About citation bar issue in Z7

aserhatkaraduman
edited August 11, 2024
Hi,
I loved the 7. But when i go to the "add citation", the citation bar comes toooooo late. It's nearly takes 5 minutes, i mean it. I guess i will return 6 again.
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  • adamsmith
    Should be faster, not slower on Zotero 7. Provide a debug ID for clicking add citation together with some context about the document and hardware/software setup:
    https://www.zotero.org/support/debug_output
  • aserhatkaraduman
    Unfortunately, I've reverted to version 6. This is because I'm actively writing my PhD thesis, and Zotero is as valuable to me as water right now. I don't have any time to reinstall version 7 and wait for this issue to be resolved :(

    I'm using an M2 MacBook Air. Honestly, I was very surprised. Believe me, I'm not exaggerating—it took almost 5-6 minutes for the citation bar to appear on the screen. Another detail is that when I wanted to check the preferences in the Zotero tab while the Word document was open, it took almost 5-6 minutes to display as well.

    I'll probably install it after a few updates. But I must say that version 7 looks amazing. Kudos to everyone involved. It’s fantastic work.
  • aserhatkaraduman
    Yes, I gave in to my curiosity and upgraded to version 7 again. After upgrading, I restarted my computer. I saved my thesis document from OneDrive to my desktop. When I tried to use the "Add Citation" feature, the citation search bar still didn't appear on the screen. Additionally, when I tried to open the settings section in the Zotero tab within the Word document, it didn't open either. As a result, I used the error report feature in Zotero and submitted report number 1820725065. After closing the Word document, when I clicked on the settings in Zotero, the window finally appeared on the screen, but it was accompanied by an error message. It directed me to this link: https://www.zotero.org/support/kb/debugging_broken_documents.

    I’ll be uninstalling version 7 and reinstalling version 6 shortly.

    Thank you so much for your help.
  • dstillman
    We need a Debug ID, not a Report ID. adamsmith linked to instructions above.

    You also should do this in Troubleshooting Mode (Help → "Restart in Troubleshooting Mode…”), which temporarily disables all plugins. You’re getting some errors from a plugin.
  • aserhatkaraduman
    Hello,

    This morning, I installed Z7 on the laptop I use at the office. This laptop runs Windows 11 as its operating system. As soon as I arrived at the office, I installed Z7. I tested it on a blank Word document, but it didn't perform the citation and gave me a warning suggesting I use "restart in troubleshooting mode." I restarted the computer, but nothing changed. I then created a Debug ID: D452290961.

    When I get home this evening, I'll create another Debug ID on my Apple Silicon laptop. Thank you for your attention.
  • aserhatkaraduman

    https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u3565171/3qtwgqhb8yibkyll7l0z.png
  • dstillman
    (That doesn't say anything about Troubleshooting Mode.)

    See https://www.zotero.org/support/word_processor_plugin_troubleshooting#error_or_non-responsive_plugin_buttons
  • aserhatkaraduman
    Oh... We’ve resolved the issue on Windows. I tested it, and there’s no problem so far. When I get home this evening, I’ll try Z7 again on the Apple Silicon. I didn’t encounter the same error there. However, when I clicked on "Add Citation," a settings icon (like a gear) would flash in the top left corner. And, without exaggeration, it would take almost 5 minutes for the citation bar to appear on the screen. This is another issue. I’ll try again as soon as I get home, and if it doesn’t resolve, I’ll create a Debug ID.

    You’ve been incredibly quick in helping. I can’t thank you enough.
  • dstillman
    How did you resolve it on Windows?
  • aserhatkaraduman
    I read the instructions in the link you provided above. I saw the suggestion to reinstall the Word add-in. It turns out the Word add-in wasn’t installed in Z7. I closed Word, reinstalled the add-in, and then reopened Word. Ta-da! It was resolved just like that. It’s kind of funny :) The funny part is how simple the solution was :)

    However, I had tried this on the Apple Silicon, and it didn’t work. As I mentioned above, the issue there is entirely different.

    Thank you so much.
  • aserhatkaraduman
    edited August 12, 2024
    Hello again. As I mentioned this morning, I reinstalled Z7 on the M2 MacBook Air this night. I tried it on a blank Word document, and the "Add Citation" feature worked. However, when I tried it on the document I'm writing my thesis in—which is a rather large and complex document—I had to wait a long time again. The Debug ID is D987726850. As I'm writing this, the citation bar finally appeared. How can we resolve this issue?

