New user - Word could not communicate with Zotero

sgietsch
Help, please! I am a new Zotero user, having uploaded a large humanities bibliography from RefWorks. I am working in Microsoft Word, and I have a Zotero tab on my toobar. When I click on "Zotero," I get an option to "Add/Edit Citation," but when I do this, I get this message: "Word could not communicate with Zotero. Please ensure Zotero is running and try again." Well, if by "running," we mean "open," it is open. What do I need to do to create endnotes from my bibliography? Thanks so much. - The Novice
  • dstillman
    What OS? Can you provide a Report ID?

    If you go to the Cite → Word Processors pane of the Zotero preferences, do you see buttons to reinstall the Word and LibreOffice plugins?
  • sgietsch
    I am sorry to be such a dunderhead. I am running Windows 7. I can't provide a Report ID because I can't find the Help menu. I also can't go to Cite ->Word Processors because I can't find the Zotero preferences. When I open the program and log on, the only tabs I see are "Web Library, Groups, Documentation, Forums, Get Involved" and my name for logging in/out.

  • dstillman
    That's not Zotero — that's the web library on this site. Zotero is a program that you download and run on your computer.

    https://www.zotero.org/download/
  • sgietsch
    Thanks for your patience. I found the Preferences menu and installed the Word plug-in. I also created a Report ID: 928003442
  • dstillman
    But are you still having the same problem? If you weren't actually running Zotero before, which it doesn't sound like you were, you obviously would've gotten that error.
  • sgietsch
    Thanks for your persistence. I believe that I have connected Word with my Zotero database. So, I get to the point in Word where I want to add an Endnote. I click on References, Insert Endnote. That gives me a superscript within the document. Then I click on Zotero and then Add/Edit Citation. I type in the author's name, I get something like this: "Gerlach, 1980." I click on the blue bubble, add a page number, but I cannot get the full reference to appear in the Endnotes. Again, I apologize for being so dense.
  • dstillman
    No, Zotero will add endnotes for you — you just need to choose an appropriate style and choose to use endnotes from the Document Preferences window that shows up when you first start using the plugin in a document (or after, if you click the Document Preferences button).
  • sgietsch
    OK. I think I have it now. Thank you so much. I have a 2,000 item bibliography that I started in RefWorks, but our university is discontinuing support for that program, so I needed an alternative. Zotero is it, but I need to learn how to operate it right. Thank you.
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