Links *still* breaking on simple moves Gdocs

martinbphd
edited October 29, 2023
Hi all,

(preface, I know from before it was advised to go back to LO from GDocs, but I got it working and just needed to proceed. Time contraints.)

1. Links break on simple moves: GDocs in latest Chrome. M1 MBPro, Ventura.
Doc1 - refreshes fine, all good
Edit>Copy Doc1
Edit>Paste to Doc2
all Zotero citations become unlinked.

2. Copy a Section of Doc1 (smaller)
Paste>into a NEW, unformatted or touched Gdoc
All links break.

3. Gdocs > 'save a copy'
All links break

note: resinstalled Zotero plus Chrome extension.

This is happening across multiple docs, which refresh fine in their original state.

I need to combine for the full doc. on a MAJOR deadline.

Would very much prefer not to change WP;s at this point - messes up all the numbering and styles (mine are simple).

any ideas?

with kind thanks

Martin
  • adomasven
    I just read through all your previous posts. Just to note, not one of the updates in the past year for Google Docs that Zotero pushed in any way address or concern citation copying, so whatever fixes you believed to have been pushed by us were accidental.

    Generally, if File -> Save a Copy breaks Zotero citations in your document, it is indicative of citations being broken in the original file. We have certainly never seen anyone report anything like this and right now while testing I can make copies of documents with active citations fine. The way to check this would be to see which citations are broken in the copy, and check manually in the original, by clicking Edit with Zotero for that citation. It might reveal some latent brokenness (although if you are sure you are actually refreshing the document fine without any errors from Zotero, then those citations can't be unlinked).

    Generally, for copying text with citations in Google Docs, you need to make sure Zotero Connector is open and activated. If you go for long periods of times (days) without refreshing the page of your Google docs, and Zotero Connector is updated, copying may break in those files. Refreshing the document is always the first step.

    When copying text with citations in Google Docs, if you do not see a "Please wait... Zotero is updating your document" alert pop up after pasting, it generally means citations won't be copied properly. If this does not work in your existing document, it would be best to create a new empty document, insert a few citations and test copy-pasting there. If you don't see an alert, you should restart your browser. If you still don't see it, it's likely some other extension is interfering with Zotero copying citations with text.

    Note that copy-pasting not working should not ever affect File -> Save a Copy behavior, as that is governed completely by Google's own code and they generally copy the document verbatim, so if citations are unlinked after that, it's likely they are unlinked in the original too.
  • martinbphd
    Thanks for the response...

    1. Accidental fixes - OK. I thought you'd done something...

    2. "Generally, if File -> Save a Copy breaks Zotero citations in your document, it is indicative of citations being broken in the original file. ..."

    You may be onto something here. It just makes NO sense. I can edit the orginal just fine - copy anything, add citatiions, *even* switch WP's and got one file to open an refresh in word. Copy/paste or save a copy = broke.

    Am going to do a clean install of Chrome, without any extensions but Zotero - see what happens.

    (Am also aware of the doldrums that can be Apple's Ventura.)


    3. "Generally, for copying text with citations in Google Docs, you need to make sure Zotero Connector is open and activated. If you go for long periods of times (days) without refreshing the page of your Google docs, and Zotero Connector is updated, copying may break in those files. Refreshing the document is always the first step."

    -always keep it open and refreshed.
    -I may have updated the latest one before refreshing. May be the culprit.

    Should I downgrade the extension for a try?


    4. "When copying text with citations in Google Docs, if you do not see a "Please wait... Zotero is updating your document" alert pop up after pasting, it generally means citations won't be copied properly. ..."

    -Consistently get the message, just like normal...


    5. "Note that copy-pasting not working should not ever affect File -> Save a Copy behavior..."

    It's becoming clear there's a gremlin in the files. I think either a 3rd-party extensions or the Z extension update without proper refreshes.


    Trust, this pains me as much as you. I just wanted to forge ahead with my work, not have an extension meltdown. I used Chrome because my supervisors asked for it from collab (which they never used), and of the simplicity in numbering and styles - which is an absolute farce in Word/LO/all imho. This is a 100K word dissertation, with total of c. 4-500 citations (heavy, archival).

    Thanks for any other ideas. At this critical stage, if I can't fix it, I may have to ... dunno...

    Thanks again

    M



  • adomasven
    edited October 31, 2023
    You may be onto something here. It just makes NO sense. I can edit the orginal just fine - copy anything, add citatiions, *even* switch WP's and got one file to open an refresh in word. Copy/paste or save a copy = broke.
    Can you confirm, that you can edit citations in your original Google Doc, which are broken if you make a copy via File -> Save a Copy? If that is the case, it would be indicative of a document that is broken somehow on Google's end, at which point no amount of reinstalling, restarting, refreshing or disabling other extensions is likely to help.
    Am going to do a clean install of Chrome, without any extensions but Zotero - see what happens.

    (Am also aware of the doldrums that can be Apple's Ventura.)
    Should I downgrade the extension for a try?
    Generally unless we specifically ask you to do this, reinstalling extensions or Chrome, or downgrading (which isn't even possible on Chrome anyway) isn't going to help. Also we have not updated the Zotero Connector in over a month, so unless you have not refreshed your Google Doc in a month, it's not of concern.
    It's becoming clear there's a gremlin in the files. I think either a 3rd-party extensions or the Z extension update without proper refreshes.
    If File -> Save a Copy is not copying Zotero citations that you are 100% are active and editable with Zotero in the original file, then it's not the fault of Chrome or any extensions you have in your browser, or even in Google Docs.


    If you are able to save this file and open it successfully with Word or LibreOffice, it may indeed be the best way to proceed, although duplicating/copying ReferenceMarks in LibreOffice also unlinks citations, so you would have to be mindful of that. We do not generally recommend working with very big papers using online document editors as in our experience they are much slower and less reliable there than desktop solutions.
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