Request: selective snapshots (for websites, not journals)

I'm using the MacOS app as well as the browser connector for Safari. It seems that there is a preference setting to turn automatic snapshots on or off. I would like more control than this. If I am saving an article from JSTOR or a book from Google Books, I don't need a snapshot - I need the book or the article. However, if I am saving a newspaper article, I need a snapshot. I would like to either (a) have the automatic snapshot feature be smarter so that it knows I don't need snapshots when there is a DOI or ISBN present, or (b) to have the ability to take a snapshot in the same way that one adds tags: by opening the pop-up menu and checking a box for snapshots. Right now one has to change the app preferences before each snapshot and then go back and turn it off again after?! Or perhaps I'm missing something and there is an easier way to do this? Thanks.
  • It's not really about the feature being "smarter" — this is just determined on a site-by-site basis by the people who write the Zotero translators for each site.

    Generally we try to save snapshots that add value (e.g., NYT articles) and avoid ones that don't (e.g., database entries). On some sites (I believe such as JSTOR, though someone can else can confirm that), the abstract page can provide full text, so we do save snapshots. (One area where we may currently be somewhat limited on a technical basis is not saving a snapshot when a full-text PDF is also available. The way translators work, it's not always possible to know if a PDF is available when choosing to save a snapshot.)

    I think we do err on the side of saving too many snapshots, but if you want that to change, the best thing would be to make the case for why snapshots don't provide value on a given site, with example URLs, and someone familiar with the decision-making may be able to comment.
  • Oh, I didn't realize that this feature was already implemented. I couldn't tell because it seemed to me like it was saving snapshots on every site automatically. Perhaps there is some way to give the user more control over this, with a custom list? It is certainly happening on way too many sites right now for me to want to have to petition the developers on each individual site...
  • We'd still need some more examples that are bothering you, just to discuss it.
  • I just randomly grabbed the first link I could find:

    https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00207590444000177

    Sure enough, it saved a snapshot. This is from a journal with a DOI number. I don't want any snapshots from sites which are journals with DOI numbers...
  • You're absolutely right IMO, those are unnecessary snapshots. You've unfortunately hit on two fairly old translators that don't entirely follow the conventions that we try to encourage now. It's the sort of thing that I'll remove when I see it in a translator that I'm working on for other reasons, but because it doesn't actually affect citation generation - although it is quite annoying - it hasn't been a top priority on its own.
  • I also see it generating snapshots for https://books.google.com.tw/

    (I still think it would be easier to let users specify their own blacklists for sites they don't want to generate snapshots from.)
Sign In or Register to comment.