Zotero update

Olivia Herman
Hey everybody,

Yesterday I updated Zotero on my computer to 5.0.37. Since then my Word documents are refreshing like crazy. I do not understand the reason for this and I am afraid that footnotes are being changed without being able to double check the changes.

Furthermore, when I add a footnote or change one, the new footnote is underlined like this: _ _ _ _. Why is this and how can I disable it?

Thanks
Best, Olivia
  • bwiernik
    See here:
    https://www.zotero.org/blog/zotero-5-0-36/

    I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "refreshing like crazy". The underlining is indicating that automatic updating of the citation is turned off (e.g., it won't check for ibid). This feature is activated after Zotero prompts you if it takes a long time to update a document and you choose to enable it. You can re-enable automatic citation updates in the Zotero Document Preferences window in Word.
  • Olivia Herman
    Thank you for the information.

    When I open a Word document and I e.g. change a footnote, Zotero starts updating the whole document, which takes a very long time. It is for this reason that I had to turn of the automatic updating option, which I normally always use. I don't understand what Zotero is actually updating, as I did not make any substantial changes to my references. Thus, I am afraid that significant changes are being made. Is Zotero updating the document because of the new Zotero update or what could the reason be?
  • adomasven
    From the page linked above:
    When you insert a citation into a document using Zotero’s word processor plugin, Zotero needs to scan the entire document for citations to ensure correct formatting. Citation style requirements such as ibid or name disambiguation mean that the format of a given citation may depend on the citations that precede it, and bibliographies depend on the presence of, and in some cases the order of, all citations in the document, including any that may have been deleted or moved around since a citation was last inserted.
    [...]
    Zotero 5.0.36 adds the ability to disable automatic updates and defer citation updating until a manual refresh is triggered. With automatic updates disabled, citation inserts will remain instantaneous regardless of the size of the document.
    [...]
    Zotero adds a dashed underline below newly added citations to remind us that they haven’t been updated (though keep in mind that existing citations later in the document might also now be incorrect).
  • pah67
    edited March 14, 2018
    Yes I've had the same issue. Above post is not an answer.
  • Olivia Herman
    As pah67 is encountering the same issue, it is possible that continuous updating by Zotero stems from something else?

    I have never had this problem with Zotero. I normally use the automatic updates, but it never scans my document for so long after editing or adding a single citation or just when opening the word document, seemingly also changing various citations but not being able to review these.

    Please advise. Thank you.
  • adomasven
    @Olivia%20Herman

    1. What operating system and word processor (including version like 16.10) are you using?
    2. How many citations (approximately is fine) do you have in the document?
    3. What citation style are you using?
    4. How long (in your recall/estimation) it used to take to insert/edit vs how long is it taking now (with automatic updates enabled - i.e. the default option)
    5. Can you submit a Debug ID for a long-taking insert in this document?
  • pah67
    @Olivia%20Herman, you may find this string useful/reassuring. Think we may be having similar problems: https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/comment/303516
  • DWL-SDCA
    edited March 14, 2018
    @adomasven I've a report that may be completely irrelevant but here it is.

    I have a colleague who recently encountered a similar problem with a different (commercial) reference management software package. Investigation found that his computer was infected with crypto currency mining software that was eating up processor power. The mining software hadn't been detected by their usual security software until a recent update.

    His system also displayed the slowdown while using a statistical analysis package -- analyses of large datasets that had required 3-4 seconds began requiring over a minute.

  • adomasven
    @DWL-SDCA this is definitely our bug, as seen from the debug logs that pah67 has submitted. No need to unnecessarily stress over malware before confirming that the software works as intended.
  • Olivia Herman
    1. What operating system and word processor (including version like 16.10) are you using?

    Word for Mac 2011 version

    2. How many citations (approximately is fine) do you have in the document?

    approx. 100 or less

    3. What citation style are you using?

    Chicago Manual of Style (full citation)

    4. How long (in your recall/estimation) it used to take to insert/edit vs how long is it taking now (with automatic updates enabled - i.e. the default option)

    Couple of minutes, much longer than before. When Zotero starts refreshing the document the footnotes start moving, but seemingly nothing is really changing. It always starts screening again the whole document. I often get a pop up window stating that the refreshing process is taking too long and if I want to turn off automatic updates. I normally always use this and never had a problem. Also, while refreshing I get continuous pop up windows that disappear really fast. These state that Zotero is "busy converting".

    5. Can you submit a Debug ID for a long-taking insert in this document?

    D1485865575
  • Olivia Herman
    Sorry forgot some information: Word for Mac 2011 version 14.5.7
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