Automatic auto-update

Hi, I have Zotero with the Better BibTeX extension installed, which works very nicely, but the auto-update for both Zotero and (especially) Better BibTeX is driving me batty. It feels like every time I open Zotero after a few days (and sometimes less) either Zotero or Better BibTeX is prompting me to OK an auto-update.

What I would like is for the updates to *actually* be automatic. e.g. I click to open Zotero, it does a quick background update and then launches. (I don't need to micro-manage when the updates happen and go through a restart cycle each time, sometimes separately for both Zotero and the extension. :) )

I've had a look at about:config, and there are lots of settings with 'update' there, not all of which have obvious meanings. My best guess as to the right settings would be:

app.update.mode (currently set to '2')
app.update.silent (currently set to 'false')

None of the extensions.update.* settings seem like they would do automatic and silent updates.

Is setting app.update.silent to true enough? (Hard for me to test, since I have to wait for the next update.)
  • Note that 5.0.78 was a major internal upgrade that required some quick follow-up fixes, so that's why there were a few updates in a row the past few days. BBT had a serious, unrelated bug on the same day, so it also had more churn that usual.

    For Zotero this is just the Firefox (60) update system, so the same settings apply. We haven't tested it, but setting app.update.silent to true should cause it to skip prompts and, with the other default settings, install minor updates the next time you restart Zotero. Of course, this means you won't be prompted if there's an important update, though you can always do a manual update check if you're experiencing something unexpected. I'm also not sure what will happen when there's a major Zotero update. You might need to trigger those manually.

    We could turn on silent updates by default, but I think we'd want to add some sort of badge somewhere in the UI like current versions of Firefox do.

    I think BBT shows its own update prompt, so that has nothing to do with Zotero settings. There might be a way to disable that, but that'd be a question for @emilianoeheyns.
  • Thanks so much! I've set app.update.silent to true, and will (hopefully) remember to monitor for major updates. (Although it looks like major updates happen every year or four, so I may forget --- shouldn't be a big issue.)

    I've combed through BBT's config options, and I've found one that I believe is relevant:

    extensions.zotero.translators.better-bibtex.newTranslatorsAskRestart

    I can't actually remember all the things that BBT prompts me with, but I do recall new translators is one of them. Hopefully, there's no issues with disabling that.
  • edited December 6, 2019
    BBT puts op a notice when the translators are updated (which isn't necessarily every update of BBT) because drag-and-drop of translators newly installed after Zotero has installed its own doesn't work without an extra restart. In that popup you get a checkbox saying "don't ask again", and that just sets newTranslatorsAskRestart. It's harmless to set it manually, it's just that drag-and-drop of newly installed translators won't work until a restart after they've been installed.

    (hope that's a clear enough explanation)

    edit: and this should be the only notice you get after upgrades.
  • Yes, that's quite a clear explanation. I must have missed seeing that option when the prompts appeared. The experience should be pretty close to silent now.

    Thanks both for the help!
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