The 'delay citation update' option in latest beta is a REALLY cool feature that seems to solve the speed problem in large documents to a large extent. Also, it's a nice touch that you can see which citations are delayed. Awesome. Big thanks from this particular large-document addict.
One suggestion though: It would be nice if it could be a directly user-controlled feature (a checkbox in settings or similar), rather than letting Zotero decide whether updating takes too long. It seems a little arbitrary and constraining for such a big-ass feature (pardon).
Anyway, thanks again for the impressive work on the coolest reference tool around.
It would be nice if it could be a directly user-controlled feature (a checkbox in settings or similar), rather than letting Zotero decide whether updating takes too long
It is a checkbox in the document preferences, but it currently only appears after an update has taken five seconds and it has prompted you to disable automatic updates. We're considering changing that — I think five seconds (which was indeed a quick arbitrary choice for the initial implementation) is too long (since repeated 4-second delays would certainly be annoying), and it may make sense to just show it as an option from the beginning.
The downside to always showing it is that it's a somewhat confusing option that produces a more clumsy and somewhat dangerous user experience (because you could add a citation and forget to refresh), and there's really no reason to have it on for smaller documents — most Zotero users might never even need to use it. It also adds to a rather complicated window that's shown whenever you start a document. But it does seem that there will be a gray area where someone feels updating has gotten slow but it's not to the point where Zotero should propose this advanced option.
So the options, as I see it:
1) Just reduce the timeout for prompting from 5 seconds to, say, 3 seconds. Doesn't help advanced users annoyed by 2.5-second updates.
2) Show it from the beginning but don't prompt until 3 or 4 seconds.
3) Don't show it when starting a document, but have it be an option as soon as you return to the doc prefs, and prompt at 3–4 seconds if not enabled. This is a bit weird, but it would avoid showing a confusing option at document creation while allowing advanced users who prefer the mode to use it.
4) Don't show in the doc prefs until the document has passed a fairly low threshold — say, 1 second — and prompt at 3–4. This is probably too weird, but it would avoid presenting an unnecessary option to most people.
I'm leaning towards 3. Even though for now this would be the only difference between document creation and doc prefs, I think you could reasonably present a more streamlined set of options at document creation and avoid more complicated options that advanced users could turn on after if they wanted to.
3 sounds most reasonable to me. Of the things remaining in the Doc Preferences window, the only really optional thing at document creation to me seems to be storing citations as Fields/ReferenceMarks or Bookmarks. That said, it would be nice to move many of these options out of a window entirely and into the toolbar/ribbon, similar to Endnote's interface. That way, the document creation window could just be selecting a style.
I vote for 3), and what bwiernik said :) But yes, it should probably come with some seriously-looking warning sign and clearer in-text highlighting if possible.
Still, it’s a killer option that just, literally in the last minute, kept me from switching to EndNote for a current book project. (And I'm no quitter :))
I think that the text against the item would be a little easier for people to interpret if it were expressed in the affirmative, with an option to opt in, rather than being expressed as a double-negative, with an option to opt out.
I know that technically user is opting out of normal operation, but (in the words of a colleague) most users will treat Zotero as magic, and feel that ticking that box adds something to it. An offer to disable something, on the other hand, requires some thought about the technical end of what is being disabled -- and the attraction of Zotero is the freedom not to think about those details.
Not a strong opinion here, but I think users would more readily understand an option that says something like, "Postpone citation updates," or "Lazy citation updates."
Also, I don't know if it's technically possible, but issuing a warning when the document is queued for printing might reduce the risk of wasted time and paper.
We discussed the wording in the original ticket. "Delay citation updates" was the original wording, which we changed to "Delay citation updates until manual refresh" for clarity. We later changed it to "Automatically update citations", suggested by @Rintze, because "until manual refresh" is sort of technical.
I don't think "Automatically update citations" is particularly confusing or hard to interpret. It's also quite standard to have "Automatically…" options that are checked by default (e.g., most/all of the options in the Zotero General preferences, or "Automatically install updates" in pretty much all software). I think the main argument in favor of changing it is just that it's a little strange to have an option that's not shown in the window at document creation later appear checked, because it means it was checked in its hidden state, which is a bit stranger than being unchecked in its hidden state.
But I don't think "[Postpone/Delay] citation updates" alone gives enough context, "until manual refresh" is too technical, and "Lazy citation updates" is certainly too technical. So that's how we ended up where we are.
Upgrade Storage
Also, it's a nice touch that you can see which citations are delayed.
Awesome. Big thanks from this particular large-document addict.
One suggestion though: It would be nice if it could be a directly user-controlled feature (a checkbox in settings or similar), rather than letting Zotero decide whether updating takes too long. It seems a little arbitrary and constraining for such a big-ass feature (pardon).
Anyway, thanks again for the impressive work on the coolest reference tool around.
The downside to always showing it is that it's a somewhat confusing option that produces a more clumsy and somewhat dangerous user experience (because you could add a citation and forget to refresh), and there's really no reason to have it on for smaller documents — most Zotero users might never even need to use it. It also adds to a rather complicated window that's shown whenever you start a document. But it does seem that there will be a gray area where someone feels updating has gotten slow but it's not to the point where Zotero should propose this advanced option.
So the options, as I see it:
1) Just reduce the timeout for prompting from 5 seconds to, say, 3 seconds. Doesn't help advanced users annoyed by 2.5-second updates.
2) Show it from the beginning but don't prompt until 3 or 4 seconds.
3) Don't show it when starting a document, but have it be an option as soon as you return to the doc prefs, and prompt at 3–4 seconds if not enabled. This is a bit weird, but it would avoid showing a confusing option at document creation while allowing advanced users who prefer the mode to use it.
4) Don't show in the doc prefs until the document has passed a fairly low threshold — say, 1 second — and prompt at 3–4. This is probably too weird, but it would avoid presenting an unnecessary option to most people.
I'm leaning towards 3. Even though for now this would be the only difference between document creation and doc prefs, I think you could reasonably present a more streamlined set of options at document creation and avoid more complicated options that advanced users could turn on after if they wanted to.
But yes, it should probably come with some seriously-looking warning sign and clearer in-text highlighting if possible.
Still, it’s a killer option that just, literally in the last minute, kept me from switching to EndNote for a current book project. (And I'm no quitter :))
I know that technically user is opting out of normal operation, but (in the words of a colleague) most users will treat Zotero as magic, and feel that ticking that box adds something to it. An offer to disable something, on the other hand, requires some thought about the technical end of what is being disabled -- and the attraction of Zotero is the freedom not to think about those details.
Not a strong opinion here, but I think users would more readily understand an option that says something like, "Postpone citation updates," or "Lazy citation updates."
Also, I don't know if it's technically possible, but issuing a warning when the document is queued for printing might reduce the risk of wasted time and paper.
I don't think "Automatically update citations" is particularly confusing or hard to interpret. It's also quite standard to have "Automatically…" options that are checked by default (e.g., most/all of the options in the Zotero General preferences, or "Automatically install updates" in pretty much all software). I think the main argument in favor of changing it is just that it's a little strange to have an option that's not shown in the window at document creation later appear checked, because it means it was checked in its hidden state, which is a bit stranger than being unchecked in its hidden state.
But I don't think "[Postpone/Delay] citation updates" alone gives enough context, "until manual refresh" is too technical, and "Lazy citation updates" is certainly too technical. So that's how we ended up where we are.