Stop automatic pdf download in Chrome

jrbailey
I have changed my preferences in zotero and I no longer download auto in firefox, but I started using chrome and can not figure out how to change this setting. I use the chrome extension.
  • aurimas
    Are you using it with Zotero Standalone? (the alternative being that you're saving directly to zotero.org, in which case there is no option to turn this off)
  • jrbailey
    Yes - I have standalone saved on my computer. I had to turn off the auto because of storage
  • aurimas
    Just FYI, you don't have to sync file attachments. They will then only take up your hard disk space.

    In any case, did you set the option in Zotero Standalone preferences to not attach PDFs? Preferences -> General
  • Whateverr
    "In any case, did you set the option in Zotero Standalone preferences to not attach PDFs? Preferences -> General"

    I did not check the box ( https://i.imgur.com/GSLNnq3.png ), but the extension still download the pdf.

  • dstillman
    @Whateverr: Make sure you're actually saving to Zotero rather than to your online library — if you're saving to the latter, because Zotero is closed or inaccessible due to a system configuration problem, it will tell you in the save popup.

    If you're saving directly to Zotero and are getting a PDF attached, can you provide a Debug ID from Zotero for a save attempt where that happens?
  • Whateverr
    Yes I am saving directly to Zotero.

    I think I understand what is happening:
    1) If I go on a page like this one, https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/evolutionary-human-sciences/article/generosity-among-the-ik-of-uganda/06953719700BD212126D5480C6E56216, then the option works: if it's selected, the associated pdf is downloaded but if it's not checked, then the associated pdf is not downloaded.

    2) But if I go on this page https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/06953719700BD212126D5480C6E56216/S2513843X20000225a.pdf/div-class-title-generosity-among-the-ik-of-uganda-div.pdf, then the option doesn't work and the only option is to download the pdf. But when I am on a page like this one, I expect zotero to create the same entry, without the attached pdf, than when I am on the link in 1) when the option "automatically attach associated PDF" is unchecked.
  • dstillman
    But when I am on a page like this one, I expect zotero to create the same entry, without the attached pdf, than when I am on the link in 1) when the option "automatically attach associated PDF" is unchecked.
    That should not be your expectation. You're not on a webpage — you're literally viewing the PDF itself, and the save button is a PDF icon to reflect that it's the PDF that will be saved, with "Save to Zotero (PDF)" showing if you hover over the button.

    There are some sites where Zotero is able to detect the site solely based on the URL, in which case it will show a journal article icon or similar, but that's pretty rare — it requires a very clear URL pattern with a unique identifier for the article and a way to retrieve metadata from it. (It's vaguely possible that could be done here based on the 06953… number, but it's not clear that there's a way to get back to the article page with just that number.) Short of that, all we can do is save the PDF, and I don't think it would make any sense to perform metadata retrieval and then throw out a PDF that was specifically saved (via a PDF icon) just because the "attach associated PDF" pref was off.

    As a general rule, if you're viewing a PDF and don't see an journal/book/etc. icon indicating that Zotero recognized a site, you should click back to the article page before saving.

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