Zotero proxy detection for the OCLC proxy?

hannahgr
My institution switched from an EZProxy system to an OCLC proxy system this summer. I (and some of my colleagues) have experienced intermittent troubles connecting via the new OCLC proxy, especially with getting Zotero to automatically detect the OCLC proxy. Is it already possible for Zotero to automatically detect the OCLC proxy? If not, is there something OCLC (or my institution) could do to make that happen? If it helps, the syntax for the OCLC proxy is oregonstate.idm.oclc.org
  • dstillman
    edited September 29, 2022
    I think this is a bit of a misunderstanding? EZproxy is an OCLC system, and oregonstate.idm.oclc.org is an EZproxy server. One thing that changed recently is that OCLC is discontinuing support for port-based EZproxy setups in favor of proxy-by-hostname. Maybe that's what you mean? The port-based system never worked that well with Zotero, but Zotero fully supports proxy-by-hostname, which is how most EZproxy setups have worked for a decade or more.

    The Zotero Connector should automatically detect the EZproxy when you sign into it and prompt you to add it as a proxy, after which it will add an entry to the Proxies tab of the Zotero Connector preferences. Once that's set up, Zotero will automatically detect sites you access through the proxy and add them to the Hostnames section, and it will then automatically redirect you via the proxy if you access unproxied URLs from those sites. You can right-click on the save button and use Reload via Proxy to reload a site that hasn't yet been detected.

    Note that proxy detection isn't supported in Safari.

    If you think something isn't working, check the Proxies pane of the connector preferences to see what you have there.
  • hannahgr
    Thanks for the quick reply. And the reminder about Safari. Here's hoping things proceed as they should then - our install and switchover process hasn't been entirely seamless.
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