How to customize pdf Annotation note formatting?
I see the Zotfile "extract annotations" action is now replaced with a native action. In Zotfile I could customize how the annotations were formatted in the note using the config editor. Can the same sort of customization be done with the new native note-making method?
Specifically, I'd like to precede the highlighted text with `> ` so that it is formatted as a block quote and to not surround it with quotation marks. This option is important for using my notes with a 3rd party program. I'd also like to have the note title default to plain text rather than a heading format, and to have a line break between the highlighted text and my comments.
I see a related question about customizing the note title was posed some months ago but was never answered, and I'm interested in doing this also: https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/92243/how-to-change-default-naming-format-of-annotation-notes/p1
Thanks!
Specifically, I'd like to precede the highlighted text with `> ` so that it is formatted as a block quote and to not surround it with quotation marks. This option is important for using my notes with a 3rd party program. I'd also like to have the note title default to plain text rather than a heading format, and to have a line break between the highlighted text and my comments.
I see a related question about customizing the note title was posed some months ago but was never answered, and I'm interested in doing this also: https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/92243/how-to-change-default-naming-format-of-annotation-notes/p1
Thanks!
This discussion has been closed.
This decision has not only disrupted my workflow, but actually will create a huge amount of pointless busy-work for me because I will now have to manually edit every note I move from Zotero into my 3rd party program.
Question 1: is there any chance that you would consider adding back the option to use Zotfile's extract annotations feature until the native extract annotation feature actually has full feature parity? Your concern about user confusion is best addressed with additional documentation, not by removing working functionality that users rely on. I can help write the documentation if needed. I really hope that you are open to reconsidering this deprecation and that pride or inability to admit possible errors in judgment do not prevent you from even considering this option. We all make mistakes and in this case I am sure you didn't realize that this deprecation might be a very big deal for some users.
Question 2: if you will not consider reactiving the Zotfile functionality, then how can I use a previous version of Zotero that allows that Zotfile functionality? I am using the Zotero beta and have been for many months, and my database is upgraded. Will installing the last stable version of Zotero work with my current database?
Question 3: if you will not add back the option to use Zotfile, and I cannot use my upgraded database with an older version that does work with Zotfile, then I have been burdened with (honestly) hours of addition work based on this change, which was not mentioned in the changelog. Did you consider warning users about this lost functionality before having them upgrade? Or did you just assume that it was not a big deal? Or did you ask users about it on the forums and I just didn't see that thread?
Question 4: Will you offer any timetable for adding customization of annotations in notes and exported Markdown? I assume based on previous threads on the forum that the Zotero devs will not offer any timeline for adding the formatting options that users previously relied on and which worked well with no technical problems, and I am also assuming (since you removed this functionality) that it is not a feature that is a personal priority for the devs, so adding these options back might take weeks, months, or years. Let me know if I am wrong about this.
I'd really appreciate answers to all four questions.
Your tone here is not appropriate. No one forced you to use the beta, and if a possible temporary disruption in your workflow is a problem, you shouldn't use beta software.
There's nothing stopping you from continuing to use Zotero 5, where ZotFile still works exactly the same as before. But if you're using the Zotero 6 beta — the major feature of which is a new PDF reader and note editor with deeply integrated annotation functionality — then annotation support is provided by Zotero.
If your data is all online, you can downgrade by closing Zotero, reinstalling Zotero 5, moving zotero.sqlite from your Zotero data directory to a backup folder, and syncing Zotero 5 to pull down data from your online library.
Beyond that, see my comment here. ZotFile could have been updated to extend Zotero 6's built-in annotation functionality, but the developer no longer has time to maintain it, and the only reason it works at all is that we've contributed patches to maintain it. Zotero 6 already supports the functionality that the vast majority of ZotFile users were using. We've implemented various other features to replace more advanced ZotFile/mdnotes workflows (e.g., Markdown export), and we intend to support more of ZotFile's advanced, hidden annotation features soon.
Given that I have over 50GB of files both locally and in Zotero online storage, is there a way to do this without re-downloading all of those files, while retaining database links to those documents?
And, will doing this break citation links in my existing writings that are linked to my Zotero database?
But I'd encourage you to just wait a short while if possible. Your use case would be addressed by the most basic template functionality, and we'll likely have something for that soon.
And yes, unless you're studying GitHub commit logs, you absolutely should not expect to be warned about changes in the beta. You shouldn't use the beta if that's a requirement.
I suggested that maybe you didn't fully realize the impact of this particular decision on others and should reconsider it, and you got offended. Does the fact that you have done work to maintain Zotfile in the past somehow mean that every plugin decision you make is self-evidently correct and that questioning it is "not appropriate"?
You also never actually said whether you realized the impact of this decision or not. Did you not consider that this could have large effects on users, or did you realize that and not care enough to let people know? Instead of wagging your finger at me for daring to ask this question, how about responding to a user like me who has been negatively impacted by saying something like, "We didn't think that removal of custom formatting would be an issue for most users, and sorry that removing it is causing you problems. We had good reasons for doing it, but we probably should have included a warning about this in the changelog."
Feedback is fine — that's what beta software is for, and that's what these forums are for. But please bear in mind when posting here that your experience is not universal, and maybe there were good reasons for changes you don't like. You keep referring to a "changelog". There is no changelog. The only relevant changelog would be the ZotFile release tag on GitHub, which we have nothing to do with. And the fact that you've repeatedly mentioned a changelog that you didn't actually read — since it doesn't exist — perhaps suggests you haven't engaged entirely in good faith here.
Anyway, there's really no need to keep arguing about this. You were using a hidden, advanced feature in an unmaintained third-party plugin, and we're going to do what we can to support it in Zotero soon.