a Ctrl/Cmd-C option to copy a reference to the attachment would probably be nice to implement, but other than that, I don't see many other improvements in this area.
This discussion has been closed.