pdfs saved with blank title

JeanWilson
I have just started using Zotero and was hoping to use it to order all kinds of pdfs. However when I try to save a new pdf from the internet quite often in the middle column I get just a pdf symbol and no title/filename - though in the right column the info does show the filename. This happens with sites that are not conventional academic journals, but by no means flaky! This one, for example: http://www.zerocarbonhub.org/sites/default/files/resources/reports/ZCH-OverheatingEvidenceReview-Impacts.pdf

It doesn't happen (I don't think) if I save to my own system first then copy to zotero, but that rather defeats the object, or at least, half of the object!

Hoping you can help, but please be patient with me, I find most of the discussions on this forum incomprehensible, I am not very tecchy!
  • adamsmith
    Works fine for me.
    How exactly are you saving those PDFs to Zotero? (just describe what you're doing in your own words).
    And is this the Firefox add-on or Zotero Standalone? And if Standalone, which browser?
  • JeanWilson
    In Firefox add-on: I just click on the little document logo next to the zotero z in my toolbar and the pdf saves but no title - it happens in about one in or so files I want to save. Tried opening in and saving from acrobat instead - same story :/
  • JeanWilson
    One in five, I meant to say!
  • adamsmith
    odd. Could you take a screenshot of whatever you think best shoes that missing title with the full item info on the left, upload it to a free image hosting site (imgur, dropbox) and link to it please. I want to make sure we're talking about exactly the same thing, as I've never seen what I understand you to be describing.
    Also, maybe there are other clues as to what's going on in the screenshot.
  • JeanWilson
    Sorry to miss your reply earlier - European time here. I'll see if I can set up an anonymous Dropbox to show you, but all it is is a column of little pdf icons in the middle, but with the usual info in the RHS for whichever one is selected.

    Is there an option for adding a title? I haven't found it if so! (right and left clicked on pretty much everything...)

    But in the event I think I'll continue to save to my hard drive then use Zotero to catalogue, for an unrelated reason - which is a little thing, but when working wiht my non-zotero'd files, when I click on 'recent places' (eg to attach something to an email) I get a lot of zotero folders mixed up with my 'own' folders. So saving first to my own system then copying across en bloc will hopefully solve both issues plus give me a little bit more transparency as I am nervous around computers... (generational issue: old dog, new tricks, etc)

    Still be keen to learn if there was a way to name my nameless saves though!

    Many thanks.
  • JeanWilson
    by the way, I am using Windows Vista, in case that has a bearing on anything?
  • adamsmith
    imgur doesn't require registration, so you can use that quickly.
    http://imgur.com/
  • JeanWilson
    OK, had a go

    http://imgur.com/FRpFamr

    can you see this?

    thanks!
  • adamsmith
    yes, thanks. And you don't have any other Zotero-related add-ons installed, do you?
  • JeanWilson
    I tried to install zotfile but can't see any evidence that its there so not sure?
  • adamsmith
    you can type about:addons in the address bar in Firefox and hit return. That will show you all installed add-ons. If you do have ZotFile installed there, disable it (don't uninstall), restart Firefox, and see if that changes anything.
  • JeanWilson
    I can't see zotfile under either extensions or plugins so I guess not on (this) main pc, though I did manage to add it to my laptop earlier. The same nameless pdf issue was arising on he laptop before and after the installation of zotfile (was not getting complete synch either but that's for another thread).

    I feel a bit guilty about wasting your time actually as I now fear this whole system is going to be beyond me to get up and running smoothly, especially now I have found gaps in the synching :(
  • adamsmith
    I mean - you're getting a sync error. That's the red exclamation mark I can see on your screenshot.
  • JeanWilson
    Ah! Well I fixed that (I think it is because I changed my password to something I could remember) - but the nameless pdfs persist, I'm afraid. Can't believe how patient you are being with me, thank you so much :)
  • adamsmith
    I can't replicate the blank saving on any of my systems, so currently I don't have a good idea what's happening.
    Could you provide an error report ID right after saving a PDF (that comes in without a title in the middle panel)
    https://www.zotero.org/support/reporting_problems#provide_a_report_id
  • JeanWilson
    I'll give that a go, thanks. Do you think the fact that I am on an old version of windows might have anything to do with it? Pointless to speculate probably.
  • adamsmith
    I'm testing this on Windows 7, which really shouldn't be behaving differently in any meaningful way, so I'd be surprised if that made a difference.
  • JeanWilson
    Here is an error report from anotehr nameless pdf save, confusingly referring to another web page (as well?) that I'm not even sure I was trying to save in zotero. Hopefully you can figure it out!

    this was the number - 270293308
  • adamsmith
    JeanWilson -- ignore the below

    @Dan - could you check? I'm mainly interested in
    - any potentially conflicting add-ons/themes
    - version nos
    - obvious display errors

    You've never seen this error either, have you?
  • dstillman
    Try disabling your other Firefox extensions, restarting Firefox, and seeing if that helps. If it still happens, could you provide a Debug ID (different from a Report ID) for a PDF save without a title?
  • dstillman
    Also, do you know how you're viewing the PDFs in Firefox? It is via the built-in Firefox PDF viewer or the Acrobat plugin? If you go to Applications tab of the Firefox preferences and type in "pdf", what does it say for "Portable Document Format (PDF)"? "Preview in Firefox", or something else?
  • JeanWilson
    Hi Adam and Dan

    Well I have sort of solved it, in that I find I have to both disable clearly for evernote, and then also click on the link in the host page then select 'save as zotero item' rather than simply using the little zotero document icon in the toolbar. So not an ideal solution, but I can make it work in some cases.

    Unfortunately a lot of the pdfs I want to save I find dirct from google searches, in which case I don't have the host/landing page with its link, though I suppose I could try going back to the search page and right click on the search item?

    Have been opening pdfs in firefox as otherwise not sure how to get zotero to save them, without a cumbersome drag and drop process - which would defeat the object somewhat, as I mentioned above!

    What I was really hoping for was to be able to find and open a pdf, read it or some of it, then click to save to zotero, add notes and tags etc, all from one or two tabs. I now nearly have this, but a few more tabs and clicks have been added in that I was hoping would be streamlined out. I am not complaining, as I think it is very bad manners to complain about free software, and indeed I am very grateful to you, and impressed by your attentive support. Not sure it's going to work for me in the end though.
  • dstillman
    I'm not sure why you'd have to both disable Clearly and also change how you save — either Clearly is interfering or isn't, no? You should certainly be able to just click the save icon when viewing a PDF and get PDFs with titles, so if that's not working, there's still an issue with your Firefox installation.

    But in any case, it sounds like you're still misunderstanding a few parts of Zotero. The normal way of saving from Zotero is to save from article pages or search results, which gives you a full bibliographic item and, where possible, the PDF as an attachment.

    You can optionally save the PDF directly — and that should certainly include a title (and does for most people) — but the title also doesn't really matter, since you'd then want to right-click on the PDF and choose "Retrieve Metadata from PDF" anyway, which attempts to create a parent item and sets a title. (You can also set a title on the PDF item manually in the right-hand pane.) If you're viewing the PDF in Firefox, you can also click the download icon in the Firefox PDF pane and then choose to save to Zotero and optionally retrieve metadata in the open/save dialog. But however you do it, saving PDFs directly isn't the standard or recommended approach.
  • dstillman
    For an overview of saving in Zotero, see this page: https://www.zotero.org/support/getting_stuff_into_your_library
  • JeanWilson
    Ah, OK, that might be helpful! I'll give it a try anyhow. I must be the most simple-minded person ever to haunt your forum! Thanks again for all your help, I'll see how I go!
Sign In or Register to comment.