    Thank you in advance.
  • dstillman
    edited August 12, 2024
    The Mac Word plugin is just slow. It shouldn't be any different from Zotero 6. In a large document, it could take a while to refresh. You should make sure "Automatically update citations" is disabled in the plugin's Document Preferences window.

    We're working with Microsoft to make it possible to create a faster version, but that won't happen for a while.
  • aserhatkaraduman
    So, there must be something odd about this. There's no such slowness with Zotero 6. Yes, I had disabled the "Automatically update citations" option in the document preferences in Z6. And yes, I was able to do it because when I clicked on it, the window where I could disable it appeared on the screen. But this time, in Z7, the window doesn't even appear. There's something strange about this. Yes, I know Word for Mac is a bit slow, but this is beyond just slowness. When you click on "Add Citation," a settings-like icon briefly appears and disappears in the top right corner. And the citation bar only appears after you close the document; otherwise, it doesn't show up. Regrettably, I'm reverting back to Z6. My lovely Z6.

  • dstillman
    When you click on "Add Citation," a settings-like icon briefly appears and disappears in the top right corner.
    In Zotero 7? Can you take a screen recording of that and share it, either here or in an email to support@zotero.org with a link to this thread?

    We'd also want to see equivalent Debug IDs for the same slow operation in Zotero 6 and 7, run to completion.

    (And you can stop dramatically declaring that you're moving back to Zotero 6. Just leave Zotero 7 in Applications as a separate app for now. No one else has reported this, so if you want this to get fixed, you're going to need to continue to work with us to debug it.)
  • aserhatkaraduman
    :/ ok
  • adomasven
    In Zotero 7. If you press the Add/Edit Citation dialog and wait 5 seconds or so, then right-click on Zotero, in the list of windows is "Quick Format Citation" listed? If not, does clicking on the Zotero app (to focus the Zotero window) make the citation dialog appear faster?
  • aserhatkaraduman
    I tried the method you mentioned, but it doesn't appear. I think you suspect that the Add Citation bar might be in the background. When doing what you said, the bar usually appears there, and clicking on it brings it back, so you're right. However, in my case, this didn't happen. Thank you very, very much for your response.

    Additionally, on August 13, I sent an email to support@zotero.org explaining my situation, following Mr. dstillman's suggestion, including Debug IDs and screen recordings. I also included the link to this discussion thread in the email.

    In another thread, I shared my experience related to a similar issue. There was a guideline you had posted earlier in this thread, which mentioned that I might have footnotes in the headings within my Word document and that I should remove them. I did that, and I also followed many of the other suggestions in the guideline. I had added a cover page, then I removed. After doing these things, the waiting time decreased slightly. Yesterday, I timed it with a stopwatch, and after clicking on Add Citation, the citation bar appeared on the screen after exactly 2 minutes and 18 seconds. However, as you can see in the screen recording included in the email, every time I try to add a citation, an icon similar to a settings symbol appears and disappears in the top right corner. This continues to happen.

    Thank you again for your attention.
  • adomasven
    Thanks, we got your email and this is in response to it. I am the developer responsible for Word plugins.

    Based on your video of Zotero 7, there is a brief moment where the citation dialog is seen appear at 1:30 as you switch to the Zotero window to submit the Debug log. The debug log you provided in your email also indicates that Zotero is trying to display the citation dialog immediately. We're trying to figure out if there's some issue in Zotero 7 with the citation dialog not appearing if Zotero window is not focused.

    The other reason why the citation dialog may have appeared is that you closed Word. Could you confirm that if you close Word the citation dialog appears?
    However, as you can see in the screen recording included in the email, every time I try to add a citation, an icon similar to a settings symbol appears and disappears in the top right corner. This continues to happen.
    The gear symbol is not something to care about. It simply indicates that Word is running an AppleScript command.

  • aserhatkaraduman
    Yes, you are correct. At 1:30, I close Word, and as soon as I close it, the citation dialog appears. The answer to your question lies here. It's exactly as you mentioned in your question; as soon as I close Word, the citation dialog pops up. It's as if something was blocking it, and closing Word suddenly removes that block. So, yes, that's how it happens.

    In my previous response, I mentioned that the waiting time had decreased. I'm waiting for 2 minutes and 18 seconds. I tried it again now. After waiting for about 20 seconds without the citation dialog appearing, I closed Word and checked if the same thing happened. The situation was exactly the same as in the video.
  • aserhatkaraduman
    By the way, I need to mention something. I previously stated that the waiting time is 2 minutes and 18 seconds. This situation occurred after I made adjustments to the Word document as mentioned in my previous responses. Before that, I was just waiting indefinitely. Now, I'm waiting for 2 minutes and 18 seconds. However, it was the same with Z6. When trying to open the citation dialog for the first time, I would also wait for about 2 minutes. During that time, I would go get some coffee, and when I came back, the citation window would be on the screen. For subsequent citation dialogs, the citation window would appear very quickly, almost instantly. Now, the same situation has occurred in Z7. Honestly, I think this is due to the complexity and size of my Word document. And of course, Word on Mac is slower. That might also have an effect. I thought I should mention this as well. Of course, it would be fantastic if the citation window appeared instantly during the first citation dialog :)

    Thank you very much.

