Word Plugin bug - tab shows up, but it does not develop

Hello everyone,

I use Windows 8, version 6.3; Word Office Student and Home 2016.

Zotero in itself works perfectly. My problem is with the Word Plugin.

When I turn on the computer and just start working, the "Add citation" option works fine.

But, when I try a second reference, the citation tab it starts to be slow: the add citation tab shows up, I write the reference, but the letters show up with difficulty, and the reference options also show up slowly.

On the third citation, it just stops working. The tab shows up and I manage to type few letters. After that, it stays on hold for a long time: I am unable to put more letters and the system do not open the references list.

Sometimes the references list show up, but I almost never get to select, because it simply does not respond.

When I get to select, it stays with the selected reference on highlight for a long time. Sometimes it finally recognize the selection, but getting out of the citation bar and making the reference arrive on word text is another quest.

MOST OF THE TIMES (99%), the entire thing just stops working and I never get to put the reference in. Sometimes a black retangle shows up behind the citation tab. Sometimes a word pop up shows up, but then disappear. I believe once or twice Word crashed because of this.

The bibliography option seems to work, but I dont really know, because this other problem does not allow me to use Zotero citations.

I would thank a lot if anyone could help me!
  • Just to clarify, you're referring to the red bar citation interface?

    Can you provide a Debug ID that shows it getting slow and then not working?
  • Yes, the red bar citation interface.
    The Debug ID is D1091812746. Thank you very much!
  • (3)(+0000008): Loaded note in […] in 10041 ms
    (3)(+0000160): Loaded note in […] in 30229 ms
    I'd guess that you dragged one or more images into notes, which isn't currently supported and can dramatically slow down Zotero operation. You should go to the library root, search for <img in the Zotero search bar in Everything mode, and remove images from any notes where they appear, or delete the notes and empty the trash.
  • Hello! Thank you very much! However, no images were found in the research. Any ideas about what to do next, please?
  • edited April 12, 2020
    Is dragging images into notes something you remember doing, though? Something is causing notes to take up to 30 seconds to load for you.

    If you go to Tools → Developer → Run JavaScript, paste in ZoteroPane.selectItem(482), and run it, is a note selected in the items list, and is there anything special about it?
  • I don't remember dragging images into notes. I am usually using Zotfile for my notes.

    The result of the RunJavaScript is: [object Promise] {}
    With "Run as async function" checked the result is: ===>undefined<=== (undefined)
  • No, ignore what shows up in that window. That command just selects an item in the main Zotero window. I'm asking if there's anything special about the item that is selected.
  • Thank you for clarifying. It only found one item, that had nothing special - only had one text note. I deleted it, but the problem persists.
  • Did you empty the trash?

    Can you provide another Debug ID after doing so?
  • Emptied the trash. It actually got a little better! =D I was able to put it 3 references after trying a bit. Thanks! But it is still very slow and Zotero crashed twice.
    The new debug ID: D100275883
  • Does this happen in a completely new, empty document?
  • What exact version of Word is this?
  • Office Home and Student 2016
    Word version 2003 (build 12624.20382)
  • (3)(+0000008): Loaded note in […] in 30113 ms
    (3)(+0000160): Loaded note in […] in 30229 ms
    (3)(+0000008): Loaded note in […] in 30113 ms
    (3)(+0000160): Loaded note in […] in 30229 ms
    (3)(+0000004): Loaded note in […] in 10071 ms
    (3)(+0000007): Loaded note in […] in 10061 ms
    (3)(+0000007): Loaded note in […] in 10077 ms
    OK, we'll look into this. Something is causing exact 10- and 30-second delays while loading data for the search results, which is very strange.
  • Oh! Ok! Thank you so much! I will be waiting =)
  • I'm actually not sure this is a problem in Zotero at all. Looking more closely, your whole debug log seems to be filled with delays of exact multiples of 10 seconds. It's possible that something on your system is causing delays of 10 seconds while Zotero is trying to read from the database.

    Is your Zotero data directory in the default location? Have you checked your disk for errors?
  • Yes, it is in the default location. I have just checked the disk for errors and the problem persists. Could it be the anti-virus? I use McAfee.
  • You should try disabling that.
  • Ok, just did it. Still not working. D=
    Can I try something else?
  • Have you tried restarting your computer after disabling all security software?
  • Just did it. Problem persists. =(
  • Could you try disabling the ZotFile extension in Zotero and see whether it improves?
  • Hello again! I did it, but nothing changed. This is a problem since I installed Zotero, before Zotfile. Should I try to reinstall it?
  • No idea if it would fix anything, but really the best thing I can suggest is to upgrade from Windows 8.1, which hasn't been updated in six years, to Windows 10. Microsoft discontinued mainstream support for 8.1 in January 2018, so it's receiving security updates for a few more years but (unless you're using an enterprise version) no other bug fixes.

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