Zotero toolbar in Google Docs issues

eamoone
I am having issues with using the Zotero toolbar in Google Docs. It takes over a minute for a citation to be inserted into a document -- when it works well. But sometimes when it doesn't work well, my computer freezes. Is this a known issue? Is there a fix? Thank you.
  • dstillman
    It certainly shouldn't freeze your computer, and that's not even really something that Zotero could do itself.

    Does it work better in a new document?

    How many citations are there in the existing document? Have you tried with automatic citation updates disabled? Can you provide a Debug ID from Zotero for inserting a citation taking a minute?
  • eamoone
    Thanks for the fast reply. To answer your questions: I tested it in a new document and it didn't work better. There were only two citations inserted into the document. I disabled the "automatic citation updates" and am still having some issues. I will test again and provide the Debug ID.
  • dstillman
    If it's taking a minute in a brand new Google Docs document, something is very wrong, but we'd need to see a Debug ID to say any more.
  • eamoone
    OK, I'm sorry I wasn't able to do that yesterday but will do it today.
  • eamoone
    OK, I did a Debug. The ID is D783293014

    Thanks!!
  • adomasven
    Are you using Safari? Did you try citing with Firefox or Google Chrome? Is it better there?
  • eamoone
    No I was using Chrome and only tried that.
  • adomasven
    Could you submit a Report ID from the Zotero Connector?
  • eamoone
    I'm trying to do that but when I insert a citation using the Zotero toolbar in Google Docs (in Chrome) everything goes haywire. I see the red bar with the blue line as if it's ready to prompt me to choose a style, but nothing is happening.
  • dstillman
    That wouldn't stop you from providing a Report ID, which you do through the Zotero Connector preferences.
  • eamoone
    I'll try to get that to you guys as soon as I can. Thank you.
  • MJ94
    edited October 9, 2020
    I am also experiencing issues with Zotero in Google Docs. I clicked "Add/edit citation" and was presented with, "Zotero is updating your document. Please wait..." I waited for about five minutes, but the message did not go away. My document is a page in length, so I am not sure that it should take that long to update, but I could be incorrect.

    I refreshed my document and clicked "Add/edit citation" again. This time, a red bar opened (presumably an input box), but I could not type in it.

    Is this a known issue? I am using Chrome and Big Sur, but this was an issue for me on the previous macOS version.

    Thanks for all your work.

    Update: After restarting Zotero in debug mode, I can now properly see the red input box and can choose an article; however, when I press RETURN to insert it, the blue loading bar effectively freezes, and Google Docs continuously says, "Zotero is updating your document. Please wait..." again.
  • dstillman
    My document is a page in length, so I am not sure that it should take that long to update, but I could be incorrect.
    No, definitely not.
    After restarting Zotero in debug mode, I can now properly see the red input box and can choose an article; however, when I press RETURN to insert it, the blue loading bar effectively freezes, and Google Docs continuously says, "Zotero is updating your document. Please wait..." again.
    Can you restart both your browser and Zotero and provide Debug IDs from Zotero and the Zotero Connector for this happening?
  • MJ94
    It worked after restarting Zotero twice. I am not sure why. So, I think it's okay, and the citation inserted.
  • sielerjm
    I know this is nearly a year old thread, but I had a similar problem as eamoone. I'm running Google Docs on Firefox on MacOS. I had made many copies of my original document that had Zotero in-text citations in it and when I clicked "refresh" under the Zotero plugin in the Google Doc, it hung for about 5-10 minutes. Like MJ94 said, restarting Zotero fixed the issue.
Sign In or Register to comment.