MacOS Zotero 6 Bug- Zotero not accessing MacOS custom dictionary

iambrianjones · January 31, 2024

The custom dictionary I have set up in MacOS is not working in Zotero.

Words that i have added to a custom dictionary at the MacOS level that autocomplete in other apps are not autocompleting in Zotero.

In the below example I have the word Mazatlán set up to autocomplete so the whole word autocompletes after I type maza. You can see the bubble appear in MacOS but not in Zotero. But the bubble for autocomplete does appear in MacOS notes.

This function is working everywhere else in MacOS but not in Zotero.

How do I get the attention of developers so this can be fixed?

https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u11106905/wlsfp6vmo9jubbj4yahe.png
https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u11106905/ur3tprqnajxvqvudp4vu.png

poettli · January 31, 2024

You already have posted a similar question 5 days ago: https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/111116/macos-autocomplete-text-insertion-not-working-in-zotero#latest

How do I get the attention of developers so this can be fixed?

From the forum guidelines:

Developers and many community members read every post

Also:

[...] don't create a new one for the same problem, even if you've been waiting for a response. If you have additional related comments, just post them to the same thread.

You can post a polite follow-up to the same thread asking if anyone has had a chance to look into your issue.

dstillman · January 31, 2024

Zotero (like Firefox, on which it is based) doesn't currently interact with the system dictionary.

iambrianjones · January 31, 2024

Thanks for your reply. Really interesting to know about the fact Zotero is based on Firefox.

Is the lack of custom dictionary integration because Firefox has not built it in?

Or is it because Apple does not open up custom dictionaries to Firefox?

Are there any third-party extensions I could add to Zotero that would allow me to build a custom dictionary?

I'm typing a lot of Spanish words within an English language text and the custom dictionary makes it easier to get the accents and special characters right without using the mouse to insert them while typing using an english language keyboard.

iambrianjones · January 31, 2024

And sorry for the repeat post. My experience with forums is that if I haven't received a reply after a few days I'm probably not going to get one. In this instance I'm glad I posted again because I think I was able to add additional context and better explain the issue.

iambrianjones · January 31, 2024

This is what I have found while doing a little research into building a custom dictionary for Firefox. Can anyone add advice as to how to do this with Zotero?

So I took the helpful advice that Zotero was based on Firefox and ran with that. I found a Reddit post that another user had posted about a similar issue with Firefox. The advice in this post may be out of date because I couldn't find the files mentioned.

https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/uum5pg/firefox_on_mac_a_way_to_add_my_custom_dictionary/
https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u11106905/cbze3wog95c6jec9ickg.jpg

I dug into the Zotero>Profiles>xxxx.default>Dictionaries
And found some dictionaries files.
https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u11106905/ooiqrg7efqt65m7xc081.png

Opened on the es_MZ.dic file. I don't really know what this file does or even if adding my words to it will help.

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