  • adomasven
    Ok, perhaps this was more a misunderstanding than anything else. When you have automatic citation updates disabled, when you restart Zotero, it needs to fetch all citation information from a Word document the first time you try to add a citation, so the citation dialog will take longer to appear/process. For subsequent inserts Zotero will use the stored citation information and the citation dialog will appear more quickly. This behavior didn't change between Zotero 6 and Zotero 7.
  • aserhatkaraduman
    Yes, that's exactly right. This is currently the situation in both Zotero 6 and 7. And this definitely happened—speaking specifically about Zotero 7—after I made the adjustments in my Word document. The instructions you provided were very helpful. I reorganized my document, and this definitely made a big difference.

    So, if the situation is exactly as you described; meaning, when I have automatic citation updates disabled (which I have) and I restart Zotero, due to the details you mentioned, it's normal to experience some delay when adding the first citation (which in my case is 2 minutes and 18 seconds) and for Zotero to be much faster with subsequent citations, then there is no problem, correct? Am I wrong?
  • adomasven
    Yes, there isn't a problem.

    Regarding adjustments to the document, could you link to the instructions that you followed?
  • aserhatkaraduman
    I searched but couldn't find it. I believe it's in one of the links you sent. I really went through all the documents, but I couldn't find it. However, the content included steps like checking for footnotes in headings in Word, copying all the content into a new Word document if the document is very long, and similar steps. I looked at the KB page, but I still couldn't find it, although I'm sure it's in one of the links there.

  • adomasven
    We have found a bug in Zotero 7 that was making the citation dialog appear slower with Word for Mac the first time it was being displayed. A fix is now available in the Zotero Beta and will soon appear in the main release too. Sorry that we didn't detect this originally when troubleshooting with you!
  • aserhatkaraduman
    This is such great news. It keeps me waiting for exactly 2 minutes and 18 seconds every first time. I'm eagerly looking forward to the new release.
  • aserhatkaraduman
    Hello again, is the update you mentioned version 7.0.6?
  • adomasven
    No, it will most likely be available with 7.0.7.
  • dstillman
    This is fixed now in Zotero 7.0.7.
  • aserhatkaraduman
    edited October 7, 2024
    Hi, there.
    Version 7.0.7 is fantastic. The citation bar now appears on the screen within seconds upon the first launch. Before version 7.0.7, this process took exactly 2 minutes and 18 seconds. It made no difference whether my Word document was stored in the cloud or on my desktop. Moreover, my Word document is around 500 pages long.

    However, now, with version 7.0.7, the citation bar appears in less than 3 seconds. But I’ve observed another behavior. So far, I’ve encountered this behavior three times. It happens when I try to insert an in-text citation for the first time after turning on my computer. Here’s what I’ve observed:

    I turn on my computer, open my document from Drive, then launch Zotero 7.0.7. I click on the “add/edit citation” button to insert a citation into the text. Yes, the citation bar appears in less than 3 seconds… Up to this point, it’s perfect. As I mentioned earlier, I used to wait for 2 minutes and 18 seconds, but now there’s no such wait. However, after this, a long wait occurs. I select the article I want to cite and press enter. Normally, I should see the citation in the text immediately, but I waited nearly 5 minutes. It took a very long time. The red citation bar just sat there on the screen. It started to get frustrating, so I clicked on Zotero desktop, and then I saw the usual “Zotero.app would like to access data from other apps” warning, which I frequently encounter with Sequoia. I clicked “Allow,” and at that moment, the citation process was completed. The fully red citation bar disappeared. To test this, I restarted my computer and repeated the same steps, and I observed the same behavior again. This has happened three times now.

    I can’t generate a Debug ID because my modem is malfunctioning. I will share the Debug ID as soon as that issue is resolved. In summary, previously there was a long wait for the citation bar to appear. Now the citation bar appears immediately. However, after selecting the relevant article for the citation, there is a long wait for the citation process to complete. By the way, this behavior only happens when I try to insert the first citation. The long wait never occurs in the subsequent citation attempts.

    Thank you very much for your attention and support.
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