What to do if Zotero.dotm is NOT present and ticked?

alipli
Does anybody know what to do if by following

.."the Templates and Add-ins window by going to File → Options → Add-ins, selecting “Word Add-ins” in the Manage drop-down at the bottom, and clicking “Go…”."

Zotero.dotm is NOT present and ticked?

I did all the possible steps I found here in other threads. I contacted my IT department, and they mean it is nothing blocking from their side, but maybe the problem lies in the Add-In itself. It must be developed for Microsoft-365-Apps-for-Enterprise. Any ideas?
  • dstillman
    Split from https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/109580/word-plug-in-does-not-work

    (Please start new threads for new issues. I've moved this to a new thread.)

    How have you determined that Zotero.dotm is in your active Word Startup folder?
  • alipli
    Thank you, dstillman

    Zotero.dotm was in my active Word Startup (in German "Autostart") folder. I deleted and insert it again a few times. Middlewile I solved the problem in this way:

    1) I copied Zotero.dotm also in Word Templates folder (in German "Vorlagen"), the same way but in the final step I chose another folder: Word Tepmlates instead of Word Startup
    2) in Word I opened "Add-Ins" menu and added this Zotero.dotm file



    It works now
  • dstillman
    edited November 22, 2023
    You don’t really want to do that, though — you won’t get automatic updates to the file (which will be put in the Startup folder) and will run into trouble later.

    You didn’t actually answer my question. How did you determine what your active Word Startup folder is?
  • alipli
    Ok, perhaps I don’t realize some technical specs.
    I will describe you my steps and you can assess what is wrong I did.

    I followed the path in Finder:
    /Users/***/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/User Content.localized/Startup.localized/Word

    It was empty, so I copied Zotero.dotm there according to manual - without result

    Then I opened in Word the Add-Ins and Templates menu. It was empty. As I tried to add manual something there, I realized that it opens the folder Word Templates and not Word Startup

    So, I turned back to Finder and followed the path:

    /Users/***/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/User Content.localized/Templates.localized

    It was only Normal.dotm there and I copied Zotero.dotm there, also.

    After there and only after there (I went through all manuals and troubleshooting for this issue) the button for Zotero appeared in Word

    Do you see any problem with this solution?



  • dstillman
    But did you check what the actual folder is that your Word installation is using for the Startup folder? From the manual instructions:
    If changes you make to the Startup folder aren't taking effect, you can confirm that Word isn't set to a different location. In Word, open the “Word” menu in the top-left of the screen and select “Preferences”. Click on “File Locations” under “Personal Settings” and click on “Startup” at the bottom of the list.
  • alipli
    Ok, if I try to do this, I must choose in the next step the option "change" or "reset" at the bottom of this window. If I take "change", the new window in Finder will open, and I have to choose one Word Document. "Reset" sounds radical; I've not tried it. What are the correct steps? All in all, it is very confusing for somebody who needs a bibliographic tool for their research. What is the risk when I leave everything as it is? It works now. I'm really confused
  • dstillman
    edited November 24, 2023
    It's what I say above — you won't get automatic updates to the plugin if you're not using the version in the default Start folder location, since that's where the Zotero app copies new versions of Zotero.dotm, and are likely to encounter odd problems later.

    The point of the instructions is that you need to check where it's actually set to. If it's not set to the default location, that was somehow changed on your system — by you or something else — and you should absolutely reset it to the default location, after which the normal Zotero plugin installation process will work. (And you should remove the Zotero.dotm in the templates location and remove that from Word.)

    To be clear, none of this is necessary in a normal configuration — Zotero obviously works out of the box for most people. This would happen if there's something weird about your Word installation, such as the Startup folder having been set to a non-standard location.
  • alipli
    ok, I see now what the problem is. To solve that, my next steps must be:

    1) to delete Zotero.dotm from Template folder
    2) In Word, follow “Preferences”->“File Locations” -> “Personal Settings” ->“Startup”

    what I don't understand til now is what should I choose? "change" or "reset" at the bottom of this window? and then, which Word file do I have to choose in the next Window?

    Could you navigate me through this process?
  • alipli
    By the way, if I follow the path “Preferences”->“File Locations” -> “Personal Settings” ->“Startup”, I see that some positions are certain locations ordered and others are not. In my case, I see a certain location (a certain Word file) in front of Startup. Is that correct so?
  • dstillman
    edited November 24, 2023
    I see a certain location (a certain Word file) in front of Startup
    This would be a folder, not a Word file. (What's the exact current value? You can 'x' out your username.) In any case, if you see something listed to the right of Startup, you should click Reset to clear it. Again, from the instructions:
    Generally, no location should be listed, causing Word to use the default location. If another location is listed (e.g., /Applications/Microsoft Office 2011/Office/Startup/Word, from an earlier version of Word), clearing the setting and letting Word use the default location may fix installation problems and allow Zotero to install the plugin automatically going forward.
  • alipli
    I affraid, it was a file but doesn't matter now because I reseted it now.

    So, I did following:

    1) deleted Zotero.dotm from Templates
    2) reseted the locations for Autostart
    3) chose Autostart in Word Add-Ins

    I see Zotero button now in my Word file. If I try to set a quotation, it shows me the window

    "Visual Bacis for application
    Error 53
    the file is not founded: user32"

    What is wrong?
  • alipli
    Another thing:

    if I try to copy the path

    ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/User Content/Startup/Word in Finder,

    it opens nothing - why? Maybe that is the reason?
  • adomasven
    The default location for the word Startup folder is

    ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/User Content/Startup/Word

    This is what it should have reset to for you if you correctly reset it in Word preferences. Afterwards you should have installed the Zotero Word plugin from Zotero Preferences -> Cite -> Word Processors. Is that what you did? Did you fully restart Word after that?
  • alipli
    Yep, now it works - thank you, adomasven.

    I hope the problem is solved now - thank all for supporting me
Sign In or Register to comment.