Field codes appear when Zotero not running

daniel.r
There seems to be a problem that field codes are shown sometimes instead of the formatted citation (at least in Word). This seem to happen only when Zotero is not running. Maybe it is related to accepting tracked changes adjacent to the field but I could not reproduce it reliably.

As a workaround one can close and open the document again but it is a bit annoying when it happens and in particular if one is not aware of the workaround and tries to find another fix.
  • dstillman
    edited 9 days ago
    No, that's a Word setting — it doesn't have anything to do with whether Zotero is running or not. A Zotero citation is a standard Word field, and once Zotero inserts it into the document, Zotero has absolutely no role in the display of that field.
  • daniel.r
    No, it's not a word setting. But the article explains that it could have to do with track changes. I'll try to keep that in mind and see what happens.
  • tim820
    edited 9 days ago
    Can Word toggle the field codes (to/from displayed citations) ? If not, a field code may have been corrupted and thus not recognized as a field code by Word.
    https://www.zotero.org/support/kb/word_field_codes
  • dstillman
    @daniel.r: It's literally a Word setting, as it explains on the page I linked to. There's a global setting, and each individual field can be toggled as well. I'm not sure why you're arguing with me?

    @tim820: If it's changing on a Word restart, they're still active fields.

    In any case, the point is that Zotero has nothing to do with deciding how they're rendered.
  • daniel.r
    I read the article. I checked the setting and it was already turned off. I did not toggle any individual field code setting manually either. Hence, I concluded that it is not a "Word setting".

    But what the article says is this at the bottom:

    When using Track Changes, Word or LibreOffice will sometimes show you the changed and original versions of changed field codes. If this occurs, click “Accept” twice to quickly accept the changed citations and hide the field codes again.

    If this is also due to some Word setting, then I would like to know which it is. But the article is not clear (at least to me) on that.

    I just wanted to clarify so that other people who run into similar problems might get a better idea what could be happening. But maybe I have misunderstood something. I'd be happy to learn what exactly. Maybe the article could be improved then to help people like me better understand it.

    Thank you for your help so far.
  • dstillman
    edited 8 days ago
    I did not toggle any individual field code setting manually either.
    That's not the point. Word can sometimes switch between displaying field text and field codes. The page explains how to toggle that manually.

    You would know if it's Track Changes because it would be the standard Track Changes interface, where it shows you the original and changed versions, as it says in the part you quoted. If you don't use Track Changes, or you don't see the field codes as part of tracked revisions, it's not Track Changes.

    None of this has to do with Zotero. This is all just entirely Word behavior, and it would be the same with any other type of Word field (an active date field, a hyperlink on text, etc.).
  • daniel.r
    In my original post I wrote:

    "Maybe it is related to accepting tracked changes adjacent to the field but I could not reproduce it reliably."

    So, it might well be that track changes were involved.

    My point in my first reply was only that it seems not to be about a Word "setting" since I checked those settings. I didn't say that it wasn't Word "behavior". In fact I say that it could have to do with tracked changes which is about Word behavior, I take it.

    I think I am done here for now. I can see that there are lots of questions these days and that you are hard working to answer them. Our exchange felt a bit weird. I guess at least in part because of misunderstandings. For now, I will stop posting questions on Zotero (and Zotero related) and just collect them. Maybe there will be a less busy phase to ask them later.

    Any way, thank you for your hard work on Zotero. Have a good day.
  • adomasven
    If you see this again, please provide a screenshot of the issue. Better yet if you can figure out what steps you took for that to occur. If a Word restart makes the field codes disappear, then it's most likely indeed just the case of the Word field display being toggled, but maybe there's some other new behaviour in Word that triggers this.